Commuting - Shanghied

According to todays Guardian newspaper the mayor of Shanghai has just published a transport white paper (policy consultation document) with several targets.
One of them is to decrease cycling by 25% by the year 2005.
Im not saying any more.

Seems obvious. The auto lobby is padding his accounts, just as they do the pols here in the states.

I travel to China frequently. It is difficult to watch China go backwards in their attempt to go forward.

When I first visited Shanghai 14 years ago, most of the traffic was bicycles. The city was quiet and magical with people floating from location to location.

Now, the streets are clogged with angry traffic. The pollution gets so bad that you cannot see across the street - HONESTLY, that is no exaggeration. I was in Shanghai last year and you could not see across the street because the pollution was so bad.

You could look directly at the sun. Through the smog, the sun looks like a red moon.

Originally posted by mike
It is difficult to watch China go backwards in their attempt to go forward. ... You could look directly at the sun. Through the smog, the sun looks like a red moon.

It is sad that they cannot learn from the mistakes of the industrialized "first-world" countries, where the promised Good Life is shortened by emphysema, diabetes, and numerous other health problems promoted by inactivity and pollution.


-- Honk if you hate driving in "rush-hour" traffic.

Originally posted by mike
When I first visited Shanghai 14 years ago, most of the traffic was bicycles. The city was quiet and magical with people floating from location to location.

Now, the streets are clogged with angry traffic. The pollution gets so bad that you cannot see across the street ...
I'm not sure, but it may have been Albert Einstein that once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result each time."

If China will not learn from our mistakes, perhaps we can learn from hers.

Originally posted by John E
It is sad that they cannot learn from the mistakes of the industrialized "first-world" countries, where the promised Good Life is shortened by emphysema, diabetes, and numerous other health problems promoted by inactivity and pollution.

Yeah, but while those of us who actually live in the so-called "first-world" know all about these problems, does anybody else? Unfortunately, nobody with any real public voice ever talks about these things, hence the mayor of Shanghai probably believes that the automobile will be the total and complete saviour of mankind. Maybe a trip to Sydney or somewhere like that might change his mind.

Phew! Thank goodness they don't share the same atmosphere as us.