SHANGHAI is studying plans to set up more bike lanes and create a more accessible network for cyclists.

The city’s transportation commission said in a reply to a proposal from Shanghai Committee of China National Democratic Construction Association, one of the eight legal political parties in China, that it is studying plans to set up bicycle lanes in some areas in downtown that do not have bike lanes.

The party added the authority aims to create 10 kilometers of bicycle friendly roads, and at the same time add facilities along 18km of lanes to separate motor vehicles or pedestrians from non-motor vehicles. These efforts are part of its 2016-2017 working list to improve the city’s non-motor vehicle network.

The proposal aims to create a better environment for bike riding, by giving cyclists more rights of way and making non-motor vehicle lanes more accessible.

The proposal includes bringing bicycle lanes into the city’s transportation planning, particularly in the design of cross-river tunnels or bridges, and setting up bike lanes on overpasses in busy intersections in downtown.

The transportation commission, meanwhile, said it had co-launched research with local transportation institutes on the city’s non-motor vehicle transportation system in 2016, and found the system still had teething problems, including lack of accessibility and facilities that needed to be more functional.

The authority has launched its 2016-2017 working list with 31 items aimed at improving the situation.

The commission estimated Shanghai currently has well over half a million shared bikes. It said it is working with other authorities including the police, commission of housing and urban-rural commission to set up guidelines to better manage the booming industry.

The police have stated they will crack down on vandalism to shared bikes and other related violations, while the bike sharing companies are urged to carry out a credit system to monitor users’ behavior and share more credit information with other bike sharing companies. Those found with multiple violations face being blacklisted and banned from using shared bikes.

The commission added civil servants should play a leading role in green transportation, with bike parking spots sited near office buildings of city-level authorities to encourage officials to use the bike sharing service.