Beijing Diary: A Bumpy Ride For China's Powered Bicyles

By Samantha Tan Chiew Ting BEIJING, May 4 (Bernama) -- Bicycles, especially the powered bicycles or e-bikes, are a popular transport mode in China as they help beat the traffic jams on the country's roads choked by both traffic and polluted air. Getting around two-wheelers in Beijing is very affordable, convenient, and it helps to reduce pollution as well as traffic. The dedicated lanes for them are well planned to ensure smooth ride and safety. However, the 200 million e-bikes on the road now pose serious headache for both the road users and the authorities. Beijing alone has more than four million of this e-bikes. The e-bikes have become popular as they are affordable with prices starting from 2,500 Yuan (US$376). Moreover, these two-wheelers do not require registration number plates. I too own an e-bike, but honestly I find it daunting riding it especially during peak hours. The sea of cars, e-bikes and the pedestrians provide little room for the novice riders to ride through the crowded lanes. Just ride on one and you will see some speeding on e-bikes, beat the red lights, enter into the roads meant for cars and other vehicles, ride against the traffic flow and often more than two person ride on the e-bike. It was reported in 2015, the e-bikes were involved in 31,404 accidents, with 113 fatalities and 21,423 injuries. The number of injured accounted for 36.7 per cent of all road accident injuries. So far this year, police have received more than 6,000 complaints over these two-wheelers over a host of incidents. This has sparked worries on the safety of other road users including pedestrians and prompted the authorities to act. However, it is not the e-bikes alone to blame. With the e-bikes came electric scooters and mini electric cars all that hogged the same bicycle lane. Later, the four-wheel electric vehicles were banned on dedicated lanes at some locations. The bicycle lanes could only accommodate two riders side by side and the lanes run parallel with the roads. At times riders will come across cars parked on the dedicated lane and this is when they make a detour to the main road, which is dangerous. Besides safety, the authorities also fear that the growing number of electric bicycles and scooters on the road could blight the city's image, especially at tourist venues, as the riders park their two-wheelers indiscriminately on the road side. The authorities have decided to slam the brakes on the electric two-wheelers in China's major cities by limiting their movements. This has raised both dissatisfaction and confusion among the masses. The masses are dissatisfied because now they could no longer go anywhere they like on their e-bikes and confused because while the government wants to tackle pollution it has pulled the plugs on the e-bikes. Xinhua News Agency last month reported electric two-wheel vehicles have been banned from 10 Beijing roads effective April 11 to regulate traffic and reduce accidents, including the extended Chang'an Avenue, the city's main thoroughfare and several roads around Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing. It quoted the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau saying that the 10 roads were choked with traffic, have recorded high accident rates and do not have bicycle lanes. Violators will be fined 20 Yuan (US$3) and their two-wheelers would be confiscated if they refuse to pay. However, the question remains whether it is wise move as it could throw its booming e-bike manufacturing industry off tracks. According to BikeEurope.com, there are some 700 Chinese companies that manufacture e-bikes. Moreover, this is not the first time China has reviewed regulations on e-bikes. In the early 2000, powered bicycles were not allowed in certain areas in Beijing due to concerns over environmental safety. The e-bike episode calls for a prudent urban management and win-win situation for all parties in China. -- BERNAMA