a bicycle resurgence

Bicycle is king of the road as gas costs rise.

London, Paris, Chicago, Bogotá and Seoul have embarked on major campaigns to incorporate the bicycle into traffic grids. The results have led to substantial shifts in fuel consumption, commuting times and even real estate values.

Consider the case of Enrique Peñalosa, the mayor of Bogotá from 1998 to 2000. In that city of seven million, he set in motion a transformation of the transport grid with measures like peak-hour restrictions on cars and about 300 kilometers, or 185 miles, of bicycle paths. He said that cycling has become a primary mode of transport for 5 percent of the population, up from 0.1 percent when he started. The share using the car as primary mode, by contrast, has fallen to 13 percent of the population from 17 percent.

The IHT article goes on to discuss the economic advantages of accommodating cyclists as well as the reversal of the trend in some developing countries like India and China, "Eight years ago roughly 60 percent of Beijing's work force cycled to work but that percentage has dropped below 20 percent."