'Ride your bike to work!'

The Hungarian Ministry of National Development and the Hungarian Cyclists’ Club have launched their jointly organized campaign promoting cycling for the 13th time, starting on April 22, that is International Earth Day, this spring and finishing on May 30.

The number of people joining the campaign has been increasing year by year: last spring the number of cyclists taking to regular cycling for the first time was 2,800 of the 8,000 participants, while in the autumn campaign 2,000 cyclists of the 7,000 participants. The number of destinations has been increasing continuously, too.

During the last campaign, cyclists registered from more than 2,000 work places. In the autumn of 2013, secondary schools, universities and colleges were also invited by the campaign, the favorable response confirmed by the joining of 110 educational institutes with over 400 participants.

At the opening ceremony of this spring’s campaign, Minister of State for Infrastructure, Pál Völner said that the government had built or reconstructed cycle paths in a total length of almost 500 kilometers in the past four years.

According to the plans, in the coming years the domestic cycle route network will be extended by additional more than 600 kilometers as a result of the developments. Three key investments may be launched in 2015 at the earliest, including the complex development of the section of the EuroVelo 6 international bicycle route between Rajka on the Slovak border and the south agglomeration of Budapest, the construction of a bicycle route between the capital and Lake Balaton, and the modernization and extension of the bicycle route around Lake Balaton.