Residents are still in shock over the recent 25 per cent rise in taxi fares, from 1.6 yuan per kilometre to 2 yuan. It is a big jump, but a necessary one with the rising cost of fuel, and one can only hope that the overworked and underpaid drivers themselves will see some benefit.
But perhaps the move will also encourage people to get back in the saddle. Certainly, there are many reasons to do so.
Beijing's roads were built with cycle lanes as wide as a single carriageway for cars; the city is so flat that cycling takes less effort than walking; traffic congestion is so bad that it is much quicker to get round on two wheels; and there are so many cycle shops and bike repairmen on street corners that buying and maintaining an 'iron horse' is much cheaper and more convenient than using any other mode of transport.
But where, just five years ago, these lanes swarmed with cyclists, they are now often empty. At best, you will sometimes see a few peddlers wending their way through the city.
Once the bicycle was as much a symbol of China as the Great Wall or dragon dancing. But now it seems to have had its day.
Foreigners learning Chinese are always taught the phrase 'kingdom of bicycles' as an affectionate term for Beijing. Today, they must be wondering if they are in the right city.
It is believed that there may be anything up to 10 million cycles still on the city's streets but, apparently, their owners are using them much less frequently.