Civic activist selected as city’s first Bicycle Mayor

After Guwahati and Vadodara, Bengaluru now has its own Bicycle Mayor. Sathya Sankaran was announced as the Bicycle Mayor on Monday.

The honorary two-year position is supported by ByCS (formerly Cycle Space), an Amsterdam-based NGO, striving to make 50% of all city trips on a bicycle by 2030.

Sankaran was selected from the six finalists shortlisted by a five-member jury. The other shortlisted candidates were Anil Prabhakar, Maharshi Sanket, Murali H R, Murali Kartik, Prabhakar Rao, who are all cycling enthusiasts based in the city.

Sankaran is a tactical urbanist with 10 years' experience in civic activism and mobility interventions. He is an avid cyclist and commutes to his office — a distance of 40 km — by cycle, and takes century rides for recreation on some weekends. Sankaran has been working towards a sustainable vision for Bengaluru, campaigning for solutions around urban planning, urban governance, non-motorised transport and public transport. He has also been instrumental in the observance of the Cycle Day and other commuter rail campaigns.

Speaking at the event, Murali Krishna, special officer, Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), said: "It is mandated to create cycling infrastructure and parking hubs in the city to support public bicycle sharing. The DULT will always support all initiatives related to cycling.”