Syrian conflict and broken roads opens new business channels for cycling

A Facebook campaign called “She Wants a Bicycle Now” led by Syrian college students is getting young people on bikes in impressive numbers. A shout-out on social media urged participants to cycle to school and park their bikes near their classrooms, a provocative gesture, since (in stark contrast to US and EU schools) most Syrian campuses prohibit bikes. Organizers, mostly engineering students, told Syria Untold that they aim “to change community habits and promote alternative transportation.” Bikes reduce pollution and save Syria’s scarce petrol, which doubled in price since since 2012.

Three years of brutal war have caused catastrophic losses for most Syrian businesses, but not for the city’s few bike shops. Sales are exploding as young Damascenes increasingly swap their cars for bikes to avoid epic traffic jams caused by hundreds of security checkpoints where every car is army-inspected.

This backdrop of car-woes (over half of the capital’s streets have been closed) likely underpins the wild success of the student campaign.

Hundreds of bicycles appeared on campuses; photos were shared on Facebook and supporters posted personal experiences. Professors joined in, as did local clerics. (Just a few months back only delivery men and newsboys rode bikes.)

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Syrian conflict and broken roads opens new business channels for cycling