Keen to stay fit and keep clear of infection, commuters around the world have turned to bicycles to get around during the coronavirus pandemic. The surge has lifted cycle sales sky high and given long-time biking advocates new hope. Bike shop owners in the Philippine capital of Manila say demand for bikes has been stronger than at Christmas. In India, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has advised states to promote non-motorised transport, including cycling, to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. Singapore’s cycle sales are growing and cyclists have taken advantage of the city state’s lighter traffic to ride in fresh air, free of potential infection. The deadly Covid-19 virus has sparked a global recession and hammered many industries, but it’s bike boom time in Taiwan, a leading bicycle producer that managed to avoid mass lockdowns by dealing the coronavirus early on. Giant, the world’s largest bike company, is taking full advantage of a tidal wave of demand. The orders have kept on coming, with reports of empty bike racks at dealers and long waits for resupply across Europe and North America. While Giant’s factories in Taiwan kept rolling, many of their facilities in China had to temporarily shut down when the virus first spread from Wuhan. Gina Chang, secretary general of the Taiwan Bicycle Association, said manufacturers initially suffered in the first quarter from cancelled or postponed orders when the virus first took hold. But since then, demand has roared back. “We are seeing rush orders or even panic buying,” she says. “Taiwan’s top two bike makers have orders lined up till the end of this year.” China manufacturers struggling to keep up with surge in global bike demand Many hope the pandemic will help encourage people to adopt bikes as a form of transport long after the threat of the virus has receded, something many European governments are keen on. In cities better known for car-clogged streets, bike lanes have been introduced to accommodate the surging interest in cycling. In London, municipal authorities plan to go further and ban cars from some central thoroughfares. Financial incentives are boosting sales in Italy, where the government’s post-lockdown stimulus included a € 500 (US$562) “bici bonus” rebate for up to 60 per cent of the cost of a bicycle. Poland’s production of bicycles rose by more than 40 per cent compared with last year, and is the highest in four years, according to data from the statistics office. The spike was probably caused by the coronavirus pandemic, business daily Puls Biznesu reported. In the United States, bicycle aisles at mass merchandisers like Walmart and Target have been swept clean, and independent shops are doing a brisk business and selling out of affordable “family” bikes. The global biking surge has led to shortages that will take some time to resolve, particularly in the US, which relies on China for about 90 per cent of its bicycles. The bicycle rush kicked off in mid-March, around the time countries were shutting their borders, businesses were closing, and stay-at-home orders were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus that has infected millions of people and killed hundreds of thousands. Around the world, many workers were looking for an alternative to buses and subways. People unable to go to their gyms looked for another way to exercise. And shut-in families scrambled to find a way to keep their kids active. The pandemic is also driving a boom in electric-assist bikes, called e-bikes , which were a niche part of the market until now. Most e-bikes require a cyclist to pedal, but electric motors provide extra oomph. Tim Blumenthal, president and CEO of PeopleForBikes, a national bicycle advocacy group based in Boulder, in the US state of Colorado, thinks this new biking enthusiasm will last. “Trends are looking up,” he says. “And I think there has been a fundamental change.” From March until mid-June 2020, Eco-Counter, an engineering company based in Montreal, Canada, which designs and provides bicycle and pedestrian counters, and analyses data, measured a 21 per cent increase in US urban ridership compared with the same time frame in 2019. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which pushes for the rehabilitation of former rail lines into bike paths, saw a 110 per cent increase in ridership on rail trails compared to the same time in 2019. Nolan Moser, assistant vice-president for the North American division of the Japanese bicycle component manufacturer Shimano, says his company’s products are also in high demand. “New riders are getting into cycling, or people are returning to cycling by fixing and using their existing bicycles,” he adds. The California Department of Transportation has designated US$7 million to “quick build” projects for local bike safety infrastructure. The state provides US$220 million for bike safety projects, but because of the pandemic, it has delayed the application process. The financial infusion will allow cities and towns to set up temporary protective barriers on roads, for instance, to pilot bike lanes, or safe areas around street parking. Some US cities have created “slow streets” where car traffic is limited. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Oakland, San Francisco, Redwood City and other places in California have set aside certain streets to encourage more safe outdoor recreation, including cycling.