 |
| A Londoner crosses Waterloo Bridge in the
capital, where bike sales are
booming. | |
For years, Jon Wright considered commuting the 10
miles to work by bicycle. But it wasn't until the terrorist bombings on
London's subway and bus system July 7 that he finally decided to make the
leap.
"It should have
really taken less than the threat of being blown up
to make me jump on a bike, but I'm now recommending it to
everyone I see, much to their annoyance," says Wright, 32, a hotel
manager. He says he has lost 7 pounds and saved $185 a month in public
transportation costs.
It's not quite Amsterdam or Copenhagen, where commuting by bike is the
norm, but London is quickly becoming a major cycling city. Much of the
shift is a direct result of the bombings, which killed 52 people.
On cycling websites, London's new cyclists such as
Wright refer to themselves as "bomb dodgers
."
No hard figures are available on the number of cyclists in the city.
The Transport for London office estimates cycling has increased 52% in the
capital since 2000, based on the number of cyclists crossing bridges over
the Thames River.
Still, only 2% of Londoners cycle to work, compared with 20% in
Copenhagen and 28% in Amsterdam. London Mayor Ken Livingstone, a bicycle
enthusiast, wants to increase cycling 80% by 2010.
"Cycling is the fastest, cheapest, most healthy and environmentally
friendly way to get around London, and more and more people are taking it
up," Livingstone said by e-mail. "The number of cyclists has doubled over
the last five years, while those killed or seriously injured has fallen by
40%."
Under the London Cycling Action Plan, Livingstone envisions
transforming London into a world-class cycling city to reduce congestion
and pollution. London now has 273 miles of bike routes, half built since
2000. The goal is 560 miles by 2010.
The sudden influx of cyclists after the July attacks took London by
surprise. In July, the number of bike commuters was 26% higher than the
same period last year, according to the transport office.
On the day of the bombings, which crippled the transportation system for weeks,
bicycle shops sold out of their stock within
hours.
(Agencies) |
幾年來，喬恩·賴特一直在考慮是否每天騎車去10英里外的地方上班。直到今年7月7日倫敦發生地鐵和公共汽車恐怖爆炸事件后，他才最終決定從此改騎自行車上下班。
“其實我本不應該等到有爆炸的威脅才決定騎車上班。但是，現在每遇到一個人，我都會向他推薦騎車上班，讓他們覺得很討厭，”32歲的賴特說。他是一家飯店的經理。他說他的體重已經下降了7磅，每個月還節約了185英鎊的公交開銷。
在阿姆斯特丹或哥本哈根，騎車上班非常普遍，但是倫敦和這兩座城市有所不同。現在，倫敦也正在迅速成為一個重要的自行車城市。這種變化很大程度上受到倫敦爆炸事件的直接影響，在那次事件中共有52人喪生。
在自行車運動網站上，像賴特這樣新興的自行車一族戲稱自己為“躲避炸彈的人”。
現在還沒有可靠的數據統計倫敦到底有多少騎自行車的人。倫敦交通辦公室估計2000年至今，倫敦騎自行車的人數比例已經上升了52%，這個數據是基于騎自行車通過泰晤士河的人統計出來的。
但是，仍然只有2%的倫敦人每天騎車上下班，這個數字在哥本哈根是20%，在阿姆斯特丹是28%。倫敦市長肯·里溫斯通也是一名自行車運動的愛好者，他希望到2010年騎自行車的比率可以增加80%。
“在倫敦市內穿梭，騎自行車是最快、最便宜、最健康、最環保的方法。越來越多的人開始嘗試騎自行車。在過去五年中，騎自行車的人數翻了一番，而在交通事故中被撞死或嚴重受傷的比例卻下降了40%。”
根據倫敦自行車行動計劃，里溫斯通想要把倫敦改造稱一座世界級的自行車之都，這樣能減少交通堵塞和空氣污染。倫敦現有273英里自行車道，其中一半都是2000年后建造的，倫敦的目標是在2010年之前建成560英里自行車道。
震驚世界的七·七倫敦爆炸事件發生后，大批倫敦人加入了騎自行車的行列。根據倫敦交通部門的統計，七月，騎自行車上下班的人數比去年同期高出26個百分點。
就在爆炸事件發生當天，在短短幾個小時之內，自行車商店的存貨一搶而空，這次爆炸使倫敦的交通系統癱瘓了幾個星期。
（中國日報網站 薛曉文譯） |
Updated: 2005-09-22 11:49
