Beijing plans to revive bikes for better traffic, blue sky

In 2009, the management of traffic in Beijing was a somewhat helpless and awkward: on the one hand, in order to keep the sky blue and relieve traffic jams, the government encouraged the development of public transport and restricted traffic based on the last digits of license plate numbers; on the other hand, the number of private cars grew at an unprecedented rate, and the number of private cars exceeded 4 million, which resulted in the nearly continuous traffic jam. Meanwhile, the proportion of bicyclists keeps dropping year by year.

During the convening of the "two sessions," the traffic problem was put on the agenda again. The NPC members and members of the National Committee of the CPPCC had suggested that the government should encourage people to use green means of transportation, such as bicycles, while promoting bus transport as a priority. The relevant department of the Municipal Government announced that the development of bicycle transportation had been put on the agenda. Bicycle transportation shall be included in the transportation planning of the city, and by 2015, the proportion of bicyclists shall reach 23%.

In May of last year, Ark Public Bicycle Rental Company launched  the public bicycle month free experience activity, during which  people can rent bicycles for free.

In the "traffic jam" era for automobiles, could the bicycle, once among the old "Three Articles," be revived not as not a fitness tool but a tool of urban transport?

The bicycle shall be included in the transportation planning

Because people are longing for private cars, more and more of the road space is being occupied by cars, while there is less and less room for bicycles, and at the same time, the proportion of bicyclists to people driving cars keeps falling. According to the data, between January and April, 2009, bicyclists only accounted for about 19.7% of Beijing residents, a drop of 0.6% compared with the same period in 2008.

A relevant government official said that according to the Action Plan about Constructing the Humanistic Transportation, Technological Transportation and Green Transportation (between 2009 and 2015) released by Beijing Municipal Government, by 2015 the pattern for Beijing's overall transportation pattern should be as follows: bus transport 45%, car 22%, taxi 8%, and bicycle 23%.

The official said that according to the rapid rise in the number of automotive vehicles, we must try to keep the proportion of bicyclists above 20%, while dramatically reducing the proportion of cars. The government will adopt measures to guide and encourage people to ride bicycles.

A Beijing transportation department official said that bicycle transportation will be included in the transportation planning of the city. In order to promote bicycle transportation and protect the right-of-way of bicyclists, Beijing shall build two demonstration plots for bicycle transportation.