Theory Doesn’t Equal Practice
A little while ago, this article appeared in The Korea Times. I couldn’t help but laugh. It sounds like a good idea: bicycle lanes, subsidies, etc for those that ride their bikes to the subway station. Indeed, there are visibly more bike racks near subway stations now. However, it begs the question: who is nuts enough to do this?

Seoul Isn’t Pudong
Pudong is an area just outside of Shanghai, China. Even with the exploding population in Shanghai, you can see multiple people riding on wide bicycle lanes. It really is quite a sight. However, the lawmakers that proposed these subsidies in Korea have obviously not walked around Seoul. Mopeds (autobikes) ride on the street, on the sidewalk, everywhere. Cars park on the sidewalk. Children riding bicycles are regularly struck by cars on the street, on the sidewalk, and inside apartment complexes. One last question: how are men going to get to the subway at all when they are trying to leer at women riding in miniskirts on their bicycles to the subway? Isn’t there already a sexism problem in Korea? In short, nice idea in theory, totally unworkable in practice.