A congested Dhaka driving cycle sales
Bicycle has been the recommended mode of transport for Kazi Rokibul Haque for an excellent few years now.
At first the 35-year-old took to the two-wheeler as a sort of exercise given his sedentary lifestyle.
But as he started riding it he discovered that it was a quicker mode of transport in the congested Dhaka city than cars: he could easily dodge traffic and reach his office promptly.
"It saves both money and time. Before I start for office I look into Google Maps and decide what things to use today: cycle or car," said Haque, who works at an apparel buying house in Uttara.
His commute strategy encouraged six more of his colleagues to get two-wheelers.
Like Haque and his colleagues, a growing number of men and women are signing up for cycling and thus buoying the marketplace for the environment-friendly vehicle.
"The overall demand is definitely growing," said Joynul Abedin, chief operating officer of RFL Bike Industry, making and markets Duranta bicycle for both Bangladesh and European markets.
Today, the value of the domestic bicycle market is Tk 1,200 crore in fact it is growing at 7-8 % annually, according to an estimate of RFL Bike, a concern of PRAN-RFL Group.
More people in cities are showing interest in using bicycles as persons are progressively becoming more health conscious.
"This is also good for the environment and an excellent vehicle for short distance commuting," Abedin said, adding that the entry of food delivery services like HungryNaki, foodpanda, Uber Eats also put into the demand for bicycles.
Marketers and sellers said the bicycle market has been growing during the last decade because of improvements in the grade of roads, health consciousness, growing traffic jam in Dhaka and environmental awareness among a portion of youth and mid-aged people.
The relatively cheap of bicycle than motorcycles is another factor propelling the demand for the non-motorised vehicle, which costs between Tk 8,000 and Tk 20,000 each in general.
"The make use of trendy bicycle with options like gear changing is increasing in cities," said Abedin, adding that two lakh bicycles can be purchased in the domestic market in a month.
The expansion of the two-wheeler, which sometimes appears in abundance and employed by people irrespective of ages and gender in European cities like Copenhagen, comes at the same time when Dhaka is termed as among worst cities for polluting of the environment.
And encouraged by the spiralling demand for the two-wheeler, Omar Faruk, owner of Babul Cycle Store in Dhaka's Farmgate, started selling bicycles in 2015 aside from providing fixing and maintenance services to cyclists.
Babul Cycle Store now sells roughly 20 bicycles a day, which is double the quantity it might sell five years ago, according to Faruk.
"Once persons were purchasing cycles as a spare time activity. Now, many persons are buying bicycles to commute to work and do other tasks in order to avoid traffic jams," he added.
Mohammad Jewel Mia, who works as a mason in a construction firms, is among such person.
He has been using bicycles going back two and half years to visit the construction site at Banani from his residence at Mohammadpur.
"This is very helpful. It saves me Tk 85 as bus and rickshaw fares on each way," he said.
Imported bicycles from China account for 60-70 per cent of the domestic market, according to sellers.
Yet, manufacturers said locally manufactured cycles have become popular as they are also adorned in the European markets.
"Folks are buying bicycles for various purposes. We see great promise," said Md Luthful Bari, secretary of the Bangladesh Bicycle & Parts Manufacturers' and Exporters Association (BBPMEA).
Both Abedin and Bari urged the federal government for support to facilitate expansion of domestic manufacturing and bicycle markets.
"This could be an alternative solution to traffic jam and saving the environment from pollution and reducing the utilization of fossil fuel," said Bari, while calling for another lane on roads for bicycles.
The government should also decrease the corporate tax to make the prices of domestically produced cycles more competitive against the imported ones and in the export market, said Bari, also the director of procedures of Meghna Group, another local manufacturer and exporter of bicycle.
Competitiveness of locally made bicycles is eroding regarding prices against the imported types as a section of the traders are bringing the two-wheeler in the completely knocked down (CKD) format and assembling them here, said Abedin of RFL.
Subsequently, he urged the earnings authority to discriminate between complete and painted and raw finished or unpainted components of bicycles to encourage domestic manufacturing.
But exactly what will truly ramp up bicycle sales will be a good traffic management system to permit cyclists to go about safely.
"Once people deems it secure enough, they'll jump in and get one themselves," added the plucky cyclist Haque.
