Bicycle Revolution will restrict traffic congestion?

Bicycles were introduced in the 19^th century. There are around one billion worldwide bicycles, twice as many as, automobiles. Bicycles form principal means of transportation in many regions. Today’s automobile industry has paced itself to manufacture half a million automobiles, apart from buses, three wheelers, lorry transport, etc. The roads are designed to carry a particular laden weight.Today, roads carry 4 times the load it is supposed to carry that the roads are likely to bust at its seems. The chaotic traffic has affected the speed of many of the modern day fast vehicles which needs to snarl on.

Shanghai has been a fascination for Indian businessmen, and often the conversations drift to India’s infrastructure comparison with that of China. A little known and unfashionable Shanghai suburb has an equally important lesson for Indian town planners in how to better plan its cities. Over a year, a quiet transportation revolution has been unfolding in sprawling Minhang district. This revolution has invested in a very low tech but extremely effective solution to battle the problems of crowing infrastructure bottle-necks that are so common to Indian Cities- the bi-cycle.

In an effort to coax the fast growing city’s middle class to abandon their gas guzzlers for two wheelers, the local government is making available free bicycles to residents. Free bicycle renting programme are by no means unique to Shanghai; New Delhi is also experimenting with this Scheme. But the sheer scale of the effort and the unprecedented public response has made Government sit up and take notice. Shanghai like booming world cities has seen its urban infrastructure stretched to its limits in the past decade. A programme attached to metro-rail terminals presently has a coverage of 230 stations with 12, 000 bicycles.. The bicycles are available 24 hours a day. Each resident is given an ID Card, with which one can rent and return bicycles at any of the stations, usually located near metro rail terminals. Private renting companies have also been roped in by the Government. This rage has spread to Xuhui district where another network has been created on similar terms. Residents are charged 2 Yuan (Rs 14/-) for every hour of renting. The Scheme works on the principle of seamless connectivity between metro network, the bicycle renting programme and bus routes.

Bicycle dedicated lanes- even at the cost of space for cars- and expanding space for pedestrians help disciplined movement of traffic. Car licenses are auctioned to the highest bidder at a average cost of the car, which dissuades buyers for going in for new cars, they revert to using bicycles. India, should take a leaf out of China to practice austerity at the same time an ideal way to reduce congestion. Our think tanks will they emulate the example of China?