Sales of bikes up in Turkey as alternative to public transport amid COVID-19

In a bicycle shop in Ulus district of Ankara, Turkey's capital, a bicycle dealer was discussing with a potential buyer about using the bike to avoid the public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bicycle sales have boomed in Turkey during the coronavirus outbreak and people have been flocking to dealers across the nation to purchase this basic form of transport.

"My office is about 10 km away from my home, I have to take the subway then the bus to get there. I am afraid of being contaminated on the way, so I decided to ride a bike," said Cetin Derin, a 33-year-old engineer, who added that he was not particularly interested in owning a bike before the pandemic.

The shop, where he is negotiating for a good price for the bike, used to sell most of its stocks to children, but this year sales for adults have gone up.

"This year, we are selling bicycles mostly for grown-ups because of the virus," said Mustafa, an employee of the shop who indicated that sales went up by a staggering 30 percent.

"People want to avoid public traffic, and they also want to ride a bike for exercises after staying at home for a long period during the outbreak," he added.

Bicycle parts and equipment are also sold in stores or via the Internet.

According to news reports, like some other countries, interests for bikes have reached the highest level in 16 years in Turkey. For some producers, it is hard to meet the demand.

Dogan Kilic, who has been selling bicycles for 35 years in Istanbul's Unkapani neighborhood, a traditional bicycle market, told daily Hurriyet that it has now become difficult to find bicycles on the market and that the prices have risen.

"I made the highest sales of my career in these two months," Kilic said, adding that "in some large sports stores, the prices almost doubled."

There is also a high demand for scooters amid the pandemic.

Ayhan Altun, a real estate agent in Antalya in the Mediterranean coast, bought himself a scooter in May to avoid being infected in public traffic.

"I can go with a speed up to 25 km per hour, so it makes my daily life very easy and stress-free regarding the virus. It is also environmentally-friendly," Altun told Xinhua that he is planning to sell his car.

An e-scooter company Marti (seagull) has launched an initiative since last year in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey's two biggest cities, allowing users to travel with scooters through a smart phone application.

The application shows the users the position of the two-wheelers and users can leave the scooters anywhere after their ride.

After some traffic accidents were reported lately, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu said on Tuesday that the government was considering a legal regulation about the e-scooters.

"Lately, the use of the e-scooters has increased amid the pandemic. It is good and has drawn our attention. We are brainstorming the legal regulations," said the minister.

"Investments will continue to encourage more people to ride bicycles. It is for the benefit of the cities as more people are preferring bicycles," he remarked.