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Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

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Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#11

Post by jauntywundrkind »

timy2shoes wrote: post #6

My wife and I visited Paris last summer and biked everywhere. It felt very safe, not as safe as Copenhagen but still safe. I hope that with more time, as more drivers get used to bikes on the road it will get safer and more people will bike, creating a positive feedback loop.

I'm a strong believer in road culture change happening. Biking in DC changed enormously when our bike share program showed up in 2008. Seeing casual chill people on slow bikes, often a little lost or uneasy, forces a bit of a reset from the classic fast cars vs spandex wheel-stander bikes dynamic.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#12

Post by lkbm »

favflam wrote: post #4

I switched to cycling for transportation. Benefits: 1. way more access to the city 2. eliminated need to go to gym; transport time doubles as cardio time 3. freed up time to see people; 15 minutes door to door is hard to beat I really hope US cities head in this direction. It is a no brainer for cities: 1. higher density -> lower taxes per person, higher tax rev per sqm 2. lower cost of living -> lower inflation 3. q…

I biked for transportation (and fun) for years and it was great. In 2022 I moved and had no bike for eight months and hurt my back ~four times in that period.

I got a new bike about a year ago and have had no back pain since (until randomly yesterday, but I'm 41, I guess it's expected that it'll happen occasionally).

Biking doesn't seem like a back exercise, but you are using your core and flexing it a lot, and for longer than you would on any standard core exercise.

Building exercise into your day to day life is incredible valuable. If you're lucky enough to be in a place where biking is viable, I highly recommend giving it a try. It's not for everyone, but given the right situation, I suspect the majority of people would find it a positive change to start biking more. (I suspect this is true for a lot of exercise, but biking has the benefit of being a productive workout—similar to chopping wood vs. lifting weights, except few of us need much wood chopped.)

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#13

Post by stefantalpalaru »

favflam wrote: post #4

I switched to cycling for transportation. Benefits: 1. way more access to the city 2. eliminated need to go to gym; transport time doubles as cardio time 3. freed up time to see people; 15 minutes door to door is hard to beat I really hope US cities head in this direction. It is a no brainer for cities: 1. higher density -> lower taxes per person, higher tax rev per sqm 2. lower cost of living -> lower inflation 3. q…

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Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#14

Post by throw0101d »

davidw wrote: post #3

Using 'induced demand' for good - I love it. People are under the impression that things "are just the way they are" in the US, but it is very much a political choice to not dedicate more funding to keeping people on bicycles safe from automobiles.

> Using 'induced demand' for good - I love it.

Oh The Urbanity had a good video on this, "What People Get Wrong About Induced Demand":

> In this video we explain why induced demand does apply to transit, walking, and cycling infrastructure, but with different consequences.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wlld3Z9wRc

Transit, for example, can get better with more ridership: more train capacity is added to a line, and more frequent service may occur for better throughput. Both actions would improve service for each individual rider, so while while one may not want it "crowded", having it busy is good. While with roads, an individual driver may want enough traffic so that a street exists, any traffic beyond that would probably only slow you down.

There are also externalities: more walking, cycling, transit reduces pollution and can improve individual health and the collective health of the population. Driving does the opposite.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#16

Post by nradov »

favflam wrote: post #4

I switched to cycling for transportation. Benefits: 1. way more access to the city 2. eliminated need to go to gym; transport time doubles as cardio time 3. freed up time to see people; 15 minutes door to door is hard to beat I really hope US cities head in this direction. It is a no brainer for cities: 1. higher density -> lower taxes per person, higher tax rev per sqm 2. lower cost of living -> lower inflation 3. q…

Cycling is great! But it doesn't eliminate the need to go to the gym. People who rely on cycling as their only form of exercise tend to suffer from low bone density and unbalanced muscle development. Everyone should do resistance training as well.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#17

Post by VeejayRampay »

but do note that car owners in Paris (where I live) are reaching never-seen-before levels of whining, complaining about the fact that their little selfish privilege is not as cushy as it used to be and that only 80% of the public road infrastructure is dedicated to their idiotic 2 miles journeys on board of their oversized SUVs now

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#18

Post by EricAski »

ckemere wrote: post #9

Having just moved from Houston to Manhattan , I have been really impressed by the number of bikes I see. One factor, which this article doesn’t seem to discuss, is the e-bike. In Paris, is it mostly classical bikes, or are the electronics becoming widespread there too?

I would say there is a 80/20 ratio between mechanical and e-bikes. The regional council offers ebikes for 40€/month[1] which boosted ebike adoption. The service is very popular with both office workers and food delivery workers.

[1]: https://www.iledefrance-mobilites.fr/en/the-network/mobility...

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#19

Post by h1fra »

People not living in Paris can't even grasp how much the city has changed in just 6 years. Starting a bit before 2020 but massively accelerated by the covid situation (and public transport saturation). You could barely cycle safely before and now it's hard to not find a bike lane.

Because of the fast pace, of course not everything is perfect but we have to celebrate this as much as we can.

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