Cycling in Kuala Lumpur: The Bicycle Map Project

Being a ‘village bicycle’ is no longer a bad thing – join the community that’s making cycling relevant through the Bicycle Map project.

It cannot be denied, cycling has hit the mainstream in Malaysia over the past few years despite challanges such as extreme weather conditions, bad road terrains, horrendous traffic and overall nasty driving etiquette on the roads – just to name a few. However, this change is great for the environment and also the personal fitness of many Malaysians, so we applaud those who are opting to take this healthier alternative to transportation!

Photo taken from Juan Lyn, off Village Bicycle’s Facebook Page

To elevate that experience one step further, is Village Bicycles; a movement about being local and communal in support of cycling, and are doing things differently to highlight the humble bicycle in its truest form; transportation!

Their aim is to advocate cycling through film screenings events, documentation, independent publications, examples of cycle touring & the latest biggest initiative – the Bicycle Map project.

Photo taken from Chao, off the Village Bicycle Facebook page

According to the Cycling Kuala Lumpur Facebook group, this initiative aims to provide a bicycle route map for all types of cyclists. It will be a community-built, bicycle route-map project featuring different types of routes for getting in, out, & around Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

The map is centred on KL City Centre and covers about 88 square km, with all the key roads connecting the surrounding suburban areas.

Currently, the base maps have been printed and are being distributed to volunteers who are now surveying and mapping out suitable routes at their respective districts.

The volunteers meet every saturday, and those interested in volunteering are more than welcome to partake in the Bicycle Map project.  The first draft is expected to be complete by the end of June so that the printed bicycle map will be done by the end of 2013 for free, thanks to Studio 25.

This project is currently an independent initiative, advocating cycling as a proactive mode of transport – our hats off to the wonderful people of Village Bicycles for initiating such a wonderful project that will no doubt place Kuala Lumpur as one of the top cycling cities in the world (*shakes fist at Amsterdam) in the near future.