India:bye bye bicycles

Bicycle are eco-friendly and cheap, but Indians won’t swap cars for them - The Economic Times: "There are now reports that Italians are even resurrecting rusty models from their garages and getting them all spruced up rather than buying a second car. If the famously car-crazy Italians are opting for La Bicicletta instead of more racy accoutrements of La Dolce Vita, the world may well be wheeling round to a different mode of living, not merely transport.

But not India. Despite the unhappiness over inexorably rising fuel prices, the chances of a bicycle movement taking off as an alternative here, however, are far slimmer than the average potential buyer. Though India is the world's second-largest producer of bicycles, no matter how you peddle it, long commutes to work and leisure places, not to mention frequently inclement weather and road conditions, will stack up convincingly against the advantages of self-propelled two-wheelers, even in these somewhat straitened times."

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