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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

#681

Post by treve »

tfourb wrote: post #609
lenlorijn wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see lots of folks in the comments assuming what would happen when you bike drunk, seemingly not ever having done so themselves or seen it. I live in a student city in the Netherlands (Groningen), where most students go out on the town by bike. It's really not much more dangerous than walking drunk. And it's very much preferable to driving drunk. Thousands of students park their bikes in the city's central undergrou…

A friend of mine in college drove down a (very) long flight of stairs with his bike while being (very) drunk. He was severely injured and I very much doubt based on his recollection of what happened that he would a) have injured himself at all if he was on foot and b) even if he had fell on those stairs, he would have had much less serious injuries.

Sure, but you are comparing statistics for an entire country to a specific incident. Of course there's a non-0 risk, but when it's about traffic and safety it's about acceptable, not complete elimination of risk.

It's still illegal in the Netherlands to bike drunk. I'm sure this would be aggressively enforced in cities like Groningen if statistically there were major safety issues Thursdays and Friday nights with drunk cyclists, but this is not the case.

Not to say that your friend shouldn't have walked instead though. Drunkness is also a sliding scale. Luckily with cyclists the chances are way lower of murdering others.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#682

Post by dan-robertson »

iams wrote: post #244
worik wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the London tube have good facilities for carrying bikes?

No. Non folding bikes are not allowed on most tube services in central london. The lines that do allow it don't allow it during rush hour.

Folding bikes are sometimes not allowed

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#683

Post by dan-robertson »

worik wrote: post #638
iams wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Non folding bikes are not allowed on most tube services in central london. The lines that do allow it don't allow it during rush hour.

So how do all the bikes get into central London?

Not sure I understand your question. I think people cycle them in…

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#685

Post by egman_ekki »

sharkweek wrote: post #192
matsemann wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - might be impossible depending on work or children; The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car. Have two kids seated in the trunk of the bike and drop them off at kindergarten, then continue biking to work and pick them up on the way home. Those are a bit on the pricier side, though. Still cheap compared to a car, but people often look at them as something "extravagant" or "in addition" to…

In upfront transparency to avoid sounding like I have a superiority complex based on just how much I love my cargo bike, our family does still have a car. Okay that being said… our cargo bike has replaced 90% of our “last mile” driving here in the city. We take the kids to school on it, we do grocery runs, we take it to the park, out to dinner, just about anywhere we can. In the first two years we’ve put at least 2k…

Which one did you pick?

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#686

Post by entropicgravity »

abricq wrote: post #172

This news literally makes me so happy. I can't wait to see it propagating around the world ! Riding a bike it better for your health, for the environment, makes cities much safer places, better for your mood as well & even better for your wallet. For people who have the chance to work reasonably close to their work, it's THE perfect solution. I bike to work every day since 4/5 years, in Switzerland. Since roughly 18…

I ride an e-bike and I'm very fond of it, but it's a transitionary solution. What will propagate in cities within twenty years is almost all EV's with covered roads (no poisonous gases) and 'cars' that take up a half of a current lane and can carry three people at most. The car market will split between 'long distance' similar to today's cars and 'city cars' that are tiny compared to today. This will happen because EV's can happily scale to a much smaller size than ICE cars can and consequently will be much more practical.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#687

Post by tim333 »

worik wrote: post #638
iams wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Non folding bikes are not allowed on most tube services in central london. The lines that do allow it don't allow it during rush hour.

So how do all the bikes get into central London?

You can take them on overground trains, though that's kind of restricted at rush hour. I imagine people mostly either cycle from their homes or leave the bike near a station.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#688

Post by bosie »

nec4b wrote: post #626
lenlorijn wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see lots of folks in the comments assuming what would happen when you bike drunk, seemingly not ever having done so themselves or seen it. I live in a student city in the Netherlands (Groningen), where most students go out on the town by bike. It's really not much more dangerous than walking drunk. And it's very much preferable to driving drunk. Thousands of students park their bikes in the city's central undergrou…

Hitting a pedestrian when riding a bike at 25 km/h has life threatening consequences for the pedestrian. Pedestrians do die when hit by bikers. Especially elderly which have worse awareness around them and are more fragile.

Not even being snarky but if hitting a pedestrian at 25kmh with a bicycle is so bad, how much worse would it be with a car/truck/bus?

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#689

Post by maigret »

scythe wrote: post #453
alkjsdlkjasd wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - 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 uncomfo…

>As the Dutch like to say: there is no such thing as bad cycling weather, only bad cycling clothes. What kind of cycling clothes will mitigate a 40 C / 70% humidity afternoon in Memphis?

Trees for example. City highways make everything hotter.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#690

Post by tim333 »

hammock wrote: post #213
Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #3

Note that the "City of London" is not the whole of the London built-up area, but just the financial services district, slightly more than one square mile in area. Still, it's a remarkable statistic even then.

>it's a remarkable statistic If you consider levying a $20-30/day tax to every driver,[1] plus another $12/day if your car is too old,[2] plus $200-600/year to park on public roads,[3] causing people to stop driving as remarkable, then sure. Edit: why the downvotes? [1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10279911/Sadiq-Khan... [2] https://www.carthrottle.com/post/youll-now-be-charged-extra-... [3] https://en.wi…

The stuff you mention isn't that relevant - I speak as a car owner in central London. (I don't pay [1] and [2] and everyone has to pay [3]). Parking is the real problem.

Also driving in central London rush hour is kind of tedious - I prefer rail etc.

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