Association advocates bike priority route system

The New Macau Association (NMA) proposed a bicycle-priority route system for residents living and working in Taipa, Cotai and Coloane. The proposal suggests that bicycle lanes should be made available on the roads and designated as part of future mass transportation infrastructures.
“In Macau, the number of vehicles has been rising by ten thousand each year, fighting public buses over the roads. Not only is riding a bicycle energy-saving and environmentally-friendly, it can also spare residents the necessity to take overcrowded buses,” said the proposal’s drafter Rocky Chan.
“The road network is relatively simple on these islands; by implementing bicycle-prioritized transport there, along with the pedestrian systems the government planned to build, it can reduce the residents’ dependence on private vehicles and relieve the pressure on public transportation,” he added.
The group suggested that the existing two bicycle lanes should be extended; and a bicycle lane network should be built based on the pedestrian systems throughout the central area of Taipa. Moreover, bicycle lanes should be added to the Cotai Strip main roads and around the casino resorts.
Meanwhile, it suggested that bicycle parking and renting areas should be designated around the future Light Railway Transit stations and in new reclamation lands.
“It’s easier to establish this green transport system in the new reclamation lands; and the government can consider formulating policies that encourage commercial and residential places to add public facilities for bicyclists,” said Chan.
Furthermore, the NMA proposed that facilities for bicycle transport should be gradually integrated into the North Taipa urban planning, the Seac Pai Van public housing complex, as well as a safe road network for two universities located on the islands.
“Encouraging green transport means that the space for car parking can be reduced in the public space and public resources can be reallocated to welfare facilities that benefit the public, as well as improving our living quality,” stressed the group. BY