Thailand plans more bicycle lanes at tourist sites

[jamiesilver]

stop wasting money and time

1. reduce 50% of taxis in bangkok - we simply dont need one every 3 seconds!

2. make BUS lanes and ensure buses only use bus lanes and when they stop they have an area that wont block the entire street.

Just those 2 little changes would solve Bangkoks congestion beyond belief.

[kevc]

I they really want to make it safer for cyclist (and pedestrians) let them ride on the pavement and make the motorcycles stay on the road.

[razer]

Motorbike riders already think they have the right-of-way in the sidewalk ... for God's sake what will they do in bicycle lanes? Just figured it out. Street vendors will use them to push their carts. Not a bad idea.

[MaxYakov]

I recently met a Spaniard that works and lives in the Shanghai, China area. He related that, in his estimation, 80-90% of the "bikes" in the area are electric bicycles. I was incredulous at the report. It was unimaginable to me that so many people would eschew both motorbikes and human-powered bicycles for electric bicycles.

Here is an article in the Shanghai Daily seemingly confirming his report= (excerpt, emphasis mine):

"The new regulations are designed to improve the management of the more than 3 million non-motor vehicles on Shanghai’s roads, a senior police officer said."

Now that I think about it, electric bicycles are an obvious alternative to a populace that wants the image of a powered vehicle, but not the noise and pollution (local pollution, at least) of motorbikes. The Thais would probably not adopt this because they are addicted to the power and noise (in many cases) of the infernal combustion engine.

[MaxYakov]

And how many tourists carry bikes with them when they travel?

Only the ones that need to carry them, of course - very few. I know what your point is, of course. But if tourists really wanted to ride bicycles in Thailand, there would be a robust bicycle rental industry, don't you think? Most of the tourists really don't want to ride bicycles any more than the Thai people want to, IMHO. I can't say I blame them under the circumstances.

There are many bicycle rental business in CM.

I have no problems cycling in the m/c lane, but they are not well cared for so I often use an entire car lane.

Good to hear about the bicycle rental situation in CM.

I don't know what a m/c lane is, frankly. If I am in a car lane for any length of time, I am required to maintain traffic flow speed or, potentially, be a victim of road rage by impeding traffic flow. I seen cyclist that have a chip on their shoulder w/r motor vehicles and go out of their way to irritate their operators.

I have fast commute bicycles just for this reason, but if I can't maintain traffic speed, I'm back to the curb lane. I hope you have at least one mirror and are watching your back (and don't have that chip on your shoulder, like the cyclists of San Francisco Critical Mass).

[MaxYakov]

If they really want to encourage cycling they would ban motorbikes (except for special circumstances), for starters. Of course, this is not going to happen. They will continue to be used by a lazy populace for, often, frivolous purposes and, more often than not, illegally. Want me to list the different illegal ways motorbikes are used in Thailand?

Thailand's state of "development" could, morbidly, be quantified in terms of how many motorbikes it could put on the roads and sidewalks (and other creative places). Well-suited for a country that has a per capita GDP just 27% of the average, I suppose.

EoR (End of Rant)

right, so when you succeed in banning motorcycles and forcing the bike riders to drive 40 year old piles of rust instead then do post up a rant saying you cant get anywhere in thailand any more as the roads are gridlocked..........

I clearly stated that banning motorbikes is "not going to happen" (as sane as it may be). You can also take your "40 year old [sic] piles of rust" straw man example/argument and hit the road with it.

You may be interested to learn of the large number of electric bicycles in Shanghai.

Shanghai's population in 2000 was 14.35 million. Given 3 million electric bicycles now, that's roughly one for every five people. Try imagining that situation in Bangkok (and people actually on the road with them). Now I'm starting to wonder about the number of taxis in Shanghai.

Edited October 28, 2014 by MaxYakov