In many parts of the world, governing bodies allocate a substantial amount of funding to improve cycling infrastructure in urban areas. Although this issue stems from several factors, including reducing traffic congestion and environmental protection, there are other ways to solve transport-related problems: promoting remote working and improving the quality of public transport.
This trend can largely be attributed to address traffic jam-related issues. In the contemporary world, everyone has their private cars for daily use, yet fewer people commute to work or school by bike as it is physically demanding and time-consuming. This causes the rise of traffic jam, especially in big cities. However, the construction of special paths for cycling may encourage the public to ride a bike. Apart from that, the second reason why authorities spend a lot of money on the creation of roads is solving environmental problems such as air pollution, which is one of the most common issues in many countries. This is because cars produce carbon emissions, which are a major cause of air pollution. Take Tashkent as an example. This city is the capital of Uzbekistan, which is why the vast majority of Uzbeks live there. As a result, the number of cars is higher than other regions of Uzbekistan, and Tashkent is the most polluted city all over the world.
Nevertheless, there are two apparent alternative ways of solving transport problems. First and foremost, remote working can decrease traffic congestion since the highest rate of people today use private cars for commuting to work. For this reason, remote working may offer those to work from home without travelling by cars. Second of all, the improvements in public transports should be another approach of tackling transport-related issues. In other words, if buses or metros became cheaper and provided several opportunities for passengers, most people would go anywhere by them because public transports’ capacity is more than ordinary cars. This eventually leads to the drop in use of private cars for going out, and traffic jam problems may be resolved at the same time.
To conclude, while traffic congestion and environmental problems can be two main reasons why governments spend money for dedicated bike lanes, other ways – remote working and enhancing the quality of public transports – can also be the part of a holistic approach.