[sustran] Re: Guangzhou bans electric bicycles

[Carlos F. Pardo SUTP]

Zvi,

I think expensive bicycles are normally used for sports such as mountain
biking or road riding (high end bikes of these can go up to 10k USD!). Since
I also ride bike as a sport, I have a pretty expensive mountain bike, but
what I normally ride every day is a 100 USD city bike that is about to fall
apart. I guess I want to say that the "luxury" bike is not for transport, as
is the case with the "luxury" car. It's also easier to have a "luxury bike"
and a "cheap and functional bike" than having both in cars. I think any mode
of transport should be exactly that: a mode of transport. Additional
"characteristics" of any mode such as luxury will make it (or the other
modes) less equitable, no?

Todd Litman's paper on "mobility as a positional good" is focused on a
similar issue from an economical perspective. 

Best regards,

Carlos F. Pardo 
Coordinador de Proyecto 
GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) 
Cl 126 # 52A-28 of 404
Bogotá D.C., Colombia
Tel:  +57 (1) 215 7812
Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662
e-mail: carlos.pardo at sutp.org 
Página: www.sutp.org


-----Mensaje original-----
De: sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org at list.jca.apc.org] En
nombre de Zvi Leve
Enviado el: Jueves, 23 de Noviembre de 2006 05:33 p.m.
Para: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
Asunto: [sustran] Re: Guangzhou bans electric bicycles

It is clear that China has a very strong motivation to leverage it's 
burgeoning auto industry as an 'engine of economic growth'. The US did 
this very successfully in the past, as did Japan, so why shouldn't China 
do the same thing? Of course we all recognize that 'sustainable' 
auto-mobility in China is physically not possible, but that does not 
prevent them from wanting to expand into foreign markets for 'lower-end' 
vehicles (ie other developing countries).

There is one thing which I do not understand about bicycles. In certain 
countries, bicycles have become status symbols just like cars. It is not 
uncommon to find $1000+ bicycles in North America! In China, and other 
countries which have very large numbers of bicycles, there does not yet 
seem to be much interest in these 'luxury' bicycles, even though 
disposable incomes have greatly increased in recent years. Presumably 
this is because people still feel deprived of basic mobility and would 
prefer to upgrade to a motorized form of transportation. Even in Holland 
and Germany which have huge numbers of bicycles and very good access to 
transportation (plus quite high income levels), the bicycle is still 
perceived as basically a 'functional' means of transport - one does not 
often see expensive bicycles in these places.

Any thoughts about how one can break the cycle of "economic development" 
leading to more motorization? If any of you have had the chance to view 
the highly recommended documentary "The End of Suburbia 
<http://www.endofsuburbia.com/>", one of the oil executives in the film 
makes the point that there is a direct correlation between economic 
development and energy consumption. Until we can find some way to change 
this relationship, we are basically doomed - either we will be living in 
poverty or we will be consuming all of the resources of the planet (to 
say nothing of the pollution and other problems associated with this).

Cheers,

Zvi

Carlos F. Pardo SUTP wrote:
> The basic problem in China is the fact that automobile production has been
> given a top priority and the government wants to do anything but reduce
the
> ownership of cars. Though Qiu Boaxing stated that “the country must retain
> its title as the kingdom of bicycles”, this statement is still not in
> practice. We’re starting to do training courses on sustainable transport
and
> hope to have some impact there, but there’s a long way to go. 
>
> And then electric bicycles: they’re wonderful, from my point of view. Not
so
> fast, very very little noise, and little space requirements (also, in
China,
> pretty cheap). But if users “improve” them by increasing the speed of the
> vehicle and start running into people, they won’t have much time left in
the
> city. Another issue is that, though they’re electric, electricity is still
> coal generated
 so the vehicle itself isn’t polluting, but the source of
its
> power IS.
>
>
> Carlos F. Pardo 
> Coordinador de Proyecto 
> GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) 
> Cl 126 # 52A-28 of 404
> Bogotá D.C., Colombia
> Tel:  +57 (1) 215 7812
> Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662
> e-mail: carlos.pardo at sutp.org 
> Página: www.sutp.org
>
>
> -----Mensaje original-----
> De: sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org at list.jca.apc.org
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+carlos.pardo=sutp.org at list.jca.apc.org] En
> nombre de Lloyd Wright
> Enviado el: Miércoles, 22 de Noviembre de 2006 08:40 a.m.
> Para: Sustran-discuss at jca.apc.org
> Asunto: [sustran] Guangzhou bans electric bicycles
>
> http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39099/story.htm
>
> China's Easy Riders Deride Electric Bike Ban 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> CHINA: November 22, 2006
>  
> BEIJING - A ban on battery-powered bicycles in the southern China city of
> Guangzhou has left tens of thousands of owners grounded without
compensation
> and angered vendors who face lost business, local media reported on
Tuesday.
>
>  
> The ban, effective a day after police announced it last week but allowing
a
> "15-day education period", was aimed at preventing electric-powered bikes
> from
> becoming "the main mode of transport", Xinhua reported. "If such bikes are
> permitted, this will certainly rapidly increase the burden on roads,"
Xinhua
> quoted police as saying. 
>
> Guangzhou, a booming Pearl River Delta city of about 10 million often
choked
> with traffic jams, was China's fifth-fastest growing car market in the
first
> half of 2006, state media has reported. 
>
> The city has about 870,000 cars, Xinhua reported last week, growing at
about
> 150,000 every year. Police also cited safety concerns and the inability to
> effectively enforce traffic regulations on electric-bike riders. 
>
> "These riders have never received any special riding training or tests, so
> their driving skills are very difficult to guarantee." 
>
> Police added that compensation would not be given to bike owners as they
had
> been urged "through the media" not to buy bikes and in any case, the
> Guangzhou
> government had "never permitted" them. 
>
> At least 100,000 residents ride electric bikes every day in Guangzhou,
which
> at 1,000-3,000 yuan (US$125-US$380) are a cheap and increasingly popular
> form
> of transport in Chinese cities. 
>
> But several local governments have banned the bikes which require no
licence
> and are exempt from registration fees. 
>
> Beijing has confined electric bikes to its outer suburbs, although riders
> regularly flout the regulation. 
>
> Over 100 electric bike manufacturers, vendors and riders held a rally in a
> Guangzhou hotel to protest the ban, the Yangcheng Evening News, a
Guangzhou
> daily, reported. 
>
> "Allow the orderly and healthy development of electric bicycles and don't
> simply kill them off!" the paper quoted protesters as saying. 
>
> The group issued a joint communique, saying the authorities "had not fully
> consulted the will of the people". 
>
> Construction Ministry Vice Minister Qiu Baoxing earlier this year slammed
> city
> planners for pandering to private car owners and ignoring the needs of
> ordinary pedal cyclists, saying China should remain the "kingdom of
> bicycles".
>
>
> Qiu lamented that some Chinese cities were cutting back on bicycle lanes
in
> order to make more room for cars, even as some Western cities were
building
> more lanes for cyclists. 
>
> REUTERS NEWS SERVICE  
>
>
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-------------------------------------------------------- 
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YAHOOGROUPS. 

Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join
the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups
version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real
sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can).
Apologies for the confusing arrangement.

================================================================
SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
(the 'Global South').