Critical Mass in Budapest. Autumn Edition 2009

Critical Mass on 22 September 2009



The autumn edition of Critical Mass in Budapest takes place on 22 September 2009.

Here comes the description:

On Car Free Day 2009, Critical Mass Budapest will again organize a large scale ride to promote bicycling – one of the most environmentally friendly forms of travel – and to raise awareness about the need to improve cycling conditions in the city. Assembling will start at 5:30 PM by encircling the Budapest City Hall block with thousands of locked bikes. The ride will then begin with a bike lift at 6:35 PM, without any specifically set route, to circle around the Big Ring Road (Nagykörút), and end with another bike lift at 8:00 PM at City Hall Park. This ride will allow participants to travel from the start to the finish in normal traffic, without any streets being closed by the police. Traffic laws will be respected.

DATE: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

TIME:

5:30 PM - Bicycle cordon around City Hall & Kidical Mass

6:35 PM - Ride begins with bike lift, circles around Big Ring Road

8:00 PM - Bike lift at City Hall Park

ROUTE: from City Hall Park around The Big Ring Road (Nagykörút) back to City Hall Park

IMPORTANT: Since no streets will be closed off for the event, people not used to bicycling in the capital city traffic should exercise extra caution: it is advised that they follow the larger groups of bicyclists on a safe route. The organisers also request that participants abide by all traffic laws, including the use of appropriate lights during the evening hours and the avoidance of riding on sidewalks.

Source: http://criticalmass.hu/english

Other useful link: http://www.cyclingsolution.blogspot.com/

Critical Mass. Budapest 2009

Today the Orthodox celebrate Easter, while in Hungary Critical Mass is taking place. A gathering of the bicyclers in Budapest and other cities in Hungary aims at attracting public attention to the problems of motor vehicles and public transport, such as air pollution, traffic jams, car accidents, noise etc. Moreover, Hungary is not as advanced in terms of the conditions for bicyclers compared to the Western European countries such as Germany or France where bicyclers can enjoy numerous bikeways without risk for their lives. Even though Budapest has several of those, but sometimes it is impossible to reach them, as they are occupied by the cars due to lack of parking space. Moreover, bicyclers are forced to choose whether to squeeze among the cars during the rush hours on majority of avenues (especially Erzsebet körut), or to go on pavement among peacefully walking people.
Therefore, Critical Mass is gaining popularity and tends to attract more public attention, which is a positive development, as more people may change cars to bikes. This is especially up-to-date during the times of crisis. At the same time it is not that effective and is rather ignored by the authorities (except for the police) and tends to become a mere pop event with lots of fun and picknicks (as some consumerism is also involved there - T-Shirts and other symbolic are sold during the event)...
Let me see and write my observations after the end of the event.
So far - the PROMO VIDEO and the HUNGARIAN CRITICAL MASS WEBSITE

AND NOW - >>PHOTOS!!! and >>MORE PHOTOS!!!