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Forget bikes for HK's health
By Hong Liang (China Daily)

I was amused and bewildered to see the lead in a recent issue of a Hong Kong English-language daily newspaper calling for the return of bicycles on the city's streets.

The argument was the greater use of bicycles could help improve the quality of the air, which was widely seen to be fouled by, among other things, the emissions from the proliferating number of automobiles. The writer cited examples in several European capitals where a growing number of civic-minded citizens have chosen to ride their bicycles to work.

This doesn't come across as such a good idea for Hong Kong, with its many narrow streets and heavy traffic.

Having lived in Shanghai on and off for almost two years, I have developed a cycle-phobia. Those unrestrained two-wheeled monsters are a menace to law-abiding pedestrians, either walking on the pavements or crossing at the lights.

At the cross-section of four roads outside my apartment block, men and women on bicycles and mopeds zip through traffic in total disregard of the traffic lights and the safety of pedestrians.

Shanghai has many lovely tree-lined streets. Strolling down one of those streets on a sunny afternoon can be a most relaxing experience, except for the fast-charging bicycles that threaten to drive pedestrians off the pavements from every direction.

Those sentimental environmentalists in Hong Kong who yearn for the return of the bicycle should take a moment away from reading pollutant counts and prophesizing doom to imagine the calamity that could be caused by letting loose a few maniac cyclists into the crowded streets of Causeway Bay or Mongkok on weekends.

Bicycles are banned from sidewalks and public parks in Hong Kong for the safety of pedestrians and on elevated highways for the safety of the cyclists. Other than that, people are free to cycle wherever they want. But few do because everybody knows it is dangerous to fight for road space against the many mammoth buses, heavy dump trucks and unyielding taxis.

Building bicycle lanes is a luxury that land-scarce Hong Kong simply cannot afford. Those environmentalists who have argued so passionately for bicycle lanes should bear in mind that nearly every meter of flat land in Hong Kong was created by reclamation from the ocean, which, in itself, was not entirely an environmentally friendly undertaking.

The ultimate question cycle-loving environmentalists should ask is why we need bicycles in Hong Kong, which has one of the most efficient public transportation systems in the world.

The Hong Kong city subway is fast and clean, and it is never stiflingly crowded even in rush hour. The railway lines that connect the city with the heavily populated suburban areas are just as efficient if not as grand.

These two mass transit systems are augmented by a huge fleet of buses, most of which are air-conditioned, well maintained and comfortable even for longer journeys. In addition, we have minibuses that link the many housing estates with the nearest mass transit stations and a multitude of taxis which are fairly cheap although the standard of service can vary from indifferent to rude.

Nothing can beat the old clattering trams for short trips along the strip of Hong Kong island's north shore through the shopping and commercial district of Causeway Bay and the concrete jungle of the city's financial citadel in Central. For a quarter, you can traverse the entire island on the upper deck of a tram from east to west and get a glimpse of the best and worst of Hong Kong.

So let's just forget the bicycle. If you need the exercise, take my advice - work out on the cycling machine in your gym and take the bus home.

E-mail: jamesleung@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/24/2007 page10)