Ten months after buying a new bike, Wang Zhi gave up and put his gleaming ride up for sale.

"I might get hit cycling on the crowded roads if I keep it," the 24-year-old housing agent said as he put his 260-yuan bike up for auction on Monday.

"No roads in Beijing seem to have been built for cyclists."

In the decades since the heyday of the bicycle, the capital's streets have become increasingly choked with vehicles.

Now, in an effort to get people back in the saddle again, the local government has begun an ambitious plan to return byways to eco-friendly cycle routes.

The plan was outlined in a directive on Jan 1 from the municipal reform and development commission, which supervises the city's industries.

The plan calls for better law enforcement to make sure designated bike lanes are only used by cyclists. Bike rental facilities will also be resurrected, with at least 500 stations set to be run by a private enterprise by next year, according to the directive.

The authorities will also abandon outdated traffic regulations that marginalize cyclists and make it easier for cyclists to use public transit in populated areas, including the CBD, Zhongguancun and southern Beijing - all to be completed by 2012.

The government made the move in the face of rising traffic volume and slower commutes.

The plan, named "Green Commuting", will also help the city lower emissions, experts said.

"In fact, authorities have been forced to come up with new solutions to solve the city's traffic deadlock," said Ou Guoli, a traffic management professor at Beijing Jiaotong University. "Experience from super-sized cities overseas has inspired Beijing to rediscover the lost art of cycling."

Ou said cycling may well take off again, but not before the authorities clear the way by rewriting traffic rules, issuing favorable policies for bike rentals and tightening measures to prevent bike thefts.

Fiona Boyle, a student from London, said car drivers in Beijing show no "lawful respect" for cyclists.

"I personally got hit a few times," said the 22-year-old who is currently riding her fourth bike after three were stolen. "As a cyclist, I sometimes feel I am looked down upon by car drivers who seem to stick out from everywhere in the bike lanes."

The difficulties faced by cyclists have dented bike sales and rentals.

Owners of bike shops say they are only selling around one bike every three days during the winter, while some bike rental outlets have not rented out a bike for months.

There are more than 1,000 cyclists injured during collisions with cars, the Beijing traffic management bureau said.

The authorities said the number could be more as many such accidents went unreported.