The Seoul city government plans to build 207km of cycle paths over the next four years, and will reduce the number of lanes for motor vehicles to do so.
Under the aggressive plan to fight global warming, cycle paths will extend to all corners of the South Korean capital, the officials said yesterday.
The 120 billion won (S$132 million) plan is based on a "road-diet" programme, under which the number of lanes for passenger vehicles on major roads will be cut to create new cycle paths.
It calls for the construction of 17 main cycle paths totalling 200km that criss-cross the sprawling city and one downtown 7km beltway.
"Any urban areas where commuters rely only on vehicles burning fuel cannot avoid blame for global warming and traffic congestion," Seoul City Mayor Oh Se Hoon said on the city government's website.
"We will make sure that bicycles will compete with vehicles for commuting in Seoul," said Mayor Oh, who rides his bicycle to work every day.
He did not outline any plan to consult motorists.
Only 1.6 per cent of all commuters use bicycles in Seoul, partly due to a lack of dedicated paths.
The city government wants to increase this to 4.4 per cent in 2012, 7.6 per cent in 2016, and 10 per cent in 2020.
The city will also construct bicycle parks at 16 subway stations ? complete with shower rooms and lockers for cyclists before they transit to the subway.
Cities with extensive cycle- path networks include Bogot?, Montreal, Dublin and Portland.
