Innovative bicycle schemes in China and India are tackling chronic air pollution problems and congestion by encouraging people to stop using cars. In China everyone used to travel by bicycle, then along came an urban middle class and the cities were choked with private cars. Now the bicycle is making a comeback, and, at least if you live in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, you don’t even have to own one because the city will provide a bike for you to ride for free.What began as an experiment to see if it was possible to reduce both air pollution and congestion has become a major success story, not just in Hangzhou but in 175 cities across the country. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Hangzhou Bicycle Service is that it makes a profit. Companies pay for advertisements on the bicycles and on the kiosks where they are stored and rented from. This pays the wages of those who run the scheme.

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