Written by Angel Hsu. Originally posted on TheCityFix.com:

To address continued air pollution and traffic congestion woes, Beijing is harkening back to its days as the "bicycle kingdom" and introducing policies to encourage more cycling. Photo by Dave-Gray.

According to The Guardian, 20 years ago, four out of five Beijing residents pedaled around China’s capital in some of the world’s best bike lanes.  However, this number has decreased as private car ownership has gone up. From 1995 to 2005, China’s bike fleet declined by 35 percent while private car ownership more than doubled. Beijing is currently home to four million cars. Last year, China overtook the U.S. in auto sales, with a 46 percent increase in sales over the previous year.  As cities in China have grown, bike lanes have also been eliminated to accommodate more traffic lanes for cars and buses.  By all indications, it’s seemed that Beijing was well on its way to usher in a new king - the automobile.

But is the city of 17 million ready for king car?  Perhaps not, as Beijing’s air quality continues to be poor (last week BeijingAir’s monitoring station reported a few ‘hazardous’ air quality days). Liu Xiaoming, the director of the Municipal Communications Commission, said in a Xinhua article that the government will “revise and eliminate” regulations that discourage bicycle use and impose greater restrictions on car drivers.  Beijing already has limitations to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, continuing the odd-even license plate policy after its successful implementation during the 2008 Olympics. (And read my post about Beijing’s ban on “yellow label” vehicles here.)

The government also plans to restore bicycle lanes that were torn down, as well as to build more parking lots for bicycles at bus and subway stations to encourage additional cycling.  Also an improvement: The city will make more bikes available for rent to defray the cost of owning a bike (a new one can cost as little as $20-$40) and allay fears of bicycle theft, a rampant problem in the city. By 2015, the number of bikes for rent will total 50,000.  Today, only about 100 bicycle rental booths exist in Beijing, and owners are “cautiously optimistic” that the plans to increase rental bikes will be successful in reducing the number of cars on the road.

As a frequent cycler in Beijing, I am thrilled to see bicycles making a comeback and look forward to breathing in the benefits of these new policies.  If successful in producing the “smoother traffic” and “clearer skies” Beijing officials are hoping for, perhaps we’ll see the return of the “bicycle kingdom,” with more cities following suit with cycling as part of a sustainable transportation solution.

About the author, Angel Hsu:

I’m a Phd student at Yale University studying Chinese environmental performance measurement and policy,sustainable development, and climate change. When I’m not hitting the books, I’m probably eating … or cooking. Or both.

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]]> http://responsiblechina.com/2010/01/25/thecityfixcom-back-to-bicycling-basics-in-beijing/feed/ http://responsiblechina.com/2009/06/16/thecityfixcom-e-bike-boom-in-china/ http://responsiblechina.com/2009/06/16/thecityfixcom-e-bike-boom-in-china/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:50:22 +0000 Erica Schlaikjer http://responsiblechina.com/?p=972

Originally posted on TheCityFix.com.

From TIME.com:

On the Streets of China, Electric Bikes Are Swarming
June 14, 2009
By Austin Ramzy

In China, electric bicycles are leaving cars in the dust. Last year, Chinese bought 21 million e-bikes, compared with 9.4 million autos. While China now has about 25 million cars on the road, it has four times as many e-bikes. [Compare these staggering figures to more modest numbers from the United States, where more bicycles (2.6 million) were sold than cars and trucks (2.5 million) during the first quarter of 2009.] Thanks to government encouragement and a population well versed in riding two wheels to work, the country has become the world’s leading market for the cheap, green vehicles, helping to offset some of the harmful effects of the country’s automobile boom. Indeed, as engineers around the world scramble to create eco-friendly, plug-in electric cars, China is already ahead of the game.

But is the popularity of the e-bike in the world’s most populous country necessarily a good thing?

Read about the pros (i.e. increased mobility) and cons (i.e. lead pollution) here.

Originally published on TheCityFix.com:

Chinese car designer Tang Hua unveiled this peculiar electric concept car, named “Detroit Fish,” at the North American International Auto Show in 2008. Photo by GmanViz.

Step aside, Japan. Don’t even try, Detroit. China has plans to corner the electric car market.

From the New York Times:

Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.

As it stands now…

Japan and the United States currently lead the world in gas-powered vechicle technology. Japan, additionally, ranks first in hybrids, which run on both electricity and gasoline, with cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight.

What is China’s plan for electric car domination?

China’s hoping to leapfrog its competitors by adopting new technology and raising its “annual production capacity to 500,000 hybrid or all-electric cars and buses by the end of 2011, from 2,100 last year.”

Plus, the government plans to dole out rewards to encourage the purchase of hybrid or all-electric cars. Taxi fleets and local government agencies in 13 Chinese cities can earn up to $8,800 in subsidies for each vehicle they purhcase. And consumers may also soon receive tax credits if they buy “alternative energy” vehicles.

By boosting production (and purchase) of electric and hyprid cars, China aims to stimulate its economy, reduce urban air pollution and decrease its dependence on oil.

To read about advantages and obstacles of China going electric, click here.

Traffic in Shanghai. Photo by SmokingPermitted.

Originally posted on TheCityFix.com:

For the first time ever, there have been more cars sold in China than the United States. (This news comes at the same time as Detroit’s General Motors announced it would cut another 10,000 workers.)

From the Associated Press:

SHANGHAI (AP) — China’s monthly vehicle sales surpassed those in the United States for the first time in January, moving this country closer to becoming the world’s biggest auto market, data released Tuesday showed.

But China’s ascent in the global auto market has been hastened by the plunge in U.S. auto sales, which tumbled 37 percent in January to a 26-year low of 656,976 units.

Chinese vehicle sales also have cooled, but hardly as dramatically. In January, 735,000 vehicles were sold, down 14.4 percent from a monthly record 860,000 last January, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.

China’s rise to the top of the industry has been boosted by a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus package, which includes promises to promote cleaner, more energy-efficient cars.

Click here to read the full post.

Photo by Lim CK.

Originally posted on TheCityFix.com:

Beijing is prepared to pay up to 1 billion yuan (about $146 million) in subsidies to get citizens to ditch their dirty cars and purchase cleaner ones. (Read Laura Root’s recent post on TheCityFix.com about the pros and cons of these types of “cash for clunkers” programs.)

The goal is to remove more than 350,000 huangbiaoche, or “yellow-label cars” that fail to meet emission standards, by the end of this year. These cars represent only 10 percent of the total number of cars in the city but contribute to 50% of emissions, according to Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the environmental protection bureau.

Click here to read the full post.

EMBARQ - The WRI Center for Sustainable Transport - is gathering stories to share along with its city profiles.

Here’s an example of a story about commuting from a local shoe-shiner who lives in Mexico City:

Text and Image by EMBARQ.org

We are currently in need of anecdotes about day-to-day transportation and mobility for XI’AN and SHANGHAI.

Do you have anything to contribute?

Some questions to ponder:

• How has traffic in Xi’an or Shanghai changed over the past 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?
• As an outsider, what are your impressions of mobility and transportation in big Chinese cities?
• As a Chinese local, what is your average commute like?
• How does transportation affect pollution in Xi’an or Shanghai?
• Do the poor and the wealthy have the same access to transportation corridors?
• Do you have any examples of sustainable transportation, such as bicycling or bus rapid transit?

Got an idea? Please email me at eschlaikjer [at] wri.org, or find me on Skype: Erica.Schlaikjer.

China’s Green Beat released a hilarious new episode about public transportation in Beijing. It is quite a departure from its previous three documentary-style episodes, which I reviewed in my previous post here. Apparently, the Green Brothers are preparing to launch a new design soon, complete with more info and episodes, so stay tuned!

Have a happy Monday!

“Sun Zhe’s Public Transport Adventures”

(For those of you who aren’t up to speed on your ad slogans, Chevy’s official campaign is “An American Revolution.” Guess it’s kind of lame to explain the allusions of your blog post title, but “Drove My Chevy to the levy and painted it with angry slogans” was already taken. Thanks, Imagethief.)

This news is a little bit overdue, but I was so absorbed in the toy recalls that I neglected to notice another consumer complaints story…

Chevy consumers in Beijing are taking their complaints to the street. Literally.

According to Josh’s blog at the China Expat:

If you have been in the city over the last six weeks you may have noticed lines of black and white SUVs lining the roads near the Silk Market, Ya-Show, and Worker’s Stadium Road North. Painted on them are slogans in Chinese advocating the rights of consumers and complaining about car manufacturer Chevrolet.

After investing tens of thousands of RMB for the SUVs, an amount one protester described as “my blood, sweat, and money,” the buyers were informed that they could not get license plates. In effect this meant that driving them carried the risk of police confiscation.

Apparently, it is the responsibility of the local dealership to provide the plates, but the company never followed through. The angry protesters, sans license plates, launched an online protest, posting their grievances on Sohu.com, China’s popular Web 2.0 community. Their comments were removed after a Sohu spokesperson deemed the content not “appropriate” for the Web site.

Left with no other options, the car owners turned their vehicles into billboards, painting angry messages on the sides and leaving newspaper articles about the conflict in the windows.

Josh at China Expat analyzes the protest:

It is difficult to know if this is an isolated incident or part of a broader trend of Chinese willing to push back at perceived injustices. While the fight is unusually public, it is directed at two privately owned businesses, one of which is American. Perhaps that is the reason why the protests have been allowed to continue for so long in such clear sight. There have been no accusations hurled at any government agencies, and only one Chinese merchant of dubious reputation is affected. Yet, as evidenced by the removal of the Sohu posting, it is clear that someone with power, possibly Chevrolet, possibly someone else, wants the dispute to go away. And yet the SUVs remain on the streets, going on nearly two months.

For now it will have to remain a mystery. Is this a solitary act of protest, or an indication of more assertive Chinese consumers?

Imagethief also lends his insight:

Without knowing the details of the purchase or the credentials of the dealership and the details of the dealership’s relationship with GM, it’s hard to know why this situation developed. GM itself may be completely blameless. But lack of blame isn’t always a good reason for not doing anything. It’s the famous Chevy and GM names that will stick in Chinese consumers’ heads in this case, and therefore it is their reputations that are at risk, especially if the case gives rise to another bout of mainstream press coverage for any reason. Just because it hasn’t gone ballistic yet doesn’t mean it might not do so in future. Whenever foreign companies are involved, there is a risk of attention surging. (And trust me, “foreign brand” will trump “local dealership” in the public consciousness almost every time.)

There is more to damage control than killing unfavorable online articles. If this is a real situation, as it appears to be, and not a competitive stunt, then Chevy China’s management should be looking for a way to be publicly seen helping these motorists to resolve their problem. This is especially true if it can be done without assuming too much legal risk or expense. They should also be trying to figure out what went wrong with the dealer, and communicate how it’s being addressed. It might just be one crummy dealership, but it’s their car brand at stake in a market that is ever more sensitive to slights of Chinese consumers by foreign brands.

[tags]Beijing, China, Chevrolet, protest, consumer complaints[/tags]

Boeing finally unveiled the first fully assembled 787 ‘Dreamliner’ passenger jet, constructed of a revolutionary mix of carbon fiber and plastic, a design that engineers claim is more environmentally friendly than traditional aluminum planes.

The design is supposed to be more comfortable, fuel efficient, easy to maintain, and durable.

But amidst all the talk of the plane’s “green” credentials, skeptics point out some of the limitations of Boeing’s newest design, as reported by Tom Symonds of BBC News:

Image via Shanghai Daily

While even environmentalists welcome the attempts to make planes greener, they don’t think the 787 is going to do much to reduce the impact of aviation on climate change.

They believe that fuel-efficient planes are simply going to allow airlines to carry the same number of passengers, more cheaply. And that allows them to cut ticket prices - which in turn will encourage more of us to fly.

Result: the airlines buy more planes anyway. And some air travel experts believe carbon-fibre composites - in the quantities being used by Boeing - are far from tried and tested.

China has jumped on the opportunity to purchase the planes, which have an average list price of $162 million, Shanghai Daily reported.

Air China and China Eastern Airlines have each ordered 15 of the new planes. China Southern Airlines has ordered 10, Shanghai Airlines nine and Hainan Airlines eight.

Both Shanghai Airlines Chairman Zhou Chi and China Eastern Chairman and President Li Fenghua commented on the potential for the Boeing jets to help expand global coverage.

So even though these planes are meant to be better for the friendly skies, they might end up creating more air traffic, and that can’t make the planet happy.

Hippie engineers in Portland, Ore. have found a way to design “affordable, locally-produced, handcrafted bamboo bicycle frames.”

Here’s a story (and a video) from asap:

“A bicycle built from bamboo: Now you can use grass to mow people down“
By Aaron Clark
July 8, 2007

AP Photo/Aaron Clark

Designers Liakos Ariston and Jacob Prinz started Daedalus Custom Bamboo Bikes two years ago after drawing up designs on a napkin; so far they’ve made a limited run of high-end bikes that sell for around $1,250 each.

The raw materials are sustainable, so potentially make less of an impact on the environment, the designers say. But that’s not the only appeal.

“We’ve gained a lot more respect for the material we work with because we’ve had a few accidents on them and generally riders and bikes have come out unscathed,” said Ariston, 25 . . . .

To make the bikes, Ariston and Prinz carefully hand select eight- to 10-feet lengths of phyllostachys nigra — an ebony colored bamboo native to China — and let them “relax” for as long as a year and half in their workshop.

I wrote the guys at Daedalus an email, asking them to explain how their bikes impact the environment in China, and why Chinese locals haven’t adopted the same technology. I’ll be sure to post their responses when I hear back from them.

Common estimates indicate that China is home to 450 million bicycles and 4.21 million hectares of bamboo–doesn’t it make sense to combine the two into something good for the environment?

The shift to electronic bikes (e-bikes) and the proliferation of cars has caused an overall dwindle in bicycle ridership. Because of the increased pressures facing bi-pedal transportation, China’s Ministry of Construction wants to restore bike lanes to their old glory, according to a post on WorldChanging.

I haven’t heard of any bamboo bike initiatives for Chinese consumers, but here are some links to other bamboo bike projects and designers:

Bamboo Bike Project
“The project aims to examine the feasibility of implementing cargo bikes made of bamboo as a sustainable form of transportation in Africa.”

Brano Meres Engineering & Design
“This is my second home-made frame. This time I used bamboo rods connected with carbon composite joints.”

Calfee Design
“Beginning as a publicity stunt in 1996, Craig’s bamboo errand bike evolves into a well-tested new model for the general public.”
Calfee Design bamboo bicycle