311–320 of 339 posts
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I've been biking for 2 years in SF and disagree that it's impractical for short trips. Why do you think that?
You have the deal with the bike afterwords. Go for brunch in the mission and your friends are going back to the outer sunset with a scooter just fold it up and put it in the car with a bike either hope it's there when you get back, bike all the way, or go home then head over alone.
I rode a non-electric kick scooter (Xootr) for three years working in downtown SF. It is by far the best form of transitional transport there is and superior to bikes for 99% of actual real world travel. It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking and more importantly suddenly made the entire city open due to how insanely efficient it was for "glueing" together various forms of public transport. I could hop from tran…
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What makes a rentable scooter easier to park than a rentable bike?
Because you just leave them wherever. Edit: Not voicing approval for this practice but that’s how it seems to work in my city at least.
It's crazy to see how in 2-3 years there are thousands of people using electric scooters and bikes.
The only problem is that it grows in such a rapid pace that the city is not built to it. There are many small incidents, and in many cases, those incidents are pretty risky.
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I've been biking for 2 years in SF and disagree that it's impractical for short trips. Why do you think that?
You have the deal with the bike afterwords. Go for brunch in the mission and your friends are going back to the outer sunset with a scooter just fold it up and put it in the car with a bike either hope it's there when you get back, bike all the way, or go home then head over alone.
Depending on your fitness level, you might arrive a couple of minutes later than your friends, but so what.
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You have the deal with the bike afterwords. Go for brunch in the mission and your friends are going back to the outer sunset with a scooter just fold it up and put it in the car with a bike either hope it's there when you get back, bike all the way, or go home then head over alone.
This exactly: bikes require planning and strategy and are not good for improvisational day-to-day things like you described. Bikes make walking easier but all other forms of travel like bus, train or taxi/uber/cars more difficult or impossible.
All you need is a good lock (make sure to put in wheel locks so you don't need to have that ridicolous cable-lock setup).
Do you sometimes need to walk 50m to find a pole or bike rack? Sure, but that doesn't require planning and strategy.
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Is your train an electric multiple unit? Those have far lower stop penalties.
Rolling stock acceleration is specified & designed based on requirements which is based on passenger safety & comfort (especially on regional / intercity trains) rather than rolling stock constraints: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40864-015-0012-y Modern "diesel" trains are diesel electric, outside of large freight trains the motors don't really strain to accelerate.
-- https://pedestrianobservations.com/2018/06/28/the-value-of-m...
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I think a reasonable rule might be that you can ride them on sidewalks as long as you stay at least 25 feet from pedestrians. So basically if the sidewalk is empty, go for it. It might mean taking the side streets rather than the main ones, but that's ok. Nope: I once saved a kid from serious harm. I was waiting for my kid to come out of a martial arts test and I was waiting outside on the sidewalk. There was a class…
Your anecdotes support the idea that it's hard for multiple modes of transportation with different travel speeds to coexist in the same space. When I cycle, I try to never ride on a sidewalk, because it's unpleasant both for me as a rider and for pedestrians. In a perfect world, we would have separate infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists/scooters, and cars -- but our cities aren't laid out that way. Instead, most…
The street. If they feel the danger is too great, then you know what? They have the choice to walk or take the bus or a car.
The choice to break the law and endanger my life is always a bad one. But it is a choice. They are trading their safety for mine, when they choose to ride on the sidewalk.
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Rolling stock acceleration is specified & designed based on requirements which is based on passenger safety & comfort (especially on regional / intercity trains) rather than rolling stock constraints: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40864-015-0012-y Modern "diesel" trains are diesel electric, outside of large freight trains the motors don't really strain to accelerate.
> If the top speed is 160 km/h, then a good EMU has a stop penalty of about 45 seconds, a powerful electric locomotive about 135 seconds, and a diesel locomotive around 190 seconds. With short dwell times coming from level boarding and wide doors, EMUs completely change the equation for local service and infill stops, making more stops justifiable in places where the brutal stop penalty of a locomotive would make the…
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Ebikes are technically restricted to 15mph here. The micromobility laws in the UK are a complete joke and driven by car and tier 1 manufacturers lobbying (e.g Bosch via EU). EBikes and scooters are hands down the best solution to London's pollution issue yet people are getting fined for using them. There is a complete lack of logic in the rulings. The reason why escooters are illegal whereas EBikes are not: throttle.…
The speed limitation is down to the fact that they don't need insuring. Like pedal bikes the idea is that they will cause limited injury or damage to property in the event of a crash. Up things to 25mph, plus the frame/battery weight needed to add strength and safety to accelerate and brake swiftly, and suddenly you have plenty of energy to damage a car or other piece of property or hurt a human (yes I know cyclists…
By your logic, fat people on bikes should require insurance.
Bike lanes are the solution. Not insurance as insurance and registration only deals with something after an accident.