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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

#321

Post by vladvasiliu »

koonsolo wrote: post #269
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…

Some time ago I was surprised how fast these e-bikes are compared to my motorcycle. In Belgium we have plenty of roads where bikes can go but not cars & motorcycles. One morning I overtook a colleague on an e-bike (max 45km/h) with my motorcycle. A few streets later I overtook him again, since he took a shortcut that I was not allowed to take. A bit later I overtook him again, since I had a red light and he again too…

Are you sure your friend was actually allowed to take that shortcut with an e-bike going 45 km/h?

AFAIK, these are considered "light motorbikes" (or something) and require the same paperwork (aside from an "easier" license) and gear as regular motorbikes.

More importantly, they are specifically not bikes and aren't allowed to ride on bike lanes any more than a fat liter+ bike is.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#322

Post by garte »

margorczynski wrote: post #261
swexbe wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ”safer” your car is, the more dangerous it is for everyone else in traffic usually.

Yes. But that doesn't change the fact that given current reality the safety of moving in a car is higher than when using a bike. How it could and should be is a different matter.

This thinking seems self-defeating to me and only serves to uphold the status quo or - sadly - make things worse.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#323

Post by KptMarchewa »

chriswarbo wrote: post #295
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anyone non-UK types are interested in this weird entity — technically dates back to Roman days, and predates the United Kingdom by hundreds of years — this podcast episode is quite funny and informative. Just an example of what a weird anomalous zone it is: the King (or Queen) of England is not legally allowed to enter without explicit permission from the mayor — not the mayor of London, the Lord Mayor of this squ…

> It's like if Wall Street could tell the President of the US to take a hike An alternative take: If it turns out, by some legislative fluke, that a particular square mile of the US is not bound by all of its laws, it won't be long until Wall St companies start moving their headquarters!

Aka Delaware.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#324

Post by raldi »

I remember New York mayor Michael Bloomberg taking a trip to London around a year after they implemented their congestion charge, since he wanted to do that too. Their mayor told him something like, “Everyone’s going to be protesting literally up to the morning it goes into effect, and then a week later everyone will be saying, ‘Why didn’t we do this ages ago?’”

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#325

Post by _aavaa_ »

CalRobert wrote: post #233
sandworm101 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> As the Dutch like to say: there is no such thing as bad cycling weather, only bad cycling clothes. Easy to say in a country famously flat, small, and with a relatively narrow weather window. I welcome any Dutch person to attempt a 15+km commute during a rocky mountain winter. I know of driveways in US/Canada with more vertical than any Dutch commute.

The trick is to build your towns and cities such that 15km is longer than most people would need to commute by bike, except perhaps as part of a bike->transit mixed-mode commute. There are places with wintry weather that are good for biking! Oulu comes to mind https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-64354089 And as explored in this video, if the weather is too bad to bike safely in, it's probably too bad to drive sa…

> if the weather is too bad to bike safely in, it's probably too bad to drive safely in.

I am sceptical of this assertion. For starters, if you have poor traction in a car you can always slow down, and the risk you face is sliding. In a bike, you need to have a minimum speed to actually bike, otherwise you can't stay upright. And your failure case is no longer sliding, but it's toppling over.

To say nothing of what happens if you throw wind into the mix.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#326

Post by iso1631 »

Zigurd wrote: post #297
bartread wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whilst I'm overall in favour of promoting cycling as a way of getting around, in preference to motor vehicles, I'm not sure I entirely agree with "safer". I live in Cambridge and have lost count of the number of times I've had to contend with cyclists blowing through pedestrian crossings on a red light (or zebra crossings at any time) when I'm trying to walk over them, or cycling the wrong way down a one-way street -…

Half of road deaths worldwide are pedestrians. The number killed by cyclists is so small it is under the significant digits of the total. Cyclists violating traffic rules is frequently cited in anti-cycling astroturf, of which you can find current examples and a deep archive at StreetsBlog. This "Overall it constantly shocks me how little responsibility cyclists take for their own safety." just screams "I'm a dickhea…

You're about 100 times as likely to be killed by a car while walking on a pavement than you are to be killed by a bike.

https://www.roadpeace.org/pedestrian-pavement-deaths-2/

> This "Overall it constantly shocks me how little responsibility cyclists take for their own safety." just screams "I'm a dickhead driver likely to hurt someone and I want a defense."

You didn't twig with "When driving I've nearly hit several cyclists"

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#327

Post by bertil »

iso1631 wrote: post #113
alkjsdlkjasd wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - weather might make the ride unpleasant; As the Dutch like to say: there is no such thing as bad cycling weather, only bad cycling clothes. I would strongly recommond a pair of water/wind proof trousers to go over your regular trousers, if you don't already have some. This has lead to a much more pleasant riding experience, especially in winter. They aren't very practical on a regular bike as they make you uncomfo…

> As the Dutch like to say: there is no such thing as bad cycling weather, only bad cycling clothes. The Dutch also like to drive, with 588 cars per 1000 people, higher than Denmark, Ireland, Sweden etc, and more miles per person than France, Spain, Italy, Poland, and 14% higher than the EU average

Not sure where your stats are from, but they probably include Dutch people driving abroad: they can easily take the train and bike anywhere in their own country, so I suspect most of their driving is to go on holiday in Europe. They are famous for being a small country with surprisingly large number of caravans near every beach in Europe.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#328

Post by prmoustache »

slothtrop wrote: post #270
matsemann wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - might be impossible depending on work or children; The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car. Have two kids seated in the trunk of the bike and drop them off at kindergarten, then continue biking to work and pick them up on the way home. Those are a bit on the pricier side, though. Still cheap compared to a car, but people often look at them as something "extravagant" or "in addition" to…

Can't understate the temporal dimension to owning a car. When dropping and picking up a kid at daycare, you want to move fast, if you work for a living.

A kid goes to daycare for what 3 years? If you have 2-3 kids and you don't wait 10 years in between these are just 10 years of your life.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#329

Post by KptMarchewa »

crote wrote: post #280
yourusername wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Said someone that has never lived across the street from a elevated subway, on a street with a streetcar or near a bus stop.

What is louder: 1 subway train, or 200 cars?

More like 500-800 cars, given that one car carries 1.3 people on average.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#330

Post by [deleted] »

holoduke wrote: post #227
matsemann wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - might be impossible depending on work or children; The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car. Have two kids seated in the trunk of the bike and drop them off at kindergarten, then continue biking to work and pick them up on the way home. Those are a bit on the pricier side, though. Still cheap compared to a car, but people often look at them as something "extravagant" or "in addition" to…

You live in a city bubble. I have three kids and live in a suburban town about 40km away from the nearest big city. No way i can live without a car. I do have bikes and use them often to bring kids to school. But many friends and family are scattered arround the country. Many places i go to with my kids can only visited by car. And i find a car often very useful during a period of reconstruction of my house or garden…

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