Wuhan plans 'exclusive' lanes for shared bikes

WUHAN - The city government of central China's Wuhan has said to mark off or build about 2,500 km of non-motor lanes in downtown areas mainly for shared bikes.

According to the official statement, road expansion and construction, as well as separation facilities have been planned and will soon be completed. A non-motor lane network of 2,455 km will be marked in the main city zone, 1,140 km of which will be able to provide a safe environment for bike riders, an increase of 300 percent compared with the current situation.

Incomplete statistics showed about 600,000 shared bikes have been placed in Wuhan streets since December, bringing potential safety hazard as their riders mix with motor vehicles on road.

According to BigData-Research, 19 million people used shared bikes last year and that number is expected to rise to 50 million this year. Authorities in cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin had introduced regulations on the rapidly growing bike-sharing sector.