Beijing residents increasingly embrace 'slow transportation'

BEIJING -- Residents in Beijing's six central districts have increasingly embraced slower means of transportation, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport has found.

In 2022, 49 percent of the trips made by these residents involved walking or riding bicycles, said the commission, adding that the ratio was the highest in a decade.

Specifically, 31.7 percent of the trips were made on foot while 17.3 percent by bike.

In recent years, authorities in Beijing have taken various measures to encourage residents to use slower means of transportation, which helps ease traffic congestion and is more eco-friendly.

Zhang Yan, an official with the transport commission in Haidian district, said that in 2022, 319 kilometers of bike lanes were widened and six walkways were upgraded in the district.