Travellators everywhere....
We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
201–210 of 561 posts
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#202While it sounds preposterous right now this problem will soon solve itself with already built "bike lanes". And bicycles are not the solution. The solution, as this article touches on, is light weight electric transport using the existing road structure. There's a strong indication of this future in the fact that last year the Dutch bought more electric bikes than normal bikes in total. And they paid twice as much fo…
Even electric bikes are not the solution, at least not in many parts of the world. What happens when it rains / snows? I don't know what the solution is though, maybe small electric cars, self driven, as part of public transportation service?
There is no wrong weather, just wrong gear.
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#203While it sounds preposterous right now this problem will soon solve itself with already built "bike lanes". And bicycles are not the solution. The solution, as this article touches on, is light weight electric transport using the existing road structure. There's a strong indication of this future in the fact that last year the Dutch bought more electric bikes than normal bikes in total. And they paid twice as much fo…
So...electric motorbikes means you don't need bike lanes? Why don't we put children on motorbikes again?
NHTSA: "For every mile traveled, motorcyclists have a risk of a fatal accident that is 35 times higher than a car driver." [1]
In my experience, light weight electric transport mingles great with bikes, as long as they're limited to something reasonable. I can clock up pretty high speeds on a normal bike!
So no - we do need bike lanes because cars are too dangerous, whether your bike is electric or not.
[1]: https://www.askadamskutner.com/motorcycle-accident/how-do-ca...
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#204While it sounds preposterous right now this problem will soon solve itself with already built "bike lanes". And bicycles are not the solution. The solution, as this article touches on, is light weight electric transport using the existing road structure. There's a strong indication of this future in the fact that last year the Dutch bought more electric bikes than normal bikes in total. And they paid twice as much fo…
Even electric bikes are not the solution, at least not in many parts of the world. What happens when it rains / snows? I don't know what the solution is though, maybe small electric cars, self driven, as part of public transportation service?
What happens when it rains / snows?
Nothing / depends on the rider.
There's proper clothing which keeps you dry. Personally I find fresh snow awesome to ride in. Not so fresh snow is less fun, but I still do it. But indeed if you cannot / do not want to take the risk then in most places infastructure is not quite ready yet and we do need solutions. Shared electric vehicles combined with decent public transportation services would be my bet.
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live and travel around Europe. Seeing parents riding with their very young kids is not too common a sight and every major city I've been to has traffic problems, because a whole lot of people do want to use cars and do value their convenience. Whether that's a bad thing or not is another discussion but don't try to present Europeans as some sort of superhumans.
I only have experience with Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Amsterdam; but if you sit outside of a daycare in those cities in the morning you can see the multitude of people who ride their bikes to drop off their 1, 2, and sometimes 3 kids at daycare. Those cities do cycling right and it shows. So I would disagree with you. The traffic problems are caused by having cities that are only setup to make cars convenient and…
Most of the Germany had the "benefit" of being able to rebuilt post WW2 bombing, so they are a bit more spread out and can easily accommodate new road features (if there was a country that is car friendly but not US, it's Germany :)).
And Netherlands is just... Flat, and biking has been a tradition there long before the current ecological push.
However, most European old towns are frequently narrow one-way streets on hills and it gets really hard to get a buy in to reconfigure them altogether.
But I agree with the premise that streets should be given back to people, but pedestrians should first and foremost, with bikes and other micromobility tools "demoted" compared to them as to not cause mayhem (eg. pedestrians do abruptly stop :). Basically, pedestrian streets with traffic rules stating that pedestrians are always in right of way. That should provide plenty of space for both social activity and transit with bikes and such, even in small streets I mention.
Living in a climate that gets significant snow and is hilly means I would also like to streets to be efficiently "heated" to reduce risks for pedestrians and cyclists during winter months.
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those aiming to debunk me - and all I said is that public transport should take priority over some dramatic increase in spending as envisioned in this article - seem to read rather too much into the fact that some demographic cycles a lot. There are huge demographic clusters (particularly late-middle-age to old, middle-aged-to-older women) who, statistically speaking, don't. I'm sure that we're off to the Proof By An…
Here in Seattle, with a powerful bike lobby, the cyclists come out when it's warm, dry, and daylight. Which is about 30% of the year. The demographic that bikes are young, fit adults. Can't bike much of anywhere without struggling with hills.
> The demographic that bikes are young, fit adults. Can't bike much of anywhere without struggling with hills.
If only young/fit people use the infrastructure then the infrastructure is really poor! Note than I'm from the Netherlands and comparing countries is a bit weird. Why not aim for a better infrastructure than the Netherlands?
Anyway, for hilly areas I expect a large share of people to use electric bikes. And way more care for safety. In Netherlands they think about possible safety issues. Meaning, someone on a bicycle going down a huge bridge is probably going fast and doesn't want to stop. You could argue that a bicyclist shouldn't do that, but that's pretty pointless. What's better to engineer the infrastructure in a way that deals with that. Hillier areas would require a lot of thought.
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#207Fuck bicyclists. They are freeloaders on the infrastructure bought and paid for by people who buy gas for their automobiles (and heaped upon electric car owners where I live). In my city, there is a push to charge bicyclists an annual licensing fee, similar to cars, and to require they have license plates. Once bicyclists are paying their fair share for the roads, then we can start dreaming bigger than bike lanes.
Fuck drivers. They are freeloaders on the health, space and safety of the people who live, walk, bike, socialise, work and have kids in the city.
In my city, there is a push to charge drivers higher toll fees to make it less lucrative to drive, similar to how bikes riders have paid a health and safety fee for years. Once drivers are paying their fair share for the use of highly valuable inner city space, then we can start to dream bigger than bike lanes.
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
The UV issue is a red herring. There are many reasons why people need to be outside and cycling is only one of them. UV is a manageable problem for walkers and outdoor workers, cyclists are not a special case. I guess that you've never been on a bike on a very hot day. It's much, much more pleasant to be ventilated by your self-created airflow on a bike than it is to to have sweat pouring down your back as you walk a…
Look up skin cancer rate maps. It’s no joke in Australia. People die and often. And then you have most populated regions in Asia with 40 degree summers with air so humid that taking a deep breath makes you cough. People still ride bikes, but there are days where it’s deadly to do so for long distance commuting. That’s not including typhoon periods where you’re liable to be whacked with debris and die (because work is…
Cars kill 65% as many people as skin cancer in Australia.
Skin cancer is estimated to kill 1,725 in Australia in 2019 [1].
During 2018 there were 1,135 road deaths [2].
I think we could reduce the number of road deaths far faster than the number of skin cancer deaths would increase.
[1]: https://melanoma.canceraustralia.gov.au/statistics [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_i...
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ask the Dutch. How do they do it? Or do you assume they do not have young kids or grandmas? Why is it that whenever people talk about designing cities for pedestrians and bikes, someone on hackernews thinks it means eliminating all cars entirely forever. For a forum ostensibly designed for entrepreneurs, it shows a tremendous lack of imagination. Answer: * Public transportation inside cities such as buses and trams *…
The difference is that Holland is entirely flat, has an average high of 71 in the summer, and rarely if ever gets icy. The Dutch experience simply doesn't translate to most of America because of the terrain and climate. Elderly people people will die if you make them walk in the Florida summer. 7 year old children lack the leg-strength to bike up California hills. Both groups are likely to slip and crack their heads…
High winds can be a bigger problem than hills, and the Netherlands, as you'd expect from a place famous for windmills, has high average wind speeds. People still manage to cycle. Studded tires are available for icy conditions, although in most of the world occasional de-icing salt on the paths will be enough. Electric motor assisted bicycles are available for people with health problems. Complaints about terrain and climate are just excuses.
Re: We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes
#210This article paints the interstate highway system as some sort of evil incarnation without even giving so much as a breath to the idea that the Interstate highway system is one of the largest and most successful civil works projects of all time. The Romans had their aquaducts. The Americans have their highways. Prior to the Interstate system, it would take as much as two months to travel coast to coast. Eisenhower wa…
“They’re not a solution for most people” — I encourage you to come visit the Netherlands. You’ll see a society where bikes are regularly used by “most people.” Wealthy, middle class, poor — nearly everybody rides the same cheap black bike. And not just in the cities, but throughout the entire country. Sit in a cafe near a busy street in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Groningen, The Hague or Leiden, and you’ll see all walks of l…
The United States is over 200 times larger than the Netherlands in area. Suggesting that the U.S. follow the Dutch model for transportation is completely missing the mark.
It's not workable at U.S. scale. Many workers live 10, 20, even 30 miles from their jobs.