I hope this will be a common sight in offices of the future
High time everyone started taking bicycle commuting seriously. The US is and most european cities are starting bicycling programs to encourage more drivers to ditch their cars.
The US federal bailout has set aside billions in tax benefits for bicycle commuters and employers who encourage bicycle commuting at work. I think its the way to go. Give em monetary benefits and people will respond.
I find most asian cities very cyclist un-friendly. Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, even Singapore is not cycle friendly. I get treated like garbage on the road. Taxis honk, busses side swipe me, and once a driver side swiped me and when i caught upto him at a traffic light to confront the dude, the chap challenged me to a fight and shouted i had no right to be on the road.
I mean, wtf?
We aren't allowed by law to ride on pavements, and so the road is our only option. True, there maybe laws about road use that do protect cyclists, but what good are they when we're already dead, run over by some ignorant driver?
What needs to be done, is not a slew of laws to keep drivers in check, but a massive awareness program with monetary benefits to really attract attention in asian cities. Up the profile of cyclists, make helmets compulsory by law for us as well as blinkers, give tax cuts for bicycle purchasing, give tax benefits per person for bicycle commuting.
Make space on trains for bicycle storing. British Railways and Amtrak have bicycle carriages, so why not the MRT, KTM and LRT systems?
Have more bicycle parking facilities and up their security to deter bicycle theft. I mean, carparks have security no? Why not bicycles? They aren't second rate transportation for the poor! Bicycles deserve dignity, and giving them the same treatment as cars is essential to improve the asian perception that bicycling is for the poor.
Start a bicycle registration program. Equal to that of car registration. This is another step towards bicycle security.
If all these are in place, people will start to take out their old dusty bicycles, refurbish them and start cycling. One thing i;ve learnt over the 21 years i've been on this earth is, once a trend starts, it will grow, and bicycling is a trend waiting to be started. You just have to make it convenient enough.
It will not come cheap , making cities bicycle friendly. But it will reap benefits in future, i promise you.
Cheers from the
Matrix
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