Green Daily

South Korea is talking about an ambitious plan to get its citizens on bikes.

Korean President Lee Myung-bak has asked for feasibility studies on projects to get Korea more like places that love this eco-friendly form of transportation. Japan, for instance, has 14% of its citizens using bicycles to get around. The Netherlands have a whopping 27% hopping on bikes.

The Koreans have a distance to go. Only 1.2% are currently using bicycles. Their aim is to see this rate rise to 10% by 2017 and replace 5% of road congestion.

And how could they do this? One idea would be almost 2000 miles of bike path that would cross the country. This could unite different cities in a very eco-friendly way. The bike-only path, which could be built over the next 10 years, could also host an bicycle competition similar to the Tour de France. Other ideas include a Bicycle Day and getting bicycle-friendly traffic rules to the cities.

Anything that separates bicycles from cars is hugely appealing to bicyclists in urban settings. If ideas like this are implemented in my city, I may consider taking my bike out for the first time since I got doored and thrown to the pavement.