Cycling in Athens, Greece, as a means of transport
8 years ago I started commuting by bicycle in Istanbul, Turkey. I can hear the ones who visited Istanbul saying they didn’t see any bicycles during their visits and that it is impossible to cycle in Istanbul’s traffic. However, as I am one of the many examples of people that do cycle there, I say it is possible. The bicycle is an important part of my life, as a commuting vehicle when I am in the city, and when I am out of city, as a traveling tool. A couple of months ago I moved to Athens, Greece with my bicycles and continue to cycle in the city for commuting and around the city for weekend excursions.
Turkish Traffıc Rules say it is a cyclist’s right to be on the road as a vehicle and forbids cycling on the sidewalk. In Istanbul it was a kind of “war” between cyclists and the rest, mostly car drivers, but also pedestrians. In Istanbul cyclists want to be seen by others and the problem starts when the others do not accept the bicycle as a vehicle on the road or they don’t know that it has the right to be on the road. The first thing I recognised in Athens traffic is that they see you. I am not sure if they want to see you as a cyclist, but the big majority knows you have the right to be on the road.
The Greek Traffic Rules definitely say that cyclists (including motorcycles and 3 wheeled vehicles) should be on the road, unless there is a sign against it, like on motorways. The rule I like is: On mixed pedestrian and cycle paths, if there is danger to the pedestrians. then you cannot cycle but you have to walk with the bicycle. Ideally cycle paths and sidewalks would be separate of course, but in the real world you have to have compromises sometimes.
I believe pedestrians are the owners of the city and above all, cities must be designed for them. If a child can walk and then cycle safely in a city, then we can truly call it a city. Then comes the bicycle as an environmentally friendly, healthy, efficient and economic vehicle in the urban design pillar and the other motorised vehicles only after that. I don’t know who wrote the Greek Traffic Rules but some parts look like a copy from an EU / European country with very basic and essential rules: lights, tires, brakes… Then some rules look far removed from cycling culture and more adept to underdeveloped countries, like the one prohibiting hanging from a truck etc. I feel there were no cyclists involved in the formulation of the Traffic Rules…
The first day I cycled in Athens, not as a visitor this time, but as a local, I was on Kifissias Avenue, one of the main roads to the centre of Athens. It was looking like any rush hour traffic with lots of cars, motorcycles, side roads and junctions but no cycle path. On top of these, the roads and the behaviour of the drivers were new to me so I couldn’t go with the flow on the road, I stopped many times to see if I am on the right path and tried to understand how the drivers react. The first thing I noticed was that even though there was traffic, the cars kept in their lanes, which is very unusual for Istanbul. I tried to stay on the right side of the road as I did in İstanbul (and as the law says) but the road quality was very poor, even on the main road. I couldn’t continue on the right part of the road and decided to move left. I was anxious because I was thinking the cars will change lanes, but they didn’t. That they kept their lanes means I had my own lane between the cars on the middle and the left lane. Since they were barely moving anyway, it was really on my own lane. I cycled like this and passed many cars. The only thing I needed to take care of was motorcycles. Of course there are a few cars that change lanes, but it is not a general behaviour. Rush hour is inevitably more chaotic. After realising that I can use other lanes, the road quality problem was replaced with the congestion problem. The smell was and still is very bad. Commuting by bicycle could help solve many issues like air pollution, parking space and health problems.
On the parts of the main road that are close to the city centre, there are separate lanes just for buses and two wheeled vehicles. I continued on this lane. Here the problem was taxi drivers who also want to use the lane — against the law. In the south of the city tram lines can be dangerous if you do not take care to cross them (almost) perpendicularly to your direction of travel. In coming days I also learned that the part in front of the US embassy is slippery, so do not cycle there even if it is empty. Another thing I learned, is the location of the big holes which are very dangerous to fall in. Until I become a part of the flow of the city, I don’t feel absolutely secure, because of old habits, incidents and accidents I had. but I also know that we define our cities.
In five months I had ‘just’ 6 “incidents” with a public bus driver and three private car drivers. Surprisingly no taxi drivers yet. In Istanbul, 6 was my minimum number for a day. Both don’t of course mean Athens is a cycling city and İstanbul is not. Indeed, they are both not, yet and the difference is that Athens wants to be a European city. It seems entering the EU helped a lot on this kind of issues by the compulsory compliance with European laws.
At the junctions, drivers almost always (99%) stop if there is a stop sign. However, the same drivers can park on the sidewalk. I believe you can understand the degree of civilization of a city by seeing the use of its sidewalks: If lots of cars are parking on them, if they become roads for motorcycles, storage of shops etc. or if they are just for pedestrians to walk safely as it is supposed to be. Athens won’t be a truly European city until it has proper sidewalks to use and people who use them in the right way. One of the things that make a city livable or not is the behaviour of the people. The infrastructure is another thing that affects the quality of life. The sidewalks of Athens will be the subject of another comment but it gives a clue why Athens still is not a cycling city.
I feel safe at the junctions in Athens. At the beginning as a bad habit, I was waiting for the cars to pass, as I did in Istanbul, even when it was my right to continue. Then I saw that they are really waiting for me! There is more than enough time for them to pass, but if there is a stop sign, they obey. What I am afraid of, is the road quality in Athens, again, also in the small roads. In Istanbul I was trying to pay attention to the car drivers and trying to show myself on the road to them, in Athens I know most of them see me and I just need to focus on the holes, patches etc. of the road.
In ’90s the cyclists in Athens made many protests for their rights, but I don’t know if car drivers stop at the junctions because of this, or they do not want to spend any money for repairing accident damage in the crisis. Compliance with EU laws has had a significant role on the general culture, but for a developed bicycle culture, cycle paths, parking places and even laws are not enough. There must be lots of pedestrians and bicycles on the road every day for the car-drivers to learn living with them.
There are some bicycle paths in different parts of the city. Here you can fınd all the bicycle paths in the city. I cycled on some of them. The main problem is they are regional. They start in a neighbourhood and stop in the same area-or even go to nowhere for that matter. Most of them have clear markings on the road and signs for drivers on the junctions at the beginning, but because of lack of maintenance, markings are faded. Again we see the sidewalk issue, the ramps are not good as the signs, sometimes there is no ramp. I guess the one from Tavros (almost the city centre) to SNFCC (Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center) is the newest one and looks like people are using it. In some areas it is a separate road but in some areas it a shared road with pedestrians, albeit where pedestrians have almost no room to walk. Municipalities should keep in mind that they must take road space from cars, not from pedestrians. Another cycling path is made on a disused train line. The landscape is so nice for the people living around and I hope they use it for cycling, walking, playing.
Integration with the public transport is a very important part for a cycling city. Everyone says that The Netherlands is flat so you can use the bicycle easily there, but don’t forget that there are regulations about how you can take your bicycle to the train, as well as connections and parking places. You can take your bicycle into the Athens metro system(ΗΣΑΠ / ISAP and Αττικό Μετρό /Attiko Metro) and trams anytime you want. Two bicycles per train, at the last carriage. Most of the train-metro stations have ramps or canals so you can reach the platforms with your bicycle. Six years ago when we were at ISAP with our bicycles during rush hour after a nice bicycle tour around Napflio, people were complaining about the bicycles. Now there is at least one bicycle at each run and most of the people seem to have accepted this.
You cannot reach all parts of the city via metro/ Isap or tram and you also cannot take your bicycle into busses, which is a problem for integration with the public transport. During summer I and many other cyclists don’t want to climb uphill with our bicycles sweating under the scorching sun, so we would need public transportation to reach all parts of the city. Let me put another note here which is named apergia!
Apergia (απεργεία) means strike in Greek. If you use public transport or car, then you need to follow this link, to see who is striking at any given day, but if you are commuting by bicycle no strike can stop you ;-)
Parking a bicycle is a big problem in the city centre. The streets and sidewalks are narrow so you cannot leave it outside. If you find a place to leave it, then you need very good locks, yes, at least two of them. The stairs and the small lifts in order to take your bicycle home every day are problems, as everywhere. Even if I am more comfortable with my ‘normal’ sized bicycle, considering the road quality, most of the time I prefer to use my foldable bicycle because I don’t want to look for a parking place, carry heavy locks and feel worried about my bicycle being vandalized or stolen. There are some areas I know I can park safely, like SNFCC (Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center)…
There are some bicycle clubs, festivals, organisations and shops in the city, which I am planning to write about separately, of course after the summer. : )) The one thing I want to mention is Critical Mass. It seems in the 1990’s and 2000’s there were Critical Mass rides in Athens and sometimes with tens of thousands of cyclists. Now I see the number of commuters is increasing but there is no ride such as CM, except for some other, smaller organised rides and events for fun.
Athens is the “araf*” of the cycling world. In Amsterdam or Copenhagen, cyclists have all the privileges of the traffic, in Istanbul if you are a cyclist then you are not a part of the car-dominated world, you are invisible to the car drivers, as well as to the pedestrians. As I said in the beginning, the first thing I recognised in Athens’ traffic is that they see you, they see you as a cyclist but I am not sure if they want you there. In Athens, I still couldn’t decide what/where I am. I feel safer on the road, but I still have the feeling bicycles are not an integral part of daily life yet. Athens will have to decide if it wants to be a European city by showing its willingness to accommodate cyclists.
*Araf is an Arabic world which we also use in Turkish means borderland between heaven and hell.
