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.