User:Rylan.Smith/sandbox

Asia

Commuting via bicycle is quite common some Asian countries like Japan, in which bicycle ridership has been increasing dramatically since the 1970's.^[1] Despite this fact however, many parts of Japan have been slow to adopting effective and safe means of transport, so in recent times there have been steps taken to promote biking in the nation's largest city, Tokyo. Many bike lanes in Tokyo have been constructed to allow the 2 directional flow of traffic in only one lane but add a physical separation between pedestrians, bike lanes, and the roads.^[2] In addition to these types of bake lanes, there are other forms of bike lanes within various parts of the Tokyo wards that do not protect bicycle users from pedestrians but do from the road. These lanes are designated typically with signs overhead and some form of painted line to denote a lane for pedestrians and a lane for bikers, yet these rules are often not adhered to.^[2] In addition to these forms of bike lanes in Tokyo, there are several other types which mostly consist of some alteration of the aforementioned two, or are simply just painted lanes on the side of the road.^[2] In other parts of Japan, such as the city of Fukuoka, there are clear types of bike lanes being implemented in order to promote biking in the city: "Bicycle roads, Bicycle lanes, Sidewalks shared between pedestrians and cyclists with markings, and Sidewalks shared with pedestrian with no markings."^[3]

Other countries in Asia like China have larger networks of bike paths and lanes dedicated for cycling infrastructure. The city of Nanjing China has several types of bike lanes: protected, unprotected, and shared lanes.^[4] These lanes are similar to that of other nations, in which the separated bike lanes are done either through physical barriers of some form or are entirely separate street paths. Unprotected bike lanes are painted on the street with vehicles but denote their own lane, and shared bike lanes are not denoted but implied that bikes shall share the entirety of the road with cars on that stretch of land.^[4] In addition, Chinese bike usage is relatively high compared to other nations, and as such, cycling is taken into account when designing interchanges on the road.^[5] As such, many interchanges include various paths for bicycle users to take so that they do not have to come into direct contact with motorized vehicles.^[5] Lastly, there has been increasing concern over the nature of biking accidents in China; a case study in Shanghai found that a desperate need for the shifting of bicycle lane type to protected from unprotected is the most needed change in particular.^[6]

1. Koike, Hirotaka (1991). "Current Issues and Problems of Bicycle Transport in Japan" (PDF). Transportation Research Record no. 1294, Nonmotorized Transportation 1991: 40–46 – via National Academies.
2. Kidd, Byron (September 6, 2014). "The Varied Designs of Tokyo's Bicycle Lanes". Tokyo by Bike. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
3. Rahman, Syakir Amir Ab; Mahamod, Lukman; Ismail, Muhammad; Wan Mansor, Wan Muhammad; Sharit, Safwan; Zukrey, Muhammad; Hanafi, Muhammad; Aidid, Muhammad; Asmawi, M. Zainora; Ponrahono, Zakiah; Najib, Nor Nadiah (27 August 2021). "Bicycle lane planning: A site appraisal in Fukuoka, Japan". Malaysian Journal of Society and Space. 17: 76–90 – via GEOGRAFIA Online.
4. Liang, Ying (Spring 2011). "Research on Bicycle Network Planning of Nanjing in China". Uppsala University Publications: 1–57 – via Uppsala University Publications.
5. Liu, Xiaoming; Shen, L. David; Ren, Futian (1993). "Operational Analysis of Bicycle Interchanges in Beijing, China" (PDF). Transportation Research Record 1396: 18–21 – via National Academies.
6. Zhu, Wei; Zhai, Baoxin; Jian, Dan (January 23, 2017). "Evaluating the Bicycle Travel Environment in a Changing Bicycle Culture: Case Study of Shanghai, China". Journal of Urban Planning and Development. 143 – via ASCE Library.