“Low-carbon transportation will be promoted, public transportation will be prioritized, rail transit will be enhanced, and green transportation such as bicycles will be encouraged.” 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP).
Background
China, known as the “kingdom of bicycle”, owns nearly 500 million bicycles. Most Chinese cities don’t need to promote cycling as a mode of transport, as mode shares are well into the double digits; ‘but they do need to defend the modal share the bicycle currently has’ (ITDP, 2010). To build eco-cities, the Chinese Government, in 2103, through the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the guideline on promoting construction of urban bicycle and pedestrian transportation systems.
Challenges
Over the past four decades however, increasing ownership and the use of private motor cars has seen a dramatic decline in bicycle usage. With the development of urban motorization, the conflict between the cyclists and motorists become one of the vital reasons of urban transport problems. With increased purchasing power and the rising role of the car as a status symbol, the car became the dominating mode of transport in China, while the use of bicycles started to decline, contributing to a marked deterioration in air quality.
Successes
According to a report by the United Nation ESCAP- KOTI, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development launched “China's urban pedestrian and bicycle traffic system demonstration project”. Hangzhou public bicycle sharing system developed as the model in China. In October 2013, it was reported that Hangzhou public bicycle scheme is the world's 16the best public bicycle sharing scheme. Public bicycle sharing system complements public transport capacity in large cities and megacities in China. Cycling has recently increased in Chinese cities as a result of the emergence of station-less bike-sharing systems. At present, more than 120 cities provide public bicycle service to promote urban green transport revival. Following the introduction of free-floating bike sharing companies such as the ofo and Mobike, many more operators commenced operations all over China, placing millions of bikes on the cities’ streets.
By exploring new ways to make cycling more attractive to the public, Bejing in 2019 opened a ‘bicycle highway’ which is a 6.5 km long partially elevated cycling-only road, designed by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (BMCT). According to the city’s 13th Five-Year Plan, Beijing aims to build 3.2 km of bike lanes within the city’s Third Ring Road by 2020.
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