Protest rallies expected soon in 14 cities
Cyclists have responded to the sidelining of bicycles in Greek cities by mobilizing and taking legal action. On April 12, they will hold rallies at noon in 14 cities: Athens, Drama, Mytilene, Patras, Ioannina, Rethmynon, Larissa, Iraklion, Karditsa, Kammena Vourla, Karpenisi, Corinth, Thessaloniki and Volos to highlight the problems they have cycling in each city. Meanwhile, a conference organized at the National Technical University of Athens by a group of cyclists presented the study for bike paths in Athens. The proposed paths link Kifissia with the Moschato seafront, Aghia Paraskevi with the Acropolis district, the Antonis Tritsis environmental park with Hellenikon, and Peristeri with Kalamaki, in addition to a seafront path. Another group of cyclists who are also lawyers has submitted a plea to the Council of State to rescind the ruling that enabled the metro to ban bicycles on board. They argue that a total ban is unfair, that the ruling runs counter to sustainable development, since bicycles are indubitably the cleanest means of transport, and that bicycles are already allowed on trams and the suburban and Kifissia-Piraeus electric railways. Attiko Metro based the ban on its regulations prohibiting the transportation of «dangerous objects.» Yet bicycles travel safely in the end compartments of trains everywhere else in the world.
