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Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

forbes.com

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Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#131

Post by britzkopf »

raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat unrelated to the article, but I live in a mid-size EU city and dumped my car for an e-bike a few months ago. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that hard (my GF kept her car, and I have a car-sharing subscription): Pros: - Immediately stopped having insomnia. Better feel overall; - about €300/month in additional disposable income. That's basically a free lunch everyday! - significantly faster if parking is taken i…

Don't have to worry about theft?! Wow, Europe must be so different than North America. I'm much more worried about my biker being stolen (has happened about a dozen times in my life) than my car. If the former happens you get absolutely zero support, while if the latter happens the police will actually try to do something.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#132

Post by alkjsdlkjasd »

tokai wrote: post #104
Xylakant wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It‘s definitely possible and happens regularly. But statistically speaking, it‘s a freak accident compared to car vs. pedestrian. It‘s orders of magnitude less likely.

That's besides the point. People sometimes die when bikes run into them - simple as.

People sometimes die due to collisions pedestrians.

Should it be illegal for people to walk around drunk as well?

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#133

Post by atchoo »

raphaelj wrote: post #87
jraby3 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve had 5 bikes stolen and no cars stolen, so have to disagree about worrying about theft.

Well, my bike is insured, and I bought a recently released angle grinder-resistant lock [1]. My workspace is also fairly well located so that also helps. [1] https://eu.litelok.com/products/litelok-x1

Are you locking your bike to something angle grinder resistant when out and about?

The last bike I had stolen was from an underground bike store, behind two armoured locked doors and locked to a permanent bike-rack embedded in concrete. Thieves didn't cut a single lock, instead they cut all the bike-racks and emptied the place.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#134

Post by ClapperHeid »

afavour wrote: post #102
raphaelj wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, my bike is insured, and I bought a recently released angle grinder-resistant lock [1]. My workspace is also fairly well located so that also helps. [1] https://eu.litelok.com/products/litelok-x1

The concern I have (in NYC FWIW) is that someone will see they can’t steal the bike and will instead just trash the thing while it’s still locked. Maybe I’m too pessimistic.

That's pretty much my experience in the city where I used to live. I'd regularly pass bikes securly locked to some post or other but with the front wheel stoved in and bent. I always assumed a would-be thief had done it in a fit of pique, after failing to get the lock open.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#135

Post by Arkhaine_kupo »

TexanFeller wrote: post #51

I would celebrate if this happened naturally, but this seems more a case of if you punish driving enough you get less drivers. When I was in London over a decade ago they already had restrictions on car traffic into certain parts of the city and additional fees to go there. Tax on a new car is 20% and lots of regulations on their characteristics. Large taxes on petrol which is already much more expensive than in the…

> Large taxes on petrol which is already much more expensive than in the US.

Oil is the most subsidised industry in America. Oil is more expensive pretty much everywhere but Saudi Arabia where you can get it by kicking about the sand.

Despite all the restrictions London has placed, it is still the most gridlocked city in the planet, with the lowest traffic movement. London has too many people, and too many cars despite its incredible public transport options.

On of the main reasons is that it is not a very tall city, low density means sprawl, means lots of cars. Replace a lot of the Zone 1 2 floor flats with a garden for a 10 story multi family house and suddenly car useage would plummet.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#136

Post by Xylakant »

tokai wrote: post #104
Xylakant wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It‘s definitely possible and happens regularly. But statistically speaking, it‘s a freak accident compared to car vs. pedestrian. It‘s orders of magnitude less likely.

That's besides the point. People sometimes die when bikes run into them - simple as.

What is your point then, if not “cycling drunk is as likely to kill somebody else as driving drunk?” If it is “it’s technically possible to kill somebody cycling drunk” - then yes, I concede the point. But it’s not a useful point in this discussion.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#137

Post by waldothedog »

britzkopf wrote: post #131
raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat unrelated to the article, but I live in a mid-size EU city and dumped my car for an e-bike a few months ago. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that hard (my GF kept her car, and I have a car-sharing subscription): Pros: - Immediately stopped having insomnia. Better feel overall; - about €300/month in additional disposable income. That's basically a free lunch everyday! - significantly faster if parking is taken i…

Don't have to worry about theft?! Wow, Europe must be so different than North America. I'm much more worried about my biker being stolen (has happened about a dozen times in my life) than my car. If the former happens you get absolutely zero support, while if the latter happens the police will actually try to do something.

A dozen times? Damn, where do you live if you don’t mind me asking?

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#138

Post by kuschkufan »

ClapperHeid wrote: post #124
raphaelj wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, my bike is insured, and I bought a recently released angle grinder-resistant lock [1]. My workspace is also fairly well located so that also helps. [1] https://eu.litelok.com/products/litelok-x1

>I bought a recently released angle grinder-resistant lock [1].... €169 --Jeebus! My bike didn't even cost that much.

Then you don't need this lock for your bike. - Cptn Obvious

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#139

Post by thinkindie »

raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat unrelated to the article, but I live in a mid-size EU city and dumped my car for an e-bike a few months ago. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that hard (my GF kept her car, and I have a car-sharing subscription): Pros: - Immediately stopped having insomnia. Better feel overall; - about €300/month in additional disposable income. That's basically a free lunch everyday! - significantly faster if parking is taken i…

I live in Berlin, within the Ring (for those familiar with the city). I don't own a car, I have multiple carsharing subscriptions and I have two children, 1 and 4. We have a cargo bike to move them around and do groceries, almost in any weather (as long as it doesn't rain), otherwise we have public transport as a backup.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#140

Post by rnk »

pjc50 wrote: post #76
mrpopo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1 car/household is still entirely feasible with children (and the norm for many lower-class in Europe). We live with 1 child and no car and it's been working fine thus far. You have to be careful about where you live and work though, but I'd say the added quality of life of living car-free (in a car-free city) is all worth it.

If you live within London transport zone 1, it's quite likely to be a zero-car household, simply because of the difficulty in keeping the car somewhere.

That doesn't quite make sense, "it's difficult to avoid having a car because you can't store it"? Can you elaborate? I'm interested what life is like in these cities that charge drivers so as to reduce cars in the road.
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