Beijing offers more "green" options for commuters

Beijing plans to make a bigger fleet of bicycles available for rent and reserve more lanes for cyclists to offer "green" options for 75 percent of commuters by 2020, city authorities said Saturday.

Beijing will put an additional 10,000 bikes up for rent by the end of this year, bringing its total fleet to nearly 80,000. These bikes, with an average rental fee of 1 yuan (15 U.S. cents) per hour, are available at more than 2,000 locations across the city, the municipal transport commission said on its website.

It said special lanes will be reserved for bikes on 150 roads, including the Third Ring Road, one of the busiest trunk roads in downtown Beijing.

The city will have 500 km of bike lanes by the end of this year, the commission said.

By 2020, 75 percent of commuters in the city proper are expected to choose green methods of transportation to ease congestion and cut emissions.

"At that time, the city will have 100,000 public bikes for rent, 900 km of subway lines and urban rail, and 1,000 km of lanes reserved for buses," according to the commission.

Prior to 2000, bicycles were the most popular means of transportation in Beijing. But few commuters choose to travel by bike today, as many have to travel at least 10 km to work -- too long and tiring for most workers in the oversized city.

Health and safety risks posed by smog and gridlock also discourage many commuters from biking, according to a survey on transportation in Beijing conducted this summer. Endi