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| Shanghai may relent on bicycle ban |
| 日期:2004-02-27 15:43 编辑: system 来源： |
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Shanghai,China--Labeled bike-haters in a nation of cyclists, bureaucrats in China's largest city now appear to be backpedaling.
A ban on bicycles in much of this busy commercial hub's downtown area took effect last month, drawing widespread scorn. With cars clogging city streets, residents have scoffed at suggestions that the prohibition was needed to reduce congestion. A tenfold increase in traffic fines for cyclists--punishment derided as harassment aimed at discouraging bike use--was to take effect in May.
During the weekend, however, city officials announced plans to build a downtown network of pathways for cyclists, newspapers reported Monday. While not an outright repeal of the ban, the bike path plan appears to reverse a trend toward pushing cycles out of the city center, where traditional structures housing houses and shops are being razed to make room for skyscrapers and shopping malls.
"The bicycle is still a premier transport tool in the city," Wu Jiang, deputy director of the Urban Planning Bureau, was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily. Few details were given, although Wu said the bike paths would be integrated into urban renewal projects ahead of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
With a population of about 20 million people, Shanghai is home to about 9 million bikes. Although incomes here have boomed along with China's economic fortunes, most people still scrape by on the equivalent of a little over $100 per month and favor bikes both for their convenience and low cost.
"China is a developing country," Yu Pengfei, a city employee and critic of the bike ban, was quoted as saying in Shanghai Daily. "Instead of banning bicycles, the government should consider banning private cars in certain areas."
Source: ENN |
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