Bicycle production rises again.

• Author: Lowe, Marcia D.

Some 108 million bicycles were produced worldwide in 1993, outstripping global automobile output by a factor of three-to-one. Since the mid-1970s, the trend i world bicycle production has roughly paralleled that of China, which, as the largest producer, accounts for more than a third of the total. The resumed clim in global output since 1990 largely reflects China's recovery following a 1988 surplus that forced the bike industry to stockpile some 13 million bicycles and to scale back production for two years.

China's image as the Bicycle Kingdom suffered a jolt in 1993, as officials in Guangzhou and Shanghai announced their intention to ban bicycles from certain thoroughfares in order to make way for cars and trucks. But in a country with some 250 bicycles for every automobile and with precious little space for roads such decrees are hard to justify, let alone enforce. At least in Guangzhou, the mayor--blasted by an immediate public outcry--was forced to alter his proposed ban.

In other developing countries, a long history of government discrimination has failed to dislodge the bicycle as the most widely used vehicle for private transport. Despite decades of scorn and bias in transport policy, people in muc of Africa, Asia, and Latin America depend heavily on bikes and load-carrying three-wheelers to commute to work, reach remote rural communities, and haul vegetables to market. In many cities in Asia, pedal power--including cycle rickshaws--accounts for 20-60 percent of people's trips.

In countries with high automobile ownership, by contrast, the extent of bicycle use has been heavily influenced by swings in both public policy and popular attitudes. Particularly in North America and Australia, heavy government spending on highways and a rush to acquire cars meant bicycles were neglected i the 1950s and 1960s. But oil shocks and unprecedented environmental awareness i the seventies inspired renewed respect for bicycling from industrial-country governments and citizens alike. The bicycle's nonpolluting and energy-saving advantages helped stimulate a surge in world bike production in the early to mid-1970s.

During the past two decades, railway passengers...