Formulating A Bicycle-friendly Policy and Designing Bicycles as a Mode of Transport （2017/06/15）

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): Deputy President, in the past, a place using bicycles as a major mode of transport would be regarded as backward, but in recent years, many cities have promoted commuting by bicycles and considered it a low-carbon and environmentally friendly means of travelling which can also achieve the effects of working out. In particular, in some Western and Northern European cities, the Governments have positioned bicycles as a kind of public mode of transport, resulting in a continuous rise in its popularity. For example, in the Netherlands, the population is 16-odd million, but the number of bicycles owned by the people is 19-odd million. Trips by bicycles account for a quarter of the passenger traffic in the whole country. In January 2013, the post of Cycling Commissioner was created for the first time in the City of London, the United Kingdom. The purpose was to promote travelling by bicycle to resolve the problems of traffic congestion, air pollution and the lack of physical exercise of members of the public.

The motion proposed by Mr HUI Chi-fung requests the Government to formulate a bicycle-friendly policy and position bicycles as part of the public transport. It is well-intentioned, but we have also got to be pragmatic. In my view, the conditions are still not ripe for designating bicycles as a mode of transport covering the whole territory. For this reason, I hold reservations about it. First of all, the public transport in Hong Kong is convenient. The effect of commuting by bicycles will turn out to defeat our original purpose. The people of Hong Kong mainly rely on the highly efficient public transport system. The percentage taken up by private cars is lower than that in other regions, unlike the European, American and Mainland cities which are vast in area with spacious roads. As the degree of convenience of public transport is constrained by objective circumstances in those places, the people there need to commute by private cars. The promotion of commuting by bicycles can help abate their reliance on private cars, and the effects will be more obvious. Hong Kong is small but densely populated. Its per capita car ownership is the lowest among developed regions. Using bicycles as a mode of transport will have limited effects on abating the reliance on private cars. It may even encourage members of the public to switch from using public transport to commuting by bicycles. According to the Government's statistics, in 2015, the daily patronage of public transport service was 12.6 million passenger trips. Come to think about it. If 10% of the people choose to commute by bicycles, there will be hundreds of thousands or even millions of bicycles travelling on the major roads every day. It will certainly add to the burden on the existing heavy road traffic.

Secondly, given the complexity of the roads in Hong Kong, travelling by bicycle is subject to restrictions. If bicycles travel on the major roads at the same time with other modes of transport, it is necessary to set aside dedicated lanes for bicycles to ensure road safety and maintain the order of traffic. In light of the present transport facilities in the city centre in Hong Kong, not too many roads can offer such conditions. Moreover, in view of the complicated topography in Hong Kong, especially on Hong Kong Island with roads rising and falling in steep gradients, only the harbourfront and areas in Kowloon and the New Territories where the people are sparsely populated can offer the conditions for building cycle tracks.

Thirdly, there is still a substantial gap between the existing legislation and public awareness of safe use of bicycles. If we rashly position bicycles as a major mode of transport and even legalize pedelecs, it will bring unforeseeable consequences.

Deputy President, although bicycles are not quite suitable for use as a major mode of public transport, I consider that bicycles can continue to be positioned as a tool for recreational and leisure purposes and an important element in promoting green tourism. They can also serve as a mode of transport in some areas offering the conditions. In recent years, the Government has reserved a lot of land for constructing cycle tracks in conducting planning on the new development areas. They include a super cycle track which is 82 km long, joining up New Territories East and New Territories West. Additional cycle tracks have also been provided in the new town expanded in Tung Chung as well as the new areas in different regions, such as the Kai Tak Development Area, West Kowloon Cultural District, Hung Shui Kiu and Yuen Long South. These practices are conducive to linking up the cycle tracks to form a large-scale cycle track network.

As regards Hong Kong Island, the area is small and the roads are narrow. It is almost impossible to construct cycle tracks on the conventional roads. Cycle tracks can only be constructed concurrently when renovation works are carried out at the harbourfront. At present, a large part of the harbourfront on Hong Kong Island is zoned as public open space. The land is even and the space occupied by cycle tracks is limited. I believe that so long as the Government tries with determination to link up various sections of the harbourfront to form a cycle track round the Island, it will definitely be welcomed by members of the public and tourists.

Deputy President, bicycle-sharing has recently become popular around the world. The Sha Tin District in Hong Kong has taken the lead in introducing this GPS (Global Positioning System). Users can use a mobile App to search for the bicycles nearby, scan the QR (Quick Response) code to open the smart lock of the bicycles and park the bicycles at places not affecting traffic after use. The merit of this system is that it is convenient to users. It can also learn about the users' habit of using the service through the positioning system and deploy the bikes in light of the demand at any time, thus avoiding mismatch of resources caused by blunders. Given the small and narrow living space in Hong Kong, it is not convenient to keep bicycles at home. Available at any time, shared bicycles are convenient and save time. They will be the future trend. Hence, in conducting planning, the Government should reserve parking spaces on suitable cycle tracks to create favourable conditions for bicycle-sharing, offer convenience to members of the public and tourists and enhance the role of bicycle tours in tourism. This can add an attractive new element to our tourist industry.

Deputy President, I so submit.