After wrestling for years with Beijing's appalling traffic and pollution problems, city planners have come up with a distinctly old-fashioned solution: bicycles.

Municipal officials want to boost the number of cyclists by 25% during the next five-year plan, state media reported today. Twenty years ago, four out of five residents in the Chinese capital pedalled to work through one of the world's best systems of bicycle lanes. But the modern passion for cars has made two-wheeled transport so treacherous, dirty and unfashionable that barely a fifth of the population dares to use lanes that are now routinely blocked by parked cars and invaded by vehicles attempting to escape from the jams on the main roads.

Background

Effective advocacy is an important part of efforts to increase population participation in physical activity. Research about effective health advocacy is scarce, however, the health sector can learn from the experiences and knowledge of community advocates and those who are on the receiving end of this advocacy. The aim of this study is to explore advocacy for active transport from the perspectives of community advocates and representatives from City councils.

by Sarah Goodyear

Austin on Two Wheels threw a link up on Twitter to a very intriguing article published last week in the influential medical journal The Lancet (registration required). According to the Montréal Gazette, the researchers concluded that infrastructure spending should be diverted from road building to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure for a variety of public health reasons

Honda have developed this bicycle simulator to teach people how to deal with traffic.

Honda have developed a high-tech bicycle simulator to teach people how to stay safe in traffic.

The device, which looks like something Heath Robinson might have dreamt up rather than a gleaming product of the motor industry, will go on sale in Japan in Feburary.

According to Honda, it will help people "improve their ability to predict risks and increase safety awareness" by letting them experience the possible risks faced by cyclists.

Users have to sit astride the built-in bike and take part in various scenarios shown on the computer screen in front of them, ranging from "going to school" to "going to the grocery store".

They can check over their shoulders using secondary displays, there are speakers behind their head to make the experience more realistic, and the machine can even recognise when they get off and walk.

Beauty and the Bike

Improving road safety for pedestrians and cyclists in Great Britain

Summary

Encouraging Cycling

There are many ways in which cycling can be encouraged which complement engineering and planning initiatives. Cycling England’s professional support team can provide advice on ways in which local authorities and others can encourage more people to cycle, working with those engaged as professionals and with elected members.

Cycle Lanes: Safety under Scrutiny

Latest research has shed doubt on the benefits of cycle lanes, often thought to be a key incentive for novice cyclists. It would appear that, in the absence of a cycle lane, drivers show more care and consideration when overtaking. If there is a cycle lane, drivers tend to treat it as the only space cyclists need and leave less room when overtaking them.