A race conducted by the Life without Traffic Jams” campaign has showed that the fastest way to get to work in Warsaw during the rush hour is by bike.
Racing driver Maciej Wislawski, Polish motorcycling champion Mateusz Korobacz and Olympic Games cyclist Jacek Bodyk raced from the Bialoleka suburb to the Palace of Science and Culture in the centre of Warsaw, crossing a bridge on the Vistula River on the way.
The contestants set off at 8.10 CET this morning. The winner turned out to be the cyclist who covered the distance in less than 33 minutes.
Both the racing driver and the motorcyclist reached the destination point almost at the same time - in 37 minutes. A combined journey by bus and underground took over an hour.
The same test conducted on a shorter distance showed similar results: a cyclist reached the destination point in 13 minutes, a person travelling by bus in 32 minutes and a walker in 54 minutes.
“We wanted to show the way to deal with traffic jams and what happens if we decide to switch a car for a bike,” said Dariusz Wilk, organizer of the campaign.
A survey on transport habits conducted by the same campaign in September in Warsaw among 387 drivers (205 men and 182 women) showed that as many as 85 percent of Varsovians travel by car and 12 percent with just one passenger.
Residents of remote districts of the capital such as Wawer or Ursus spent on average an hour and 20 minutes to drive to work. On average a resident of Warsaw spends eight hours a week commuting. (mg/pg)
Source: PAP