With a bicycle you can travel further and carry more
Why bicycles
Bicycles help people move forward. With a bicycle, a person can travel faster and further, and carry more. Bicycles help people to change their lives. They are an accessible, reliable, affordable form of personal transport.
A bicycle makes it easier and quicker for people to get to where they want to go, and helps them to carry goods, including water and food.
Millions of people across Southern Africa have limited access to transport.
They have to walk long distances to get to where they need to be.
Problem
Access to transport
children walk to school every day in South Africa
8
million
Walking long distances requires significant time and energy.
Using a bicycle saves time and energy that can be used to learn, do chores, go to the shops, visit family and friends, and play.
Problem
Poverty
8
million
children in South Africa live below the food poverty line
In the absence of personal transport and/or a bicycle, transport is a non-negotiable expense as people must go to work and send their children to school.
In South Africa, 39% of poor households’ budgets are being spent on transport.
Using a bicycle saves money that would have been spent on alternative transport, such as buses and taxis.
The effects of poverty and limited access to transport on South African schoolchildren
Between Grade 1 and Grade 12, the class of 2023 lost 636 000 schoolchildren who dropped out of the school system.
CLASS OF 2023
2012
1 209 000
children started Grade 1
2023
573 000
children finished Grade 12
A bicycle saves time and energy
Bicycles are 3.5 times faster than walking.
With a bicycle the average child can cover the same distance to school in less than 1/3 of the time.
Impact
For a child walking to school daily, a bicycle:
Dramatically reduces travel time to school
Increases on-time arrival
Improves academic performance
Improves attendance
