Cycling for the environment in Hue city
Being suitable for Hue landscape
Hue city is gradually forming a cultural, heritage, ecological urban with eco-friendly landscape. However, the increase of motor vehicles in narrow road conditions and crowded tourists create negative impacts that affect citizens’ life and public health.
Dr. Cung Trong Cuong - Director of Provincial Institute for Development Studies shares that, over time, Hue city has not only renovated and beautified urban areas but also strongly responded to practical activities such as “Green Sunday”, “Say no to plastic bags and disposable plastic bags”, “A city of four seasons of flowers”... If citizens are encouraged to use the public transport effectively, cycling will be very suitable for them...
Ms. Bui Thu Hien - Co-Founder of the Smart Connection Center (SICC) shares that the local natural landscape creates a unique cultural identity for Hue and makes it become an eco-tourism destination. Developing a cycling city is an indispensable trend because many cities in the world have experiencedbicycle as a user-friendly, safe and environmentally friendly means of transport.
Cycling for the environment in Hue city
According to Ms. Bui Thu Hien, surveys show that Hue city is getting more and more cyclists, most of whom have yet cycled just for relaxing or sporting. Using bicycle as a means of transport is not common and accounts for a small proportion of the total number of vehicles in the city.
The factor in making the low use of bicycle is that the city has no specific strategy for cyclingdevelopment, safety issues, especially cycling infrastructure. The lack of policies and infrastructure for cycling has made citizens tend to use motorcycles for daily travelling, including short-distance trips...
Developing a pilot model
Mr. Fred Young - Managing Director for Southeast Asia, Alta Go Planning company, affirms that using bicycles will be the fastest way to travel within a scope of 5 kilometers and at the same time help keep the body healthy. Cycling infrastructure requires less space than car infrastructure.
In addition, Hue city has many opportunities to become a “cycling city” as this is an attractive tourist destination which attracts a lot of tourists from all over the world. Just a 5-minute bicycle ride will give tourists access to all the services they want.
However, to become a “cycling city”, the local government should have a planning strategy to makethe transport network infrastructure suitable for all ages, complete infrastructure of destinations (schools, markets, business areas, housing), and connect and integrate cycling with other means of transportation...
Ms. Hau Hagedorn - Vice Director of the Transportation Research and Education Center, Portland State University, says that many countries now have the “Cycling Act”, which stipulates at least 1% of the high-speed traffic development fund to be dedicated to the development of cycling and pedestrian route projects. At the same time, they always have a policy to build a high-class cycling city by attracting more cyclists, strengthening cycling policies, forming a denser cycling network, increasing bicycle parking zones, expanding bicycle support programs, increasing funding for bicycle utilities...
“Hue city needs to set up many specific policies and programs as well as raises people’s awareness on changing their habits to travel by bicycle,” adds she.
According to Mr. Phan Thien Dinh - Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, Thua Thien Hue province has long been ambitious for the “cycling city” model, which is also an inevitable trend of Hue City for now and later on. Along with that, the province is focusing on building Hue as a tourism city and a heritage urban of national significance. Particularly, it has expressed interests in transport infrastructure for eco-friendly vehicles such as bicycles in the area.
In the coming time, the province will continue the synchronous implementation of a number of programs, such as providing a supportive and safer environment for bicycles and developing a bicycle sharing system.
In August, a pilot model will be invested for 1,000 bicycles in public places to meet residents’ and tourists’ needs. In addition, the province will provide a legal corridor and policy directions to help Huecity develop a safe environment for cycling...
Story and photos: Minh Van