Promulgated policies to strictly manage electric bicycles, restrict driving areas, and reduce ownership

Can the "power limit order" solve the problem of urban traffic management?

  Recently, the front or rear of many electric bicycles in Fuzhou City have been replaced by a bold yellow number plate. This is based on the "Notice on Strengthening the Standard Management of Electric Bicycles" issued by Fuzhou City in October last year, and the traffic management department took measures to replace or register the existing or newly purchased electric bicycles.

  The ever-growing number of electric bicycles has outstanding safety hazards and frequent traffic accidents, causing citizens to worry about road safety and traffic order. At present, in addition to Fuzhou, domestic cities such as Xiamen and Shenzhen have issued relevant policies, and some provinces such as Zhejiang and Jiangsu have issued electric bicycle management regulations through local legislation to strictly manage electric bicycles.

  Under the increasingly stringent "restrictions on electricity", can the problems of urban traffic management be solved?

Reduce the number of possessions and limit the scope of travel

  Picking up children, commuting to work, purchasing food courts... electric bicycles often appear in Fuzhou City. Statistics show that 60.1% of Fuzhou citizens use walking, bicycle and electric vehicles to travel.

  "It's mainly about convenience." Xiaolin, a white-collar worker who works in a cultural tourism company in Fuzhou, told reporters that although she has purchased a car, she still chooses to travel on electric bicycles at work.

  In recent years, the number of electric bicycles in Fuzhou has increased dramatically. At present, the number of electric bicycles registered in Sicheng District alone has reached 2.1 million, while the existing urban roads can only carry 15% to 35% of the traffic demand, and the number of electric bicycles far exceeds the road load. At the same time, for a long time, Fuzhou electric bicycles have been running through red lights, driving in reverse, occupying roads and grabbing roads, and illegal manned traffic. In the first 10 months of 2019, Fuzhou investigated and punished 858,000 electric bicycle traffic violations.

  In October last year, Fuzhou issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Regulation of Electric Bicycles", pointing out that after 2024, electric bicycles will be completely banned from roads within the third ring road (inclusive) of urban areas, and the use of electric vehicles within 3 years will compensate 900 yuan. After receiving it, you cannot buy a new electric car, and you cannot go on the road without replacing the new number plate within 6 months. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the time limit for changing cards was extended to June 9 this year.

  Reducing the number of possessions and limiting the scope of travel are the main ideas for many cities to solve the problems of electric bicycle management. Since 2007, Xiamen has adopted regional restrictions on electric bicycles. Electric bicycles outside the island are prohibited from entering the island, and electric bicycles on the island are not allowed to drive on some major roads. From 2012, Shenzhen has designated areas such as urban express roads and main roads as restricted areas for electric bicycles, and gradually expanded the scope of restricted travel. By 2019, all express roads and main roads in the city will be basically designated as restricted areas for electric bicycles.

  According to the official introduction, after the above measures, the traffic order of these cities has been significantly optimized, and the occurrence of electric vehicle traffic accidents has also been reduced.

New national standard new number plate

  In April last year, the newly revised "Technical Specifications for Electric Bicycle Safety" was officially implemented. Prior to this, my country's electric bicycle standards have been implemented for nearly 20 years. The new national standard stipulates that the maximum speed of electric bicycles cannot exceed 25 kilometers per hour, and the mass of the entire vehicle (including batteries) must not exceed 55 kilograms.

  The “Notice” of Fuzhou City proposes to renew the new license plates free of charge, “to guide the use of vehicles that do not meet the new standards to gradually withdraw”, to cancel the sales of electric vehicles with licenses, and the newly registered electric bicycle licenses shall be managed by the traffic management department of the public security organs.

  On the eve of the license change, when the reporter visited a number of electric bicycle sales outlets on Fufei South Road in Fuzhou, he found that all the vehicles sold had been updated to meet the new national standard. A salesperson told reporters that prior to this, inventory "exceeding standard vehicles" was welcomed by some citizens, and some vehicle prices even increased by several hundred yuan. "The old "super-standard car" has a large body and a large battery capacity, and it can sit more safely when manned. The maximum speed of the vehicle can be increased to 50 kilometers per hour, which is practical."

  At present, the picture that the takeaway rider is driving the electric bicycle through the streets and "running against time" has become the norm. A rider introduced to reporters that if they want to achieve the endurance of a meal-delivery ride within a day, they often have more batteries to replace in time. However, due to the speeding of single orders and the violation of traffic rules, the rate of traffic accidents of takeaway riders is increasing.

  For the service industries such as postal services, express delivery, take-out, driving agency, and environmental sanitation, Fuzhou’s “Notice” proposes to implement single-numbered segment management, and the total number of plates shall be based on the actual number of front-line employees in the service industry that the company has paid for social security. Control; if the application is really necessary due to work needs, after the demand is approved by the traffic control department of the public security organ, the enterprise will purchase the car and handle it in a unified manner.

  Ni Jie, chairman of Luyuan Electric Vehicles, publicly suggested that for ordinary consumers, electric bicycles are only needed for daily travel. This part of the products must strictly comply with the weight and speed regulations of the new national standard; and for some special industries such as takeout and express delivery, It should meet its reasonable demands and allow enterprises to produce and sell corresponding electric motorcycle products; for those in special industries who have riding needs, they must be required to have the corresponding qualifications for riding electric motorcycles.

Distribute Road Right Reasonably and Improve Safety Consciousness

  Many cities' governance ideas of restricting the area of ​​electric bicycles and reducing the number of electric bicycles have also caused some controversy: Why should electric bicycles make way for cars?

  There is a view that the limitation of electric bicycles is related to urban road rights. To eradicate the congestion of non-motorized lanes, it is necessary to correct the deviation of road rights allocation. Non-motor vehicle lanes are compressed and occupied, which is also an important reason for frequent accidents caused by electric bicycles. Gu Dasong, executive director of the Transportation Law and Development Research Center of Southeast University, suggested that in urban road planning, it can be considered to set up special lanes for electric bicycles in suitable places, and to allocate and guarantee electric vehicles on the right of road.

  Regarding the safety of electric bicycles, there are also views that it is more important to increase the driver's driving level and awareness of safety and compliance than to limit the number. The regulations for electric bicycles passed by Jiangsu and Zhejiang not only regulate the production, sales, and maintenance of electric bicycles, but also put forward safety regulations such as wearing safety helmets.

  The reporter learned that recently, with the Ministry of Public Security deploying the “One Helmet and One Belt” safety guard operation nationwide, the Fuzhou Traffic Police also issued a notice on actively advocating the wearing of safety helmets for riding electric bicycles, and actively promoting riding electrics throughout the city Bicycles wear safety helmets to guide the standard management of electric bicycles.

  Yu Lingge