BICYCLE INITIATIVE
Historical Peninsula
Bicycle Train
The Istanbul Historical Peninsula is one of the most special regions in the world with its thousands of years of historical and touristic importance. This region is home to many historical structures such as Zeyrek Mosque, Süleymaniye Mosque, Sultanahmet Square and Hagia Sophia, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The pedestrianization projects carried out in the Historical Peninsula aim to increase pedestrian access by reducing motor vehicle traffic and improve the overall quality of life. These projects were implemented to protect the historical texture of the region and to provide visitors with a more comfortable tour. The best solution for the Historical Peninsula is to encourage transportation by bicycle. Bicycle tours both contribute to the protection of the region and enable visitors to travel in the most beautiful way. In addition, hotels need to contribute to bicycle transportation in order to be sustainable environmentalists.
What is a Bicycle Train?
A Bicycle Train is an organized mass movement for safe transportation by bicycle. These are bicycle convoys with specified routes, known departure and arrival times, that can be joined from the stops at the transition points, that move at a constant, slow pace, that everyone can join, that move in single file, that are guided by a leading locomotive bicycle and controlled by a follower bicycle, and that are used for touristic trips or transportation in daily life.
Historic Peninsula Bicycle Train:
The Bicycle Train Project is the most realistic and applicable solution that encourages bicycle transportation in the Historic Peninsula. Within the scope of this project, bicycle convoys departing from certain points pass in front of the hotels included in the bicycle train application and pick up the guests. They tour the Historic Peninsula in a guided and safe manner and return them to the hotels. In this way, visitors both discover the historical areas and have a safe bicycle experience.
Bicycle Train Tourism Application:
Bicycles are of great importance as an environmentally friendly, silent, economical, healthy and entertaining means of transportation in historical and touristic places. In regions such as the Historic Peninsula, the use of bicycles both offers an environmentally friendly transportation alternative and helps preserve the historical texture of the region. The importance of bicycles is also great for sustainable hotels; bicycle transportation supports the environmentally sensitive and sustainable tourism approach of the hotels.
The Bicycle Train Project is the most realistic and applicable solution that encourages bicycle transportation in touristic areas. This project offers guided, technically supported, continuous and safe bicycle tours with bicycle convoys departing from certain points. The bicycle train application allows both tourists and locals to discover historical and touristic places by bicycle.
Implementation Method:
1. Departure Points: The bicycle train departs from the designated places. These points pass in front of the hotels, pick up the guests and the guided tours begin.
2. Guided Tours: Safe and informative tours are organized with professional bicycle guides. Guides provide information about historical and touristic places and also provide technical support.
3. Technical Support: The technical support team maintains and repairs the bicycles throughout the bicycle train. In this way, participants complete their tours safely.
4. Continuous and Safe Tours: The bicycle train departs regularly at certain times and carries out its tours safely. In this way, participants always experience a safe and regular bicycle tour.
The Bicycle Train Tourism Project offers an environmentally friendly, quiet, economical, healthy and fun transportation alternative by encouraging the use of bicycles in historical and touristic places. Bicycle transportation is of great importance for sustainable hotels and this project supports the hotels' environmentally sensitive tourism approach. Discovering the beauties of the Historical Peninsula is now easier and more enjoyable with guided, technically supported, continuous and safe bicycle tours.
Requirements for the Project to Start:
Each hotel provides its own bicycles through leasing. In this way, hotels provide additional service to their customers with their own bicycles. With the leasing system, bicycles pay for themselves and provide additional income to hotels. By offering these bicycles to their customers, hotels provide both an environmentally friendly transportation alternative and contribute to sustainable tourism.
Solution Partners:
1. Group A Tourism Agency: Bicycle tours are carried out with agency services such as guided, technical service, security and insurance.
2. Bicycle Initiative: It carries out the necessary route work for the bicycle train, bicycle guides, bicycle technical staff and social media promotions.
3. Kapbike: It enables hotels to rent bicycles through the bicycle leasing system.
4. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality: It provides the necessary arrangements and supports the project.
5. Historical Peninsula Hotels: It takes its own bicycles by participating in the project and gains the advantage of being a station.
Stages:
1. Determination of Hotels: The hotels that will be included in the project must be determined. The hotels that will be included will be decisive in the preparation of the bicycle train route map. Depending on which hotels will be passed, the hotels will be referred to as bicycle train stations.
2. Preparation of the Bicycle Route: When the bicycle route is prepared, video and photo work will be done and promotions will be made on social media.
3. Road Arrangements: If there are problems on the determined road, arrangements will be made by the municipality.
4. Timing and Guides: Which days, at which times, where and how many hours the Historical Peninsula Bicycle Train will start will be determined and bicycle guides will be created.
5. Media Promotion: When these stages are clarified, media promotion work will be done and bicycle train applications will be started gradually.