UN General Assembly declares June 3rd “World Bicycle Day”

The United Nations has declared that June 3rd will now become World Bicycle Day.

Campaigned for by the World Cycling Alliance and the European Cyclists’ Federation, the motion passed by consensus of the 193 member states in a vote on April 12th in New York City.

What does it all mean?
According to the ECF, the declaration invites all member states to prepare strategies to develop bicycle use on the international, regional and national stage with the development of policies and programmes.

WCA and ECF Secretary General Dr. Bernhard Ensink said: “Cycling is a source for social, economic and environmental benefits – and it is bringing people together. WCA and ECF are extremely happy with this declaration. This UN declaration is an acknowledgment of the contribution of cycling to the sustainable development goals (SDGs)”. WCA and ECF delivered a document to the UN in 2015 in which it is shown that cycling delivers directly on at least 12 of the 17 SGDs, titled “Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals!”.

People are already discussing what World Bicycle Day could mean to their cities on social media using the hashtag #worldbicycleday.

In presenting its case to the UN, data from studies such as “A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario: The Potential for dramatically increasing cycle and e-Bike use” has been presented. Within this study it is demonstrated that, should cities around the globe dramatically shift their transport habits towards cycling that nearly $6 trillion over the next 15 years could be saved. Furthermore, in a high modal share scenario it is estimated that urban transport emissions could decline by about 7%.

Much of this data is available here.