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Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

forbes.com

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Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#61

Post by bee_rider »

bartread wrote: post #37
lscdlscd wrote: post #2

Amazing news! More cyclists (and fewer motorists) on the streets creates a safer, less polluted city environment for everyone.

Whilst I'm overall in favour of promoting cycling as a way of getting around, in preference to motor vehicles, I'm not sure I entirely agree with "safer". I live in Cambridge and have lost count of the number of times I've had to contend with cyclists blowing through pedestrian crossings on a red light (or zebra crossings at any time) when I'm trying to walk over them, or cycling the wrong way down a one-way street -…

It is really tempting when on a bicycle to think of yourself as being able to pick and choose rules to follow, magically switching from “more like a car” to “more like a pedestrian” as needed.

The rule that I personally follow: always behave like a car (albeit one that rides far over to the side of the road most of the time), and if I really feel an overwhelming urge to act as a pedestrian, time to fully dismount and walk the bike for a bit.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#63

Post by ajmurmann »

settrans wrote: post #43
raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat 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…

> you will not kill someone if you ride after a night drinking (other than yourself)

While much more rare than with cars, biciclysts still sometimes fatally hit pedestrians.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#64

Post by tokai »

bee_rider wrote: post #47
raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat 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…

Biking and drinking (in excess) — probably not the world’s best combo in general, but on the bright side it is just your own life at risk, and there’s a built-in coordination challenge, so I guess it isn’t possible to get going while truly hammered!

Eh what? You can definitely kill someone with your bike. Also if you kill yourself in traffic you will raise the risk of traffic related deaths for the responders. Many places in the world riding a bike drunk is as illegal as driving a car drunk.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#66

Post by alkjsdlkjasd »

raphaelj wrote: post #36

Somewhat 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 uncomfortably hot, but on an e-bike, it's much less of a worry.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#67

Post by ihaveajob »

knolan wrote: post #49

I've a 24 km commute in Dublin in Ireland. It's most consistent by ebike. Driving can take anywhere from 35 minutes to over an hour depending on traffic. Public transport takes 90 minutes and there is only a direct bus a couple of times a day, otherwise it will take closer to two hours. On my bike it consistently takes an hour. I can take various green ways through parks and try to minimise my exposure to aggressive…

Predictability is an important factor, and yes, bikes are better at that. By the way, try a vinyl liner between the tube and the tire for puncture protection. Since I started doing this, my puncture rate has fallen easily by 90%.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#68

Post by Xylakant »

TexanFeller wrote: post #51

I would celebrate if this happened naturally, but this seems more a case of if you punish driving enough you get less drivers. When I was in London over a decade ago they already had restrictions on car traffic into certain parts of the city and additional fees to go there. Tax on a new car is 20% and lots of regulations on their characteristics. Large taxes on petrol which is already much more expensive than in the…

Nothing about traffic allocation is „naturally“. Building roads is a decision. Allocating space for cars, bicycles, pedestrians is a decision. Making driving a car cheap is a decision. Discouraging driving by increasing costs is a decision. Reducing car traffic by restricting use is a decision.

It’s decisions all the way down. The question is „What is the outcome we want and what‘s the road to get there.“

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#69

Post by favaq »

ajb wrote: post #35
favaq wrote: post #17

Didn't they make it very, very expensive to drive in the City of London?

£15/day. So more expensive than public transport but less than if you took an uber.

Then it's not wonder people would rather cycle. What a deceptive headline.
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