Cycling causes congestion

From the Shanghai Daily - 4 January 2007

BICYCLES STILL RULE THE ROAD

About half of China's urban residents still choose to cycle to work
despite rapid development of public transport over recent years, a
transport expert told a recent forum in Guiyang, capital of southwest
China's Guizhou province.

The number of busses in Chinese cities has more than doubled from
136,000 in 1994 to 287,000 in 2004, while passenger volume jumped from
29.9 billion to 42.72 billion over the same peroid, according to Wei
Quinchao of Beijing Jiaotong University.

But when the urban residents go out, one-third walk, less than 20
percent take the bus, and about 50 percent cycle, he said. The other
10 percent use private cars. [The numbers don't add up!]

One reason for the large number of cyclists is that the urban
population is usually concentrated in the downtown area of a city and
the average distance for commuting is short, he said.

"But on the other hand, Chinese public transport still needs
improvement in terms of punctuality and speed," he said.

Currently, the mainland has about 500 million bicycles, according to
Beijing-based China Bicycle Association.

A number of Chinese cities have pledged to boost the development of
public transport to boost the development of public transport to ease
traffic congestion and other problems.

Xinhua




I am not quite sure how to interpret this article. It seems to be
blaming the sheer volume of bicycles and the lack of a decent public
transport network in urban areas for congestion. 10% of urban workers
using private vehicles does not seem to be an issue for the author.

"Tom Crispin" wrote in message
...

snip chinese anti bicycle article

I am not quite sure how to interpret this article. It seems to be
blaming the sheer volume of bicycles and the lack of a decent public
transport network in urban areas for congestion. 10% of urban workers
using private vehicles does not seem to be an issue for the author.

The Chinese government aren't keen on bicycles any more. I assume they see
it as a sign of being an undeveloped nation. The chinese media are run by
the government, so this is what you get.

On Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:08:12 GMT, "Doki" wrote:


"Tom Crispin" wrote in message
.. .

snip chinese anti bicycle article

I am not quite sure how to interpret this article. It seems to be
blaming the sheer volume of bicycles and the lack of a decent public
transport network in urban areas for congestion. 10% of urban workers
using private vehicles does not seem to be an issue for the author.

The Chinese government aren't keen on bicycles any more. I assume they see
it as a sign of being an undeveloped nation. The chinese media are run by
the government, so this is what you get.

There are mixed messages.

The Shanghai Government is desperately trying to encourage more
children to cycle to school to tackle a rising obesiety problem.

Tom Crispin wrote:
From the Shanghai Daily - 4 January 2007

BICYCLES STILL RULE THE ROAD

But when the urban residents go out, one-third walk, less than 20
percent take the bus, and about 50 percent cycle, he said. The other
10 percent use private cars. [The numbers don't add up!]

They do add up. 33.3% walk, 50% cycle and 10% use private cars leaving
6.67% on the bus, which is indeed less than 20%.

Den 2007-01-07 21:34:33 skrev Tom Crispin
:

I am not quite sure how to interpret this article. It seems to be
blaming the sheer volume of bicycles and the lack of a decent public
transport network in urban areas for congestion. 10% of urban workers
using private vehicles does not seem to be an issue for the author.


Bicycles are better congestion-wise than cars are, but they are much worse
in this respect than public transportation.

A tram measures 30x3 metres and has 80 seats. Assume it can operate with a
10m headway. That's 80 seats per 120 square metres in rush hour, or one
seat per 1,5 square metres.

A bike measures 2x0,5 metres and has one seat. Assume a cyclist needs two
square metres of empty road ahead. That's three square metres, double what
the tram takes. And I'm not counting standing passengers in the tram. Play
around with the numbers yourself and I think you will arrive at similar
conclusions.

If all the cyclists of Shanghai switched to publc transport, the total
capacity of the streets there would increase 50%. Just like that!

Just before you brand me an anti-cyclist troll, let me point out that a
car measures 4x2 metres and needs sixteen square metres on the road to
operate. With one to four people in the car, that's between four and
sixteen square metres of street space per person in the car. So cars are
between zero and five times as space-wasting as bicycles, and between
three and ten times as wasteful as trams.

I've assumed all the seats in the tram are full; in rush hour, there would
actually be some standees as well, so the tram is actually slightly more
efficient space-wise than this exercise indicates.

Erik Sandblom

--
Oil is for sissies

On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:50:12 +0100, "Erik Sandblom"
wrote:

Just before you brand me an anti-cyclist troll

I wouldn't dream of doing that.

But I would like to point out that it's not uncommon to see 3 or even
four people on one bike in Shanghai. And in Sanya I saw an incredible
7 people on a moped.

For your entertainment, here's a picture of the longest load I've ever
seen carried on a bike.

It was taken on Christmas Day in Sanya, a city in the extreme south of
Hainan Island, in the extreme south of China. Indeed, only a few
miles short of the most southerly point of China - World's End.

www.johnballcycling.org.uk/photos/longload

I guess this cyclist takes up about as much space as a bus.