Don’t ban bicycles, they are good for the environment

Editor, The ban on bicycles from tarmac will affect those whose only affordable means of transport is using bicycles.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Editor,

The ban on bicycles from tarmac will affect those whose only affordable means of transport is using bicycles.

Access to and use of roads should be seen as an essential basic need for everyone. Therefore roads should urgently be upgraded to accommodate bicycles and have pedestrian lanes, especially in rural areas where bicycles are the main mode of transport.

Céléstin, Germany

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If you want to ban anything, ban the big, gas-consuming, environment-polluting SUVs.

I think that the Mayor of Kayonza District needs a study trip to Amsterdam, The Hague or Paris.

Gatete, Rwanda

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The issue is not bicycles on the road, but rather educating both motorists and cyclists to be more cautious while on the road.

In other countries, authorities have adopted bicycles for the sake of green economies and reduction on pollution. Instead of banning them, they provided alternatives for the citizens by building them road systems to accommodate bicycles.

Go to London, Shanghai, Paris and other big cities, you will find the bicycles.

Why can’t we invest in street cameras for checking over-speeding and then reinforce punitive measures for the drivers?

Innocent, Rwanda

Reactions to the story, "Districts ban bikes on tarmac roads” (The New Times, July 23)