JEDDAH: A member of the Shoura Council has called for allowing men and women in the Kingdom to ride bicycles as a means of transportation. He pointed out that this would be both economical and healthful.

Sultan Al-Sultan, the Shoura member, requested the planning department at the Ministry of Transport to develop the idea in the Kingdom. He suggested that paths for cyclists be allocated for citizens in all regions of the country, a local newspaper reported.

“Bicycles are considered the most efficient transport, and a means of exercise that is widespread in most advanced countries of the world. I personally witnessed this in Tokyo during my doctoral studies,” he said to a local newspaper.

He added that more than 3 million people in Tokyo use bicycles for transportation everyday. “What prevents men and women from riding bicycles to work or traveling to and from their destinations on bicycles?” he asked.

He called for implementing programs to educate the public on the role of the various means of transport, citing the economic advantage as billions of riyals are transferred abroad by drivers in the Kingdom.

“We can use this money in our domestic economy by using other means of transport, particularly in the light of the problem of congestion and heavy traffic experienced in the cities and regions of the country,” he said.