Katowice, a city for cyclists?

Wondering whether houses for sale in Katowice in Ochojec are worth a look? If you favour eco-friendly two-wheeled transport, then absolutely! In April this year, new city bike stations opened in Katowice. There are now 30 stations across the city and more than 240 bikes. "Katowice has the most bikes to hire in the whole region," says Mayor Marcin Krupa proudly. And this is only the beginning.

There are now almost three times as many stations and bikes as just a year ago. Additional stations have been built in the city centre and in the south (Ligota and Piotrowice, among others, gained them) – near the Silesia City Center shopping centre, Trzy Stawy and on Osiedle Franciszkańskie in Ligota. Among the Katowice stations are as many as 10 hire points known as sponsor stations. Private sponsors took on their funding. The stations in Ligota-Panewniki (6 stations) and in Piotrowice-Ochojec (3 stations) were created under the civic budget. All the bikes form the City By Bike system and can be used until mid-October.

As Mayor Krupa announces, this is not the last word when it comes to bikes in Katowice. In the long run the bike is meant to play an even greater role in public transport than before. The development of stations in Katowice is a significant step towards building a metropolitan bike scheme. A city bike scheme already exists in Gliwice, will probably arrive in Sosnowiec next year, and Tychy also has plans for one.

Bikes alone are not everything. The city is also modernising its cycling infrastructure. 40 km of cycle paths are to be renovated by the end of the year. In addition, last year a project to build cycle routes, "The Basic Cycling Infrastructure Network in Katowice", got under way; it will run until 2019, with a budget of 16 million PLN allocated to it.

A city bike scheme is a very valuable initiative. The more bikes in the city, the fewer cars, less pollution and less noise, which is a considerable relief for Katowice. We are increasingly maturing towards pro-environmental attitudes and realising that our everyday choices affect the quality of life of society as a whole. Not only local authorities, residents and policymakers but also public institutions, including universities, and business are involved in developing city bikes in the GOP (Upper Silesian Industrial Region).