Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho appears at an event publicising the new Design Guide (left): the bicycle parking at that estate, and many others, is in a very poor condition (right)

Hong Kong’s Housing Department (HD) promises to offer better bicycle access and storage at new public housing estates as well as improve bicycle facilities at existing estates, officials told Transit Jam at the launch of a new housing estate design blueprint last week.

HD’s new “Well-being Design” guide, not yet fully published, aims to “serve as a reference for the future design of new public housing estates,” and was created following research at 26 housing estates involving some 3,000 residents.

“For example [we will offer] better connectivity to cycling paths adjacent to our estates and to provide bicycle parking as appropriate. [A] recent example is our new public housing developments of Yip Wong Estate and Hin Fat Estate, Tuen Mun,” said a spokesperson in response to questions on cycling.

HD says cycling will still be banned within housing estates.

“[The Design Guide] proposes no change to the estate management of prohibiting cycling on pavements in public rental housing estates,” said the spokesperson.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho ran a launch event at Mei Lam Estate in Sha Tin on Saturday, joining lawmakers on indoor bicycles to promote the “sustainable” theme of the new design guide.

But only a few yards away from that media circus, the truth about public housing cycling lay rotting in the typical “junkyard” cycle parking racks blighting many public housing estates.

Bike storage at Mei Lam estate is more “junkyard” than parking, with 86% of bicycles  found unusable

A survey of the bikes across Mei Lam’s parking racks found a staggering 86% unusable: the best have flat tires or missing saddles but the worst are long-rusted into scrap metal, barely identifiable as bicycles.

Sha Tin is HD’s biggest “cycling” district, with 6,248 spaces (30% of its entire bike parking inventory) managed by the department at public housing estates. Mei Lam, with 298 bike parking spaces, is just a 10 minute ride from Tai Wai station along an almost seamless cycle track.

But, given the junk occupying the bike parking slots, there are only actually around 40 usable bike parking spaces across that whole estate of 10,000 residents.

An abundance of “no bicycle” signs – and strict security guards – prevent parking in other more convenient locations.

At Sun Chui estate, the government will close the bike parking for three months, with $75/day fine for thoe not moving their bicycles. No alternative bike parking is offered.

At other nearby estates we found the same story: at Sun Chui Estate across the river, the racks are piled high with junk, while a notice at the main bicycle parking says the bike parking will be closed for three months while “resurfacing” of the road takes place. Owners failing to remove their bikes will be stuck with a penalty of $75 per day or forfeit their bicycles. No alternative parking arrangements are listed.

A nearby four-storey car park and at-grade car park, together offering around 600 car parking spaces, shows no such closure. And security guards who would chase and harangue a cyclist showed no interest in, for example, an illegally parked luxury BMW SUV within the estate grounds.

Dozens of illegally parked trucks also use the estate as free weekend parking, with seemingly little attention from guards.

While HD’s design guide aims to improve bicycle “access”, some of the connectivity issues may be outside its control.

For example, Tai Wai MTR station – the nearest to both Mei Lam and Sun Chui Estates – has only space for barely 80-100 bicycles, and those racks are also largely occupied by derelict bikes or broken rental bikes.

Local mall operators claim Tai Wai is a “paradise” for cycling, but bike parking is discouraged at Tai Wai station: bike racks are full yet nearby railings are blocked by anti-bike measures

Nearby railings have “anti-bike” systems installed: plastic sheets bolted onto the railings such that riders can’t chain up their bikes.

Railings further away carry warnings that bikes parked more than 24-hours are illegally parked: being away from the security of the MTR CCTV, they’re also risky in terms of theft. A police source told Transit Jam last year the bike theft rate is so high at those prized spots around Tai Wai that police deployed an undercover officer dressed as a student to try to catch thieves.

Asked how HD would solve these connectivity issues, a spokesperson said parking at MTR stations was “not under the Housing Department’s purview”.