Environment
Contributor: Cheryl Lewis
Country: China
City: Hangzhou
In this picture there are lots of red bicycles. Because of traffic congestions and so many people in their environmental the government provides practically free bikes to the citizens so they can get around with out driving cars and polluting the air.
I liked the bike sharing program. I have used a similar service in Washington DC and Montreal. The bike sharing service I used was automated and only required a credit card, but I think China's program is cooler because its free if you are a local resident. I wouldn't be suprised if Austin installs something like this soon.
It was amazing to see in the midst of insane traffic, the "other" traffic lane full of bicyclists. Also interesting to see how different the Chinese view pedestrians, bicyclists, and traffic ettiquette in general. As Niko once said, red lights are more of a suggestion, and she was very right. On more than one occassion, I started walking b/c I had a walk sign only to find that cars were still going through the intersection with no apparent concern for their red light.
I found Hangzhou's bicycle sharing program to be very impressive. A few us tried to get bikes this way, but unfortunately without an ID card past a certain time, we couldn't. However, we rented bikes from a vendor and had an amazing time riding around the lake! The city has wide bike lanes, and traffic was very accommodating. The bike system works so well and like Cheryl mentioned helps keep traffic and pollution down. I think more cities should take up this initiative!
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Environment