{"id":951,"date":"2006-07-04T15:28:52","date_gmt":"2006-07-04T19:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=951"},"modified":"2006-07-04T17:49:14","modified_gmt":"2006-07-04T21:49:14","slug":"kingdom-of-bicycles-on-a-highway-to-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2006\/07\/04\/kingdom-of-bicycles-on-a-highway-to-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingdom of bicycles on a highway to hell?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times magazine had a very scary article<\/a> this weekend on the rise of car culture in China.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here are just a couple of interesting bits of information:<\/p>\n

Number of passenger cars on the road: about 6 million in 2000 and about 20 million today. Car sales are up 54 percent in the first three months of 2006, compared with the same period a year ago; every day, 1,000 new cars (and 500 used ones) are sold in Beijing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And, along with more cars comes more pollution;<\/p>\n

….Beijing’s sulfur-dioxide levels in 2004 were more than double New York’s, and airborne-particulate levels more than six times as high…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apparently, bicycles have even been banned from some main streets in Shanghai to try to ease traffic and cut down on accidents. It has been estimated that there is one bicycle for every two people in China.<\/p>\n

One of China’s Vice-Ministers of Construction, Qiu Baoxing, has criticized city authorities for making it harder for cyclists to get around, saying the country should retain its title as the “kingdom of bicycles”.<\/p>\n

Transportation is now the single biggest source of atmospheric pollution. While there has been some general movement in the manufacturing sector to use energy more efficient in the last 30 years, the transportation sector has moved in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

North Americans have been driving bigger, less fuel efficient vehicles, and freight companies have been shipping a greater proportion of goods by truck instead of by train.<\/p>\n

The City of Toronto’s smog plan<\/a> doesn’t mention cycling once. It does suggest walking and taking public transportation.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Tony Law for the New York Times<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times magazine had a very scary article this weekend on the rise of car culture in China. Here are just a couple of interesting bits of information: Number of passenger cars on the road: about 6 million in 2000 and about 20 million today. 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