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Something special is happening in Barcelona

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Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#61

Post by maccolgan »

yodsanklai wrote: post #23
throwawaysea wrote: post #20

This would be incredibly frustrating to me as a car driver. I don’t think having shared roads for a vocal minority of bikers makes sense. It basically slows down everyone to bike speed, which I realize is the unspoken strategy of bike activists, and it is also why I am against supporting bike-friendly policies in their current form. It makes more sense to have cities build raised biking/walking lanes outside of the t…

Car pollute, are extremely dangerous to other road users, and take a lot of space on the road. Cars in city should be the exception, not the rule.

>take a lot of space on the road

That's the point, cars deliver a lot of personal space & comfort that really make it attractive vis a vis public transport.

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#62

Post by agumonkey »

908B64B197 wrote: post #55
agumonkey wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how did people react to reduction of cars ? in many places every step toward reduction of car use is met with a lot of rants if not anger.

The problem is a bunch of place introduce traffic limitations or some congestion tax... But then do nothing else! You have to find an alternative for people to not take their car (closer grocery shop for instance). Meanwhile the money goes to some pension fund for underperforming, unionized municipal workers...

I see, it's not smarter than here.

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#63

Post by lostdog »

ardit33 wrote: post #52
frereubu wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I participated in London, and saw mostly the opposite. Most of the ride was well-behaved and didn't hold people up much, and there were drivers constantly behaving in really dangerous ways, like trying to drive into the mass. Like you and someone else who replied to you, I was uncomfortable with the deliberate blocking of intersections, but "participants should be arrested and charged" is way over the top for what us…

Yeah, it started devolving into vandalism / hatred towards cars: Critical Mass cyclist attacks car with U-lock in San Francisco https://www.kron4.com/news/critical-mass-cyclist-attacks-car... Minivan's rude introduction to Critical Smash https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Minivan-s... A Toyota mini van sits in a repair shop in Mountain View with a broken back window and numerous scratches to the body.…

You found one event from 2007 where the driver didn't exercise control of their vehicle "According to police, Ferrando had allegedly tapped one of the cyclists' tires."

And one from 2015 where the driver endangered the cyclists "then a driver of a Zipcar moves toward the cyclists."

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#65

Post by edwinjm »

throwawaysea wrote: post #20

This would be incredibly frustrating to me as a car driver. I don’t think having shared roads for a vocal minority of bikers makes sense. It basically slows down everyone to bike speed, which I realize is the unspoken strategy of bike activists, and it is also why I am against supporting bike-friendly policies in their current form. It makes more sense to have cities build raised biking/walking lanes outside of the t…

The bikers are a minority because the roads are dominated by cards. If you want to change that, you have to start somewhere.

Is it possible? Yes. Please come to the Netherlands and see for yourself.

Or watch the video's on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/NotJustBikes

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#66

Post by wrnr »

moralestapia wrote: post #2

This has been going on in Guadalajara (México) for like 10 years or so (before the pandemic). It got so big that at one point the city decided to close some of the main roads every Sunday, making them exclusive to pedestrians, bicycles, scooters, or whatever-thing-that-is-not-a-car.

Sort of the same thing happens in SE Asia traffic but then they drive scooters, it looks messy but if you are part of the swarm it feels very natural.

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#67

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

_Wintermute wrote: post #16
throw63738 wrote: post #14

Some pictures show there is perfectly working cycling path next to road. As someone who walks and uses bus, I have little sympathy for such stunts. Just another privileged group stealing public roads. Next time it will be politician and his convoy.

"Stealing public roads", you do realise the roads are for people, not just motor vehicles? Especially in densely populated cities.

If there is a sidewalk and cycling path, then in most countries, the road is very specifically for motor vehicles.

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#68

Post by Darmody »

yawaworht1978 wrote: post #38

I used to live in Barcelona, the infrastructure is definitely anti car in every aspect, it's desired to be. For such a large city, the car traffic is minimal, there are not enough parking opportunities, especially at the beach. There would be space, but the government knows better, if you have ever been in a tourist destination in Spain during peak season you will know that there is no way to accommodate all the cars…

It has a good public transport system, yes, but ironically it's the only city where I felt kind of insecure in the subway. Always making sure nobody is going to pickpocket me or I don't look the wrong way at some guy looking for trouble.

A friend of mine works there as security and after all the stories he told me I rather get in a car and deal with the traffic.

And I'm saying this as someone who uses the subway to commute but in a safer city. I literally get in, close my eyes and open them after 20 minutes.

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#69

Post by vanilla_nut »

kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #57
yokaze wrote: post #12

If you read this, or other things about reducing car traffic in Barcelona, one should keep the following in mind: https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/lafabricadelsol/en/noticia/... 6000cars/km² in Barcelona. San Francisco/Oakland metropolitan area has 4000/sq mi... 1540/km² Guttenberg, NJ has the highest in the US with 20,600/sq mi (8000/km²) Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.planetizen.com/node/45622%3...

De-AMPed link: https://www.planetizen.com/node/45622

Thank you. Some of us forced to use neutered browsers on iOS really appreciate this.

Re: Something special is happening in Barcelona

#70

Post by yawaworht1978 »

Darmody wrote: post #68
yawaworht1978 wrote: post #38

I used to live in Barcelona, the infrastructure is definitely anti car in every aspect, it's desired to be. For such a large city, the car traffic is minimal, there are not enough parking opportunities, especially at the beach. There would be space, but the government knows better, if you have ever been in a tourist destination in Spain during peak season you will know that there is no way to accommodate all the cars…

It has a good public transport system, yes, but ironically it's the only city where I felt kind of insecure in the subway. Always making sure nobody is going to pickpocket me or I don't look the wrong way at some guy looking for trouble. A friend of mine works there as security and after all the stories he told me I rather get in a car and deal with the traffic. And I'm saying this as someone who uses the subway to c…

Yes, the city has very unsafe places, IE Rival, cuidad vella. The amount of ambulance sirens and police presence speaks for itself.

It feels less safe than London, I have lived in 3 not so good boroughs in London.

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