Shanghai municipal government will build more than 100 transfer
hubs for public transport to encourage drivers to leave their cars
at home, an official said yesterday.
He also said the city will construct at some hubs parking lots
for bicycles to help the many residents who rely on two wheels, and
encourage others to make the switch from four.
Li Junhao, a deputy chief engineer with the Shanghai Urban
Planning Administrative Bureau, told Shanghai Daily yesterday that
public transport and cycling were the top priorities while the
government considers ways to prohibit the rapid increase of private
cars.
"We want more locals to use public transport," he said. "And
cycling is important to the city as well."
Li was invited yesterday by the Shanghai Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference -- the city's
top advisory body -- to attend a symposium on the improvement of
public transport.
According to a government-backed survey Li provided, more than
one-quarter of residents use bicycles as their main means of
transport, more than the total number of those using taxis, buses
and the subway.
However, around 9 percent of residents ride a car to work,
nearly double the figure of a decade ago.
"We want more people to use public transport instead of private
transport," said Li.
He said the transfer hubs will link up bus stops with metro
stops.
The locations of the hubs have not yet been revealed, but will
include major downtown venues such as the Shanghai Railway Station,
Shanghai South Railway Station, and Hongqiao Airport.
The government will change some of the city's 933 bus routes so
that bus stations overlap with metro entrances, Li said.
Li said that bikes were important to Shanghai.
"The government will not ban cycling," he said, referring to
other cities that have passed strong pro-car measures.
He did not refer to the cities by name.
A senior leader of the State Ministry of Construction recently
criticized "some cities" that had banned cycling and turned cycle
lanes into vehicle lanes.
Zhao Guotong, an expert on transport and environmental
protection, said: "It's stupid to encourage cars and ban cycling
because most ordinary people depend on pedals."
"The government still doesn't do enough to prohibit cars, which
cause severe traffic and environment problems," Zhang added.
(Shanghai Daily July 4, 2006)