Once upon a time, China was a well deserved bicycle country. When commuting, there were always a vast number of "flying pigeons" and "phoenix" on the road. Later, the expansion of urban space, the development of buses and subways, and the popularity of private cars made the members of cyclists less and less. Nowadays, technological progress and product innovation have provided people with some new ways to ride, such as electric bicycles, electric tricycles, power scooters, balance bikes, etc. Diversified and personalized riding tools meet people's fast and convenient travel needs, and also bring troubles to traffic order and urban management. How should urban cycling develop more healthily and orderly? Let's listen to all parties.

City "riding" shows their magic. It saves time and effort, and new vehicles are widely favored. "The rush hour road is too busy in the morning and evening, and you dare not drive a car. The bus and subway are not convenient, but electric vehicles are better, saving time, effort, and worry!" Mr. Li, a Beijing citizen, sends his children to school before 9 o'clock every day and then goes to work. There is no direct bus from home to school. It takes 50 minutes to walk and 20 minutes to ride an electric bike; From the school to the company, it takes 1 hour to transfer from the bus to the subway, and it only takes 40 minutes to ride a bike. "Since I bought an electric car, I can save 1 hour on the road every day. There is no reason not to ride!" "The Xier Banner subway station is like a war every day. I'm really crowded enough to buy a car, but I haven't got the number." At the thought of his experience of waiting for more than an hour for bus and subway every morning, Sun, a 30-year-old IT white-collar worker in Beijing, said "I can't look back". Now, he rides an electric scooter to work every day. "After exercising for half an hour at 10 kilometers, he can sleep an extra hour every day." Avoid congestion, save time, improve efficiency, and let office workers love riding more. This is even more important for couriers who walk around the streets every day. Xiao He, a Shentong courier, told the reporter that he sent more than 200 express mails every day. Customers had to go door to door. It was too late to walk or ride a bicycle. Driving a van was even more inconvenient for parking. "An electric tricycle is my important survival tool." To join the riding army, some people want to be fast, while others want to be convenient. The mother of Ms. Song, a resident of Chaoyang District, Beijing, had an operation last year and was not able to move. Now she has to go to the hospital twice a week for further consultation. It was too painful to squeeze the bus, and it was too expensive to take a taxi. Ms. Song bought an elderly courtesy car. In her opinion, this car has many advantages: it has a roof and a canopy, and is not afraid of wind and rain; The car is "thin". Even if the intersection is blocked, you can drill through the gap and stop somewhere; "The key is easy to operate. If you can ride an electric bike, you can drive it without taking a driving license test." The growing army of "valet drivers" is becoming an important customer of folding electric vehicles. "With it, orders can be accepted as far and as far as possible." Wang Minggui, a driving master in Chongqing, said that when helping people drive, they fold the car and put it in the trunk. It is usually late after delivering the car to customers. The bus and subway are out of service, and electric vehicles become very convenient tools. Low cost is also an important reason for the popularity of riding tools. The reporter visited many markets and found that the average price of electric bicycles and electric scooters is about 2000 yuan at present, while electric tricycles and elderly scooters cost about 4000 yuan and 10000 yuan respectively. Compared with cars, they do not pose economic pressure on ordinary families. As a waiter in Dawang Road, Beijing, Yaojin is interested in the "cost performance" of electric vehicles. "If I take the subway every day, I will spend at least 1500 yuan a year. I might as well buy an electric car. I usually care about something and don't need to repair it. I can't even get 1 kilowatt hour of electricity once I fill it up, and the annual electricity bill is just over 100 yuan, which is a good deal!" Convenient, fast, cheap and many other advantages attract more and more people to join the "riding army". Take the electric bicycle as an example. At present, the national population has exceeded 200 million, and it is still growing at the scale of about 30 million every year; In Nanning, Chengdu and other cities, on average, every two people own an electric bicycle, with a travel rate of 34%.

For the whole society, the new means of transportation also have many advantages. On the one hand, it is more energy-saving and environment-friendly. It is estimated that an electric bicycle will travel 10000 kilometers every year instead of a motorcycle, which is equivalent to the emission reduction effect of planting 26 trees. On the other hand, it enables some citizens who originally planned to buy cars to choose a greener way of travel, which to some extent alleviates traffic congestion. The advantages and disadvantages of the "thorny rose" coexist with the characteristics of the vehicle itself, and uncivilized driving behaviors drive up the traffic safety risks. "Going against the road, running the red light, and sticking to the spot when you see it, whether it is a motorway or a non motorway, changing lanes is called a freewheeling." As soon as I mentioned the electric tricycle, Cao Dajie, a traffic assistant in Haidian District, Beijing, was angry. "It's different from the car drivers. They don't have a license, so how can they drive happily?" Uncle Zhao, a Beijing citizen, complained that some electric vehicle owners rode fast on the sidewalk, which made pedestrians nervous. For cyclists, new tools meet their personalized travel needs; But for the whole society, riding does bring a lot of trouble and trouble. According to the data of Nanning Traffic Police Department, in 2014, there were 454 road traffic accidents involving electric bicycles, accounting for 54.3% of the city's traffic accidents. Why do electric bicycles and tricycles become "thorny roses"? Experts believe that the first reason is the characteristics of the vehicle itself, and the second is uncivilized driving behavior. "According to the Road Traffic Safety Law, electric bicycles should be driven in the same non motor vehicle lane as ordinary bicycles. However, most of the electric bicycles driving on the road are over standard ones, which are fast and heavy, resulting in a large speed difference, which is easy to cause collisions, and the resulting personal injuries are more serious than ordinary bicycles." Dai Shuai, director of the Policy Planning Office of the Road Traffic Safety Research Center of the Ministry of Public Security, said. In fact, in order to reduce the safety risks of electric bicycles, China issued the national standard General Technical Conditions for Electric Bicycles as early as 1999, which proposed that the speed of electric bicycles should not be greater than 20 km/h, and the mass (weight) of the whole vehicle should not be greater than 40 kg. According to this standard, which has not been modified since then, most electric bicycles on the market are beyond the standard. After visiting the market, the reporter found that the speed limit line will be installed on the controller of ordinary electric vehicle products. However, in order to meet the consumer's demand for speed, the manufacturer either introduced in detail the method of removing the speed limit line in the product manual, or directly removed it for the buyer at the time of sales. As a result, the speed limit standard becomes a mere formality. The uncivilized riding behavior has increased the pressure on road safety.

Dai Shuai told the reporter that most cyclists have not been trained in traffic laws and regulations and traffic rules, and lack the necessary sense of safe driving. "More importantly, for motor vehicles, the Road Traffic Safety Law has mandatory requirements and accountability system in registration, driving license, insurance purchase and other links, but there is less management and restriction on cyclists' behavior." In other words, the uncivilized cycling also has the objective reason of being forced to be helpless - unclear road division. In many cities, the non motorway is full of cars, leaving cyclists with no way to go but motorways.

In this regard, Dai Shuai suggested that in the future, in terms of road planning, design and construction management, attention should be paid to ensuring the traffic space of non motor vehicle lanes, and the phenomenon of non motor vehicle lanes being occupied by motor vehicles and stalls should be cleaned up in time to prevent electric bicycles from driving into motor vehicle lanes or sidewalks, causing security risks. The simple "restriction" and "prohibition" are unreasonable and people-oriented, giving all kinds of "riding" moderate living space, and strengthening supervision in multiple links. In recent years, some domestic cities have taken management measures to control the scale of electric vehicles and electric tricycles and even prohibit them from going on the road. At the same time, balanced cars and powered scooters are explicitly prohibited from going on the road. However, when the ban was implemented, it was opposed by many people, and even criticized as "lazy politics".

"In most cities, it is unrealistic to force a 'one size fits all' approach." Jia Shunping, a professor at the School of Transportation of Beijing Jiaotong University, said that although electric bicycles generally exceed the standard, they can be sold on the market and people have bought a lot of them. There are many vulnerable groups with limited economic conditions, individuals who are subject to restrictions on the purchase of cars, and elderly people who are inconvenient to use other tools. It is unreasonable to simply "restrict" or "prohibit" them. As an important means of transportation in the express industry, electric tricycles are also indispensable, "City managers should put people first and give new vehicles a moderate living space. At the same time, they should comprehensively consider the manufacturing, sales, use and other aspects, and strengthen the standardization and supervision." In the production link, it is particularly urgent to establish standards and specifications. Jia Shunping said that at present, there are various electric tricycles, walkers for the elderly and scooters on the market. The manufacturing process and technical indicators are different, and the appearance, shape and size are also different. However, there is no clear standard for all these vehicles, so it is necessary to speed up the standardization and fill in the regulatory gaps. In addition, the standard of electric bicycles has long been out of line with the current reality and should be updated as soon as possible. In the purchase phase, the registration system can be gradually improved. At present, Chengdu, Hangzhou and other cities have implemented the registration system for electric bicycles.

In Chengdu, since July last year, electric bicycles without license plates or certificates have been fined 50 yuan. Some cities are also prepared to provide subsidies from the government to install anti-theft and robbery chips in newly sold electric vehicles that can be tracked by the regulatory authorities. In Dai Shuai's opinion, in addition to these measures that can be promoted on new vehicles, the fundamental thing is to strengthen the supervision of vehicle production, sales and other links from the source. The government can also encourage users to actively replace and scrap a large number of used riding tools that do not meet the standards by exchanging old ones for new ones, buying back at a discount, and issuing scrap subsidies. In the use link, we should take multiple measures to make riding more civilized. "With the rapid economic development, the number of vehicles has increased significantly, but the citizens' safety awareness and travel habits have not been adapted so quickly." Dai Shuai suggested that the publicity and education of traffic civilization and safety should be included in the national education system. "Schools, vehicle manufacturers and social organizations should all join in." Last year, in order to control the chaos of electric vehicles, Nanning Traffic Police Department "promoted management by learning". All illegal riders must participate in on-site traffic safety study. Through centralized rectification, the number of registered cases and deaths of electric bicycle traffic accidents decreased by 50% and 60% respectively year on year. To make cycling develop more healthily and orderly, we need to improve the system and strengthen supervision, as well as provide space for its accurate positioning.

"After all, motorcycles and electric bicycles are personalized travel modes. They should be developed moderately in large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and should not become mainstream travel modes." Jia Shunping told the reporter that the development of riding should be based on local conditions and urban policies. Large and medium-sized cities should still focus on public transport. In some third and fourth tier cities, local financial strength is limited, public transport is not developed enough, and citizens have purchased a large number of electric bicycles and other tools. The government should fully meet everyone's travel needs. In Jia Shunping's opinion, among all the ways of riding, the traditional bicycle is just worthy of vigorous promotion. "It is more energy-saving and environment-friendly, with lower speed and more safety, and is also suitable for public transportation." Faced with the current situation of inconvenient bicycle traffic, Jia Shunping believes that efforts should be made from three aspects: first, the road planning of wide roads and overpasses aggravates the problem of inconvenient bicycle travel, and advocates open communities, narrow roads and dense road networks; Second, in order to avoid the impact of motor vehicles on the safety and health of cyclists, the motorized and non motorized lanes should be physically separated; Third, adequate bicycle parking facilities should be planned and built in residential areas, commercial areas and workplaces.