With Hong Kong’s speedy, efficient mass transport system, who needs bikes?

David Akast must have the wrong reasoning, borrowed from overseas, that Hongkongers need bikes taking over our precious urban space already packed with people and vehicles (“Abandoned, rusting shared bikes could surely be put to better use?”, December 18).

Hong Kong is unlike Beijing or Shanghai, with their spectacular morning views of swarms of bicycles waiting at the traffic lights, mostly in designated lanes, a mile-long trail of people cycling to work or classes. That is a sure sign of a robust bike market.

Elsewhere, in San Pedro, Los Angeles, I saw buses equipped with racks that could accommodate bicycles in the front, which encouraged cross-district cycling. Simple reasoning would tell you why Gobee bikes can definitely survive and grow overseas, but not in a mass-transit-dominated city like Hong Kong.

In Fanling, we raise our eyebrows in annoyance when we see bicycles on the pedestrian pathway. On the way to the train station, I’ve seen many parked bicycles get warning tickets for road obstruction. And when I saw news reports of how one youngster, reportedly from the mainland, drove his bicycle into an MTR compartment, I could only imagine the fury of his co-passengers. Bikes are no match for Hong Kong’s cosy, speedy and cost-effective mass transport network.

Edmond Pang, Fanling