Citizens Gathered in Fethiye for a ‘Bike-Friendly City’

A meeting titled “Are you ready to make Fethiye a bike-friendly city?” was held yesterday (June 20) at 6:00 PM by the Fethiye City Council Safe Pedals Working Group.

At the opening of the meeting at the Fethiye Cultural House, the function of the City Council was explained to the participants. It was emphasized that the council is a participatory body that adopts the understanding of “co-management” where citizens can voice their opinions to the local administration.

The aims of the meeting were stated as invigorating activities with the addition of new members to the working group, producing new projects, and presenting and following up these projects with authorized institutions.

Participants were also given the floor to share their suggestions. Within this scope, proposals such as building a bike path in the school area, providing bike carriers on municipal public transportation vehicles, shared bicycle usage, and bicycle training in schools were presented.

Additionally, topics such as ensuring safe riding on the bike path, increasing lanes and signs at pedestrian crossings on the blue bike route, and conducting discussions to increase inspections in areas under the responsibility of the police were brought up.

Furthermore, the “Annual Work Report” of the Fethiye City Council Safe Pedals Working Group was shared.

Regarding the meeting, İsmail Can Dursun, Member of the Executive Board of the Safe Pedals Working Group, answered questions from Duru Şevval Ayyüce of Gündem Fethiye.

Describing the establishment process of the Safe Pedals Working Group, Dursun said, “The formation of this group was actually due to an accident. Unfortunately, it was because of an unfortunate accident. We lost a friend. That is why the name ‘Safe Pedals’ was chosen as a reference to this incident.”

Providing information about the group’s activities, Dursun continued:

“Later, we held an event called the silent ride, specifically to draw attention to this accident. How can we prevent our cyclist friends from dying in road accidents? How can roads be made safer for bicycles? How can drivers be more cautious, or how can bike paths be made safer? We started gathering and discussing these issues.”

“IT IS CONSIDERED THAT TAKING A PARTICIPATORY SOLUTION PATH WILL LEAD TO A BETTER RESULT”

Dursun stated that they aim to create a collaborative work ecosystem by working together with the Municipality within the City Council and said:

“The Municipality already has some efforts regarding bicycles, but it was thought that going towards a more participatory solution path with public support would yield a better result. In addition to this, there have been several events related to education and discussions with the Municipality about planned bike paths.”

Expressing their desire to continue working with new volunteers, Dursun said:

“Towards the end of this year, due to some friends’ busy schedules and inability to allocate time, we needed new members and volunteers. That is why we decided to organize this event. Now, we want to determine our path together according to the people who come and decide on which issues to work based on incoming suggestions.”

“MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE”

Finally addressing bicycle riders, Dursun said:

“I see their numbers increasing every day. On one hand, this is very pleasing. On the other hand, as the number increases, the bike-friendly safe roads also need to increase, but this increase is not proportional to the number of bicycles. Of course, bike paths are increasing, but more work is needed in this area. I kindly ask our cyclist friends to join such groups and provide more active support.”