Government Supports Bicycle Infrastructure Development with HUF 61 billion2012. január 11.
“In the context of the New Széchenyi Plan, the Government has provided more than HUF 25 billion of funding to bicycle infrastructure development in the past months alone, and will allocate nearly HUF 36 billion to the construction and renovation of bicycle lanes”, said Ágnes Molnár, State Secretary for development policy coordination of the Ministry of National Resources in Győr on 11 January 2012 at the “Bicycle-friendly Settlement 2011” and “Bicycle-friendly Workplace 2011” award ceremony.
In her welcoming address, Ms Molnár added that the quality development of the bicycle lane surrounding Lake Balaton and the construction of the Budapest–Balaton bicycle lane will be given priority as national programmes among bicycle infrastructure projects. Also, the preparation and construction of “Path of Rivers”, a bicycle lane along the Danube, will be implemented as a key state project. The State Secretary also stressed the importance of border regions: three bicycle lanes connecting Hungary and Slovakia are currently under construction in the Hegyköz area. “We want to incentivise local governments and will support the spread of cycling and road safety campaigns through the New Széchenyi Plan”, explained Ms Molnár.
The calls for bids Bicycle-friendly Settlement and Bicycle-friendly Workplace had their fifth edition in 2011. The aim is to give the two awards to cities, villages, employers and institutions that are responsive to the needs of cyclists, in recognition of their exemplary measures and initiatives.
The six winning settlements include Budapest’s 17th district, Hódmezővásárhely, Győr, Tapolca, Gyomaendrőd and Győrújfalu. Ten new companies and institutions were added to the list of Bicycle-friendly Workplaces: Budapest Bank Nyrt., Guardian Orosháza Kft., HappyBike Kft., JABIL Circuit Magyarország Kft., Közlekedéstudományi Intézet Nonprofit Kft., Mondolat Iroda Tanácsadó és Szolgáltató Kft, OBO Bettermann Hungary Kft., the Mayor’s Office of the Local Government of Tokod Village, and Hegyeskő Elementary School and Mesevár Kindergarten, located in Tokod.
Source: Ministry of National Development