Transport Atlas

How The World Moves
Modes

Cycling

Also Known As Bicycling · Biking
Human-Powered Mode

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The riding of bicycles and other pedal driven human powered vehicles, practised worldwide for transport, recreation and sport. Popularized in Europe and North America in the last decades of the nineteenth century, it remains an effective mode for short to moderate distances and carries a quarter of all trips in the Netherlands.

Facts
Core Concern
Efficient human powered transport over short to moderate distances 1
Origin Year
1817 2
Karl Drais invented the Laufmaschine, also called the draisine or dandy horse, in 1817; it is regarded as the first bicycle and the forerunner of modern cycling.
Cross-Tradition Connections

Exemplified By

Followed By

Micromobility, Modes

Bicycles, the vehicle of the cycling mode, were in everyday urban use through the 19th and early 20th centuries, before automobiles displaced them and long before micromobility was named as its own category.

Pioneered By

John Kemp Starley, Figures

Starley pioneered the safety bicycle design that made mass cycling practical and safe, rather than cycling as an activity, which predates his 1885 machine; recorded associated rather than holds for that reason.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Cycling
WikipediaCycling as a means of transportation
Quote, Cycling as a means of transportation
Cycling is widely regarded as an effective and efficient mode of transportation optimal for short to moderate distances.
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2. History of the Bicycle (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia1817 to 1819 section
Quote, 1817 to 1819 section
Drais invented his Laufmaschine (German for 'running machine') in 1817, which was called Draisine (English) or draisienne (French) by the press.
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Micromobility (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation)Followed By: Micromobility, History
Quote, Followed By: Micromobility, History
Micromobility vehicles such as bicycles and scooters, have been in use since the 19th century, but in the early 20th century cars began to dominate in modal share in cities.
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Wikipedia: Safety Bicycle
WikipediaExemplified By: Safety Bicycle, History
Quote, Exemplified By: Safety Bicycle, History
In that same year, John Kemp Starley (J. K. Starley) came out with the first commercially successful safety bicycle he named the Rover.
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Wikipedia: John Kemp Starley
WikipediaPioneered By: John Kemp Starley, Introduction
Quote, Pioneered By: John Kemp Starley, Introduction
is widely considered the inventor of the modern safety bicycle, and also originator of the tradename Rover.
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