India’s Health Minister Wants Protected Bike Lanes Nationwide
There's encouraging news out of India, where cities expect to add hundreds of millions of residents in the next few decades but are already choking on traffic congestion and auto exhaust.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan was appointed to lead India's health ministry by newly elected prime minister Narendra Modi this May, and he wants to promote bicycling as a way to improve public health and air quality while adding more transportation options, especially for low-income people.
According to the Indian news outlet First Post, Vardhan would like to see a nationwide effort to install protected bike lanes:
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that he will approach the Surface Transport and Urban Development Ministries for the development of cycle tracks alongside roads to make cycling a "huge movement" in the country.
"I will personally write to Surface Transport and Urban Development Ministries to do whatever they can in this initiative and also ask them to develop cycle tracks," Vardhan said as he released a study report titled "Peddling towards a Greener India: A Report on Promoting Cycling in the Country", prepared by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The report also recommended that India offer residents micro-loans to purchase bikes, as well as tax incentives to promote bicycling.
The health problems that auto emissions cause are now grave enough to threaten India's economy, as the number of private vehicles has tripled to 130 million since 2003.
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