I didn't see any mention of this in the article, but I wonder what percentage is commuting vs. delivery. I was in NYC before and after the pandemic and, just from a casual outside perspective, it seemed that the number of delivery cyclist has risen significantly while commuters has dropped or just stayed the same.
Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
451–460 of 969 posts
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#452Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is louder: 1 subway train, or 200 cars?
It's a different kind of sound. Tire noise is white noise (or at least, similar). My experience working in close proximity to a light rail line was 1) the train shakes the ground as it goes by, and 2) if you're near a corner, the squeaking is pretty loud. We have water sprayers in those areas to try and cut down on the howling, but it's not a panacea.
That's just bad design. There very quiet tram and railway designs available - they just cost a bit more money than the cheap 19th century designs that are still in place.
Where I live in Germany the passenger trains (not even the tracks) got upgraded a few years ago and all those click-clack and screeching sounds are gone. What is left is a wooshing sound of the wind being pushed aside and the not-so-loud grinding sound of the thingy (collector?) that hits the power cable.
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#453Somewhat 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…
> - 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.
What kind of cycling clothes will mitigate a 40 C / 70% humidity afternoon in Memphis?
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#454Earlier quoted context omitted.
So just to be clear “drivers who fuck around go to jail” is not true. But it’s cyclists that are the problem in this discussion.
Don't you hate it when one side just paints the other as being all of the problem? That's very frustrating.
One side kills and maims 5 people a day in the U.K. The other side doesn’t even come close to that.
If you’re going to call for regulation and enforcement, where would you spend money and effort?
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#455Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 h…
"the risk you face is sliding"
Yes, including sliding over my child who is riding her bike to school, and killing her.
"your failure case is no longer sliding, but it's toppling over."
In which case the primary injury will be to your dignity.
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#456Earlier 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.
No so clear cut. I almost every city in the world cycling rather than driving will increase your life expectancy. Even when factoring in risks associated with not moving around inside a 1 ton metal box.
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#457Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
>> it's probably too bad to drive safely in. Ya, well one still has to get to work. "Safe driving" is slow but unless the roads are actually closed then most of us still have to get to work.
I don't understand how that relates to what I said?
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#458Somewhat 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…
> - 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…
> The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car.
Absolutely! My wife and I have a 6yo, and we take him everywhere on the back of our Kona Minute.
He's big for his age (65lbs) so we're looking to move to a ebike sometime this year, but up to now it's been great! Literally the only time we need to use a car is when we go out of town.
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#459Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sadly this rings somewhat true, I'm trying to make the maths work on moving from my house in the horrible Irish countryside (horrible if you don't like profound isolation and car-dependency, that is) and move to Utrecht or Houten, or Freiburg, and it is challenging, to say the least.
I like profound isolation... what's the bandwidth like? (The other thing that ties a lot of us to cities).
It's excellent. Gigabit fibre. I mapped out the rural fibre routes (along with other infra) and current real estate listings. Threw it up at gaffologist.com if you're curious. Note that I am not a front-end dev and it shows.
Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London
#460Somewhat 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…
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