CHENNAI: Speeding motorists were the primary cause of concern for cyclists who participated in the Handlebar survey organised by Chennai Smart City Limited on Saturday.
Cyclists rode in three routes from Little Mount Metro Station to the Chennai Corporation park in MRC Nagar, covering Sardar Patel road, Thiru Vi Ka bridge, West Canal, Adithanar road, LB road, OMR service road and Indira Nagar, to report various issues they faced along the way, as part of the survey.
Of the 50 participants who took part in the survey, only seven were women.
However, organisers said the participation of women and livelihood cyclists had featured in their agenda and they were looking to improve their participation, keeping the survey open for another week.
"We initially had contacted those who had participated in our earlier preference survey to invite people to participate for the survey on Saturday. We had specifically asked them to bring women and any livelihood cyclists they know, along with them. About 15% of the participants turned out to be women," said one of the organisers.
"We also didn't want a lot of people gathering because of the COVID-19 situation," the organiser added.
Moreover, since the cyclists traveled as a group this time around, several motorists were found giving way to them. Since this may not be the case when one is cycling alone, survey organisers have asked people to take the same route by the end of a week and report any problems they may face cycling individually.
Smart city officials said that the participation and feedback have been encouraging with questions from the public such as how Corporates may participate in the initiative.
"Corporates can give shower and changing room facilities for cyclists who want to ride to work, whether it is their own bike or from the city's cycle sharing system. They should be able to take up cycling seriously," an official said.