About half of Chinese urban residents choose bicycle for
commuting despite fast development of public transport over recent
years, a transport expert has said.
The number of buses in Chinese cities has risen from 136,000
in1994 to 287,000 in 2004, and the passenger volume has risen from
29.9 billion in 1994 to 42.72 billion in 2004, Wei Qingchao, of the
Beijing Jiaotong University, has told a forum in Guiyang, capital
of southwest China's Guizhou Province.
But when the urban residents go out, one third will walk, less
than one fifth take bus, and one tenth choose other vehicles, and
about a half ride bicycle, he said.
One reason is that the Chinese urban population usually
concentrate on the downtown area of a city and the average distance
for commuting is short, he said.
"But on other hand, Chinese public transport still needs
improvement, such as punctuality and speed," he said.
Currently, China's mainland has about 500 million bicycles,
according to the Beijing-based China Bicycle Association.
A number of Chinese cities have pledged to boost the development
of public transport to ease traffic congestion and other
problems.
The Chinese capital will raise the number of buses from 18,000
to 19,000 and 21,000 by 2010, and extend the metro from the present
114 km to at least 270 km, according to Liu Xiaoming, deputy
director of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission.
The government is also giving discounts of up to 60 percent for
residents --- and even 80 percent for students --- for bus tickets
to encourage people to choose public transport.
The city aims to raise the proportion of citizens choosing
public transport from about 30 percent to more than 40 percent by
2010, Liu said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2007)