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Cyclists are lobbying the government to include a harbourfront cycling route in the new Wan Chai waterfront development, accusing the administration of having a blind spot for bicycles.

Cycling is clean, quiet and has health benefits, but Transport Department policy states that it is 'essentially a recreational sport' in Hong Kong.

Bicycles are barred from most forms of public transport and some roads, and there are no cycle routes or cycle-parking facilities on Hong Kong Island.

This is in stark contrast to other major cities, including Beijing, London and New York, where thousands of people use bicycles every day as a form of transport.

The newly formed Hong Kong Cycling Alliance said a waterfront cycle route would encourage more people to commute by bicycle in Hong Kong.

Spokesman Paul Tattam said the route would enable people to cycle from Central to North Point, a journey that could be covered easily and quickly.

The alliance eventually wants to see a cycle route along the whole of the urban waterfront from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan.

Mr Tattam said: 'Planners, transport engineers, conservationists and environmentalists in this town suffer from a peculiar blind spot. They seem to discount cycling as a valid choice of individual mobility but pay lip service to walking as a travel mode.'

The Kowloon waterfront could also allow cycling, he said. Cyclists could also ride from places like Sha Tin to urban Kowloon largely by the linking of existing cycle tracks with little-used roads.

Mr Tattam said the result would be an attractive, well signposted network of cycle and walking tracks across Hong Kong.

'This would therefore mean that cycling was being integrated into a territory-wide plan which valued cycling alongside other forms of road transport,' said Mr Tattam, adding that the cost would not be prohibitive.

A Transport Department spokesman said the government encouraged cycling in areas where traffic and safety conditions permitted, but that bicycles could delay traffic on narrow urban roads.

Hong Kong Island's hilly terrain and limited road space were to blame for the lack of cycling facilities there, he said, adding: 'The Transport Department maintains a positive stance on the role of cycling in Hong Kong's integrated transport system.'

The spokesman said cycling paths for the Wan Chai waterfront redevelopment would be considered at the detailed design stage of the project.

Nick Brooke, a consultant with the property consultancy firm Insignia Brooke, said the thousands of people who cycled on the path from Sha Tin to Tai Po at the weekends showed that Hong Kong people used cycle paths when they were available.

A harbourfront cycle path was not only desirable but technically 'do-able', he said.

'People are cramped up in small flats with kids. Think how nice it would be to cycle along the harbourfront. The more we can move away from the car, and encourage people to walk, cycle or use public transport, the better.'



Cyclists clamour for a route along the Island waterfront