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Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

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Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#651

Post by moistbar »

adrianN wrote: post #581
moistbar wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A more long-term, better solution would be to redesign infrastructure either to keep cyclists separate from motor traffic That's what I'd propose. Carving up the already scarce roadways to try and squeeze in a "safe" lane for cyclists is going to make it far more dangerous for both bikes and cars. Bike lanes that run above the street would be far safer.

That's a ridiculous proposal. Imagine the cost of creating a whole secondary road network above the current road network and the extra spaces needed for ramps up and down the elevated cycleway. This is something you can do in very special circumstances, but nowhere close to a general solution.

And suggesting that we try and squeeze cyclists onto already-overcrowded streets is any less ridiculous? I should have known that you're not allowed to speak ill of bikes here, jesus christ.

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#652

Post by moistbar »

sudosysgen wrote: post #492
FDSGSG wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you kidding? The Juke is smaller than a 1 series, smaller than a VW Golf and much smaller than a Prius. Even by European standards it's a tiny car.

By definition, if the streets feel too small, then the car you're driving is too big. The Juke, while smaller in length than those cars, is wider than both the Prius (by a longshot) and the Golf. And ultimately it's width that matters for the feeling of street size. Also, by European standards the Golf or the Prius isn't a tiny car, it's more or less average (though that's changing). Small would be a Polo, a Citroen…

>The Juke, while smaller in length than those cars, is wider than both the Prius (by a longshot)

No, it's 50 mm wider. If you're going to call that a longshot, just wait till you see a Ford Explorer.

The Juke is 4 mm wider than the B-class and 200 mm shorter. Tell me again how huge it is.

EDIT: In fact, only one car you mentioned is appreciably narrower than a Nissan Juke, and even then it's only by 200 mm

https://cararac.com/dimensions/mercedes-benz/b-class.html

https://cararac.com/dimensions/nissan/juke.html

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#653

Post by adamcstephens »

Someone wrote: post #605
adamcstephens wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reducing lanes, when combined with other optimizations, can actually _improve_ travel time for cars. The problem is you have to actually implement the changes in order to prove this to people.

Even more so when combined with reducing the number of cars, which adding a bike lane can easily do. If you replace 3 car lanes with n cars/lane/hour by 2 car lanes plus a bicycle lane, car traffic/lane/hour goes down as soon as you have over n cyclists/hour on that bike lane. At that density, that bike lane looks empty ( https://www.boredpanda.com/space-required-to-transport-60-pe... )

I couldn’t find it in a quick search, but there aren’t videos comparing similar groups getting going from stopped. Because of the delay between cars getting going it takes significantly longer for an equivalent number of cars to move through a light than the bikes.

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#654

Post by hokkos »

This article is a little strange, because TheConversation articles promote a scientific paper from an academic author, and it is the case here [1], but if you read this paper, it bring no specific information or proof about about the title presented here, no specific mention or calculation about EV.

[1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2021.102764

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#655

Post by hokkos »

CabSauce wrote: post #10

That's great. Assuming the following: - Your commute is sufficiently short - You have facilities to shower and dress at work - You have sufficient time to shower and dress at work - You don't have to bring kids or sizable cargo - Weather is sufficiently good - You're sufficiently healthy

My commute is 10km, I do it with an ebike so I don't need to shower because I do not sweat, sure I don't have kids, but I do it on any weather heavy rain, snow with appropriate clothing

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#656

Post by xorfish »

an_opabinia wrote: post #472
fvdessen wrote: post #307

Cycling is not only good for the environment, but for cities in general. During the last confinement, when car traffic completely stopped, I realised that cars are the single biggest reason why living in the city can be unpleasant. People may not realise it consciously, but when they move out of the city, what they are looking for is a place with not as much cars driving around. Cars destroy cities by making a viciou…

I cycle and I agree it's a superior form of transport. > cars are the single biggest reason why living in the city can be unpleasant I'm pretty sure rent / house prices are the #1 negative people cite about cities. A relatively new phenomenon. In cities where prices have not risen as much, like Detroit, I doubt people say cars are unpleasant. Ironically cars are probably depressing prices in the city significantly. F…

> Ironically cars are probably depressing prices in the city significantly. For most normal people, a car lets them not overpay for land, by letting them live somewhere far away.

A good public transport infrastructure is much more efficient at transporting people in and out of cities.

I live around 20 miles from my the city center and public transport is faster at getting me there than a car and you don't need to search for a parking spot.

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#657

Post by eythian »

temp8964 wrote: post #182
umvi wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put on a coat/rain jacket

Jacket might be ok for small rain, but for heavy rain and thunderstorm? No. Employers expect employees to come to work every business day, and people expect business to open every business day, even under heavy rain and thunderstorm. Watch! Heavy rain/wind! Most people can't go to work! Most businesses are closed! Teachers can't go to schools! Nurses can't go to clinics and hospitals! What a ridiculous picture of a m…

You dress up better. For the past several years, biking was the only way I went to work, the only exception being if my bike was in the shop for repairs when I'd take public transport.

You'll notice that regardless of the weather, people bike. Chuck some rain pants and a rain coat on, or carry an umbrella, or get a bike poncho thing, or all of the above. It's not hard.

If it's seriously shitty weather, the public transport is a bit more full than otherwise, but still people are out biking because that's how you get from A to B.

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#658

Post by hokkos »

Tade0 wrote: post #514

I've downloaded the study on which the premise of this article is based and, as usual, it's assumed that the energy needed to move a bike has no carbon footprint, while in reality it has. Specifically on an European diet(~1.5-2g CO2/kcal) a cyclist is responsible for ~27g CO2/km, which is not negligible and puts cycling on par with public transport. I don't believe cycling to be a solution here. It's said that 25% of…

And the study say nothing specific about EV, also if you read the study that is supposed to justify why it ignore diet emission, it doesn't talk at all about a supposed lack of food increase in the face of increased physical effort, but health benefits from eating more legumes and fruits or physical efforts. The study seems pretty poor with the quality of data they have, they should try to understand why people doesn't cycle, with a computed bike or public transportation traject duration, and see if it explains the lack of cycling.

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#659

Post by rtlfe »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #627
zucker42 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, I think the problem the person you replied to sees is that sentiment community board meetings are not as good at measuring what the "average citizen" wants as opinion polls. Why do CB meetings have the moral high ground?

Because they are part of a local democratic infrastructure that is actually pretty good by global standards in the US.

Pretty good at what? They're good at giving outsized power to a small number of wealthy white old people, but I don't think we want that.

This is well researched: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/neighborhood-defenders/...

Re: Cycling is more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities

#660

Post by temp8964 »

eythian wrote: post #657
temp8964 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jacket might be ok for small rain, but for heavy rain and thunderstorm? No. Employers expect employees to come to work every business day, and people expect business to open every business day, even under heavy rain and thunderstorm. Watch! Heavy rain/wind! Most people can't go to work! Most businesses are closed! Teachers can't go to schools! Nurses can't go to clinics and hospitals! What a ridiculous picture of a m…

You dress up better. For the past several years, biking was the only way I went to work, the only exception being if my bike was in the shop for repairs when I'd take public transport. You'll notice that regardless of the weather, people bike. Chuck some rain pants and a rain coat on, or carry an umbrella, or get a bike poncho thing, or all of the above. It's not hard. If it's seriously shitty weather, the public tra…

You are only thinking the situation where biking is a minority choice. If you want biking become a choice for most people, these solutions do not work.
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