Earth Policy Institute (EPI). But in the early 80s, the trend reversed, and global bike production climbed to 108 million by 1988. Between 1989 to 2001, production slowed down again. Since then, the figure has been rising steadily, to about 130 million units in 2007. The institute points out that even in China, which was once a haven for bicycles, the bike fleet declined by 35 per cent between 1995 and 2005. The Chinese government turned its attention back to the bike in 2006, after pollution caused by the ever-growing number of cars began to blanket major cities. In Beijing, the bike further received a boost after the capital city implemented road space rationing during the 2008 Olympic Games, forcing Beijingers to use the two wheels, and in 2012 introduced policies to limit car ownership. Despite growing car ownership in China, only 17 per cent of households have cars, while 65 per cent have a bicycle, according to the Pew survey. China is also leading the world in the number of bike-sharing schemes, with about 170 bike-sharing systems operating in the country. Meanwhile, Taiwan, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of bicycles, is bidding to become Asia’s cycling hub, and is proving that bicycles could be a major sustainability driver. It prides itself as the only country in Asia which has strategically established a national network of bike lanes, stretching 4,017 kilometres in 2014, and attracting cycling enthusiasts worldwide to explore the island nation’s nature hotspots. Taipei’s bike-sharing programme is one of the most successful in the world, overtaking global cities like New York or Barcelona on usage rate, which averages 10-12 trips a day for each of its 5,350 bicycles at 165 stations. In Southeast Asia, Singapore, which is known for its efficient public transport system but has no established culture of cycling as a transport option, is one of the countries now keen to change that. It is spending S$43 million on bike lanes and cycling facilities as part of a national cycling plan. Meanwhile, in Thailand, where 74 per cent of residents own a bike based on the Pew study, the government promised last January to increase bike lanes by 10 kilometres in capital Bangkok from the current 232 kilometres to include other areas that do not have cycling routes.
In Japan, a group of lawmakers is pushing for more people to use bicycles as a mode of transport, calling for the establishment of a bicycle-use promotion centre and a government minister that will champion bicycle use to reduce dependence on motor vehicles.Seventy-eight of households in Japan are bicycle owners, the second highest in the world after Germany, but the number of car owners are also high in the country. In fact, it’s the highest in Asia.
Stumbling blocks The idea that buses, trains, bikes and boats are only used by poor people as modes of transport is a major stumbling block to appreciating them as a form of sustainable transport, says James Leather, a principal transport specialist with Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Southeast Asia Department. Private cars, on the other hand, are seen to give more comfort and an indicator of wealth. “For a long time, the common wisdom has been the notion that cars are ‘great’ or that the symbol of an industrialised country is that it has new highways,” he comments in an ADB blog published in February. In the Philippines, only six per cent of Filipinos own cars while 24 per cent have bicycles, according to the Pew survey. However, Manila-based citizens’ group Share the Road Movement claims motor vehicles, especially private cars, occupy the roads more than pedestrians and cyclists. The group is pushing a more equitable Road Sharing Principle by petitioning the government to implement already
Bicycles parking space in Osaka, Japan. In Asia, Japan has the most number of households owning a bicycle. Image: Shutterstock
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