Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has again spoken out to champion cycling in Bangkok, saying the green transport mode could boost community businesses.
Speaking in his weekly Returning Happiness to the People television programme yesterday, the prime minister said an increase in the public use of bicycles would create more business opportunities for communities along cycling routes.
Prayut: Lanes a boon for business
He also urged locals to adjust their businesses to cater to the growing number of bicycle users and tourists along cycling routes.
City cycling lanes are being set up to encourage people to exercise more and use bicycles to commute to work, in a bid to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the capital.
The prime minister suggested that locals could provide bicycle stops in their communities to attract cyclists. These stops could be used to promote products from the area, he said.
Gen Prayut last Sunday opened the city's first complete 8km bike lane in Rattanakosin. It was developed by City Hall as a New Year present to city dwellers.
To develop the Rattanakosin bike lane, the city upgraded existing cycling routes on 12 roads by painting them green with a white bike logo. Officials also made modifications to ramps connecting footpaths and cycle lanes, while safer drain covers were installed.
Gen Prayut said the 8km bike lane is only the beginning of his ambitions for cycle paths in Bangkok.
The city has developed several bike lanes in a number of districts over the past few years, but road users have largely ignored the majority of them. Cars are frequently parked on cycle paths on Latya Road in Thon Buri and on Sathon Road. The short bike lane on Phra Athit Road only became useable last year when police officers enforced strict punishments for violators.
The upgraded Rattanakosin route, which had a "soft launch" in November, has drawn complaints from a group of Bang Lamphu residents who believe the strip has damaged their businesses and way of life, since the bike lane replaced their roadside parking spaces.
But the prime minister said the expansion of bike lanes across Bangkok will have a beneficial overall impact on the public, even if does affect the old ways of some vendors and residents.
"I believe it will be a change for the better. Sometimes we have to sacrifice for the public good," he said.
Gen Prayut encouraged all road users, including street vendors, motorcycle taxi drivers, motorists and pedestrians, to understand the function of the paths and respect other road users. He claimed that cycle paths show that everyone has equal access to the infrastructure of the city.
City Hall has promised a second phase of 10km cycle routes on five roads, stretching from the Rattanakosin route to Pin Klao and Arun-Amarin bridges. Bangkok currently has 232km of bike lanes on 31 routes around the capital.