The bicycling option: Republicans like to laugh at it, because it makes so much sense
By David Neiwert Sunday Aug 23, 2009 2:00pm
Fox News ran a several segments yesterday touting New York City's newly unveiled bicycle lanes, created in response to the sharp increase in bike ridership in the Big Apple:
Despite the dangers, biking is New York City's "fastest growing mode of transportation," says City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who herself bikes to work in lower Manhattan, about a mile from her Greenwich Village home.
The number of cyclists has jumped by 80 percent in the past decade — to 185,000 among the more than 8 million city denizens.
City officials say they've worked to make the city more biker friendly. They note the hundreds of miles of marked bike paths created in recent years, safety awareness campaigns and handouts of free helmets to unprotected cyclists.
Over that time, bicycle accidents have fallen more than 40 percent.
"A lot of people consider it an act of bravery to get on a bike in New York City," Sadik-Khan says. "But we've created a biking network that affords more security for bicyclists — a safer and healthier way to get around."
... The city now has 420 miles of marked bike lanes and paths along the streets in all five boroughs — half of those created in the past three years. Another 200 miles are off the street, including Central Park and other green oases like the Hudson River path.
Three specially designed street lanes are separated from moving traffic by parked cars, which Sadik-Khan calls "a wall of steel." Two are on Manhattan's far West Side and the third snakes downtown through the city's Soho, Little Italy and Chinatown.
You'll notice from the video segment that more than a few NYC riders still have some safety fundamentals to work on -- particularly the lack of helmets.
Still, it's a great start for one of the nation's more difficult bicycling cities. In one of the Fox segments someone from the city bike program boasted that New York could now claim to be the nation's biking capital. That's pretty laughable -- everyone knows Portland is king, and a long ways in front of everyone else -- but hey, at least it's not in the same category as Dallas, which remains the nation's worst.
Regardless, it's encouraging to see so many people turning to bicycling as a viable transportation option. It's obviously not for everyone, but it is an option that makes great common sense from a variety of angles:
1. Bikes are non-polluting.
2. Parking and the space they occupy is so much less of a problem.
3. They're good for your health. (If you keep yourself safe.)
4. They consume far less energy.
Bikes, in fact, are considered by many mechanical engineers to be the most efficient machine ever devised by man. It's silly not to be using them as abundantly and efficiently as possible.
Still, as Matt Yglesias noted earlier this year, Republicans love to make fun of bicycling programs whenever they come up -- especially in the federal budgeting process, where they are regularly held up for ridicule as examples of federal waste.
No doubt because they make so much sense.
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I think China has more bikes per capita then any other country. May was well catch up to them.
in more ways than just bike ridership. Heck were are already catching up in lifestyle or is that catching down?
I come from the Netherlands and this country is the bikecountry of the world. At a population of 16 million there are 17 million bike here.
And I still find it funny to see riders one commuterbikes wearing helmets. That is still not mainstream over here. But then again, bikelanes and roads are mostly devided, apart from city centers.
Here's a nice link. This is a 73 minute observation by an American tourist in Amsterdam. Fascinating stuff.
http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/
Count the helmets.
Thank you. this observation was the first thing i thought of when i saw this article. why are americans so obsessed with safety? How can the dutch go around with no protection and not get hurt?
Why is it a crime to send your kid out without a helmet here, but over there no one would think twice?
She bought every other piece of gear she could get her hands on. Shoes gloves pants. No helmet. She and her BF were cycling on a path and came across a guy who had fallen was bleeding from his ears and wasn't wearing a helmet. She walked her bike to the ferry, and they caught a bus back home.
She was also run over by a pace line at the end of the STP. Skidded on the lid, big strands of plastic hanging down.
You know, the actress who died falling on the ski slope. You hit your bare head, you might not think it's bad.
But me, I'm all for the choice. Darwin is less forgiving.
Where's the campaign for car occupants to wear helmets? Pedestrians? Bike riding scary! Cars, ahhh, safe!
I'm texting this as I drive...
on your your dvd player, the one mounted in your visor, too! Not enough to do while driving = boring!
:-D
because other Americans are so obsessed with suing people.
I used to race bicycles. I've seen lots of crashes and been in several myself. From my personal experience, simply put, wear a damn helmet. You're stupid not to.
There are a few eBay sellers importing the Flying Pigeon commuter bikes from China. They are basically copies of the Ralegh DL-1 bike made from the 1940's all the way until 1897. Amazingly comfortable and bombproof, they last forever. They also come with a beautiful steel basket made from the sheet metal that the chains are stamped from. Prices range from $200 to $350.
that are up five flights of steep stairs. I doubt it's a flying pigeon when it's on your shoulder.
My DL-1 weighs 45 lbs.
...to your body.
...to the environment.
...to your wallet.
...the community.
Go for the big bucks
I ride to work almost every day. I've lost 25 pounds since I started commuting a year ago. Even if your commute isn't feasible, if you get a rack or basket you can at least do your local errands by bike.
I actually look forward to my commute ;-)
It helps me to get in shape, it helps me to be fresh when I get to work, and when I ride back it helps me relieve stress. I am lucky that I live within 5 miles of my workplace, so it is never a big headache.
I actually love the system they got in Dutch and Danish cities, you can literally go anywhere in Copenhagen safely on a bike... I think the whole city has bike lanes, it feels much safer than the constant game of chicken I have to play when I ride my bike.
... is sucking worse where I live. The city converted bike lanes to 'multi-purpose' lanes, as if cars will actually cede the right of way.
I decided after a near miss everyday, two accidents (the cars were either oblivious or fleeing the scene and the cops were unsympathetic/hostile to riders), one concussion caused by a woman putting on make up, driving with cell phone and deaf to my yelling before she edged me into a line of parked cars, that it just isn't worth it.
I live in a college town. 10,000 rich kids driving SUVs does not a safe bike commute make.
I used to love bicycling, now the thought just brings panic attacks.
Anybody want to buy a bike?
blowing snow?
is a human-powered vehicle, enclosed for aerodynamic advantage and protection from weather and collisions.
velomobile
[OK flaggers. We know it looks like spam, but it's not. Brad is a long-time poster and the link goes to Wikipedia. :) thanks though-Sitemonitor]
about London's Bicycle Paramedics?
They're a bunch of hippies...
... that anything "of the people" is worthy of ridicule. They would prefer modes of transportation that exploit something or someone else, whether that would be the environment (automobiles) or other people (limos and airplanes, which someone else operates). Don't look for too many Republicans to ride bicycles anytime soon.
You don't "ride" a bicycle; you drive it. It's a vehicle and should be treated AND driven as such. Bicyclists and motorists need to get this into their heads.
that.
What is your point exactly?
"Driving" refers to directing a motorized vehicle, while "riding" refers to handling a non-motorized vehicle (or beast of burden).
It is true that bicyclists are required to observe the same "rules of the road" as automobile drivers.
cattle for several generations.
you'd save on gas.
Bicycles are driven on roads. You don't drive on a sidewalk, do you?
They are also ridden on roads.
Cars are driven. On roads, not on sidewalks.
Bicycles are also ridden on trails, but motorbikes are driven on trails.
Ain't semantics fun?
You say "to-may-to", I say "socialist plot to lower profit margins for gas companies as a way to protest against Capitalism".
But isn't that what it always comes down to? These Republicans get sillier and sillier. Soon they'll be making fun of jogging because it's "elitist".
Oh wait.
are still big. Of course you can't drive one to work very comfortably in a Supercell Thunderstorm or Blizzard.
If it does not profit big oil, big pharma, big business of any kind really, Repukes are against it.
No, they're against it because they probably never learned how to ride them.
What a ridiculous thing to rail against. It's like being against gardening, for god's sake.
LOL . . They're an "eyesore".
they really don't give the confessional booth much thought either. And to me, the church is the place for hypocrits
Especially if it's a black lady doing it behind the White House.
Their mockery works. Remember when they split their collective sides over midnight basketball?
What happened when Ty Webb tried to shoot a round of midnight golf?
The GOP will dismiss this program/happening as a "liberal New York thing". Anything coming out of NYC is automatically liberal, no matter what it is.
There are many in the GOP who think public transporation is socialism, and the only city in this country where you can easily live without a car is, again, that "liberal New York".
Giuliani out of higher office, right? I expect Mike "The Little Emperor" Bloomberg would try to run as a Repug too.
don't fare well on a bike ride.
Let's keep feeding these laughers big fatty pieces of beef and many creamy white sauces, to go along with their sedentary lifestyles. And make them pay for their own health insurance, as well...
obesity kills them... .
or we'll need to register a bike for licenses plates, pay personal property tax, get a special license, have insurance.
LOL! Just bought a brand new bike!! Trek ftw!
I think this more a FOX issue than a Republican one. I work as a bicycle transportation planner for a regional agency, and I can tell you Republicans are generally as supportive (or unsupportive) of bicycling as Dems.
The US has a much higher per capita bicycle ownership than China. It's just that most American bikes sit in the garage gathering dust.
Helmets are not the key to bike safety, and neither are "bike paths." The key is cyclist training.
"SHARE THE ROAD MAN!" isn't enough when your dealing with today's "modern car drivers".
I think the key is in driver training.
then they bitch when you do something good for one's self and the environment. actually it has small influence on the supply and demand of fuel. the bottomline is anything done different than the (r) is wrong. they want to turn this around for those in their viewing audience that want to sit on their dead ass.
this is more CULTure club bullshxt for simpletons.
in the videos, more of the teabaggers and other protesters at the town halls are obese and should ride their bicycles to the town halls insted of being bussed in.
i'll do what i want it's my life.....my response and you may agree ron go ahead but make sure it doesn't affect our lives. if your obese it affects everyone in health care cost. much of our lives are interconnected.
The whole mess is interconnected.
If they shut the power off in this country 50% of the population would be dead or wounded in three days. And not by natural causes.
i thought i might that by you..........but nooooo.
and view the chaos as an observer. Helps keep ones perspective.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297...
$147 billion cost of obesity related conditions/treatment in 2008. maybe more bike riding less obesity/diabetes......it's genius i tell you.
. . . .
are there compared to bikes rider related deaths. That would be the true marker.
but when talking to many (r)'s sometimes cost is something they can hear.
hits an obese adult, who's more likely to be killed? Darwinian theory in action!
And the IQ scores will soar. All my budweiser drinking fools would be over wanting me to brew some brewskys for them.
http://photos.imageevent.com/motorbiker/newsp...
Unfortunately, in my neck of the woods (soCal) you have to have some kind of death wish to ride a bike regularly. Currently there are no fewer than three crosses along the side of the road on my way to work (7 miles) denoting where bikers have been killed. Not pedestrians either, cause I read the local news. I would LOVE to own a bike but it's just too dangerous around here for my liking. Drivers here are so busy texting and calling that they are not paying enough attention. I see cars veer into bike lanes all the time.
How bout the ones driving down a parkway or boulevard staring down into their lap while they dial a phone number or read a tweet or text.
and we still have at least a couple of fatalities involving bike riders each year.
one must be constantly alert, focused, paying attention, and driving-riding defensively. The problem is it takes the joy out of it.
The FOX piece didn't seem so bad to me, but I'd like to know more about their helmet statistics regarding fatalities. The whole issue of helmets as the foundation of bicycle safety is misguided, IMHO. Knowing how to ride safely is the most important thing, and the risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle that automobiles enable are seldom considered.
The Dutch and Danish have very high rates of bicycling and low death rates while doing so. They consider cycling a normal everyday activity and typically don't wear helmets. Crucially, cyclists and motorists in these countries know and obey the traffic laws.
We in the US have a lot of learning to do. Bike safety is considerably more nuanced than making yourself crash-proof with a magic hat and hitting the streets.
One place for cyclists to start is with the League of American Bicyclists:
http://www.bikeleague.org/
Educating motorists about cyclists right to use the roads ought to be part of every state's DMV instruction and testing. How is it in your state?
The engineers and city planners who are working on bike-friendly or pedestrian-friendly communities often shut out those who have decreased mobility ... can't walk, can't bike. I am "disabled" in not being able to do either for more than a block or so. I live on the Canadian prairies where winter temperatures reach 40 below (both systems meet at that temp). So suggesting biking for 7 or 8 months of the year is nonsense. But that hasn't stopped my city from planning more and more bike trails and planning a downtown that will trim vehicular traffic. Many people will not be able to visit our downtown core and very few seniors will be able to get around. How dumb! Bike trails are good. Pedestrian-friendly areas are wonderful. But you have to remember that some people aren't as capable.
A visitor to wheel-chair-bound visitor to Moscow once told me he was suprised the see no wheel chairs on the street. That was until he discovered that most buildings didn't have proper access and those in wheelchairs were trapped in their apartments. THINK before turning cities into places for the young and able only.
... fyi
?
You are correct in the fact that while cities should in some regard promote healthy lifestyles, they should not forget those who are handi-capped. But also remember that those who chose healthy forms of lifestyle such as biking,,, will also be the ones who champion those less able.
Not once has the biking community stepped in to help those with handicaps. They have made themselves out to be paragons of virtue ... health nuts, environmentalists, safe bikers. Not all bikers are good bikers ... but many aren't bad either. I'm just saying that I haven't heard city planners mention those with mobility issues once, though we hear constantly about biking and walking.Saskatchewan isn't conducive to either effort for much of the year, but planners seem to forget that. And bikers only worry about their own agendas.
... it is totally our plan, us tree hugging riding hippies... to stick it to the disabled community.
I dig you trolling style btw.
That's the dumbest thing I've EVER read!!!
Wadda buncha malarkey.
I almost rode into that troll-hole while biking a 2k for breast cancer, a 5k for Iraq victims and a 10k for Special Olympics.
Did I mention the part where I volunteered to pour concrete and built redwood walkways for wheelchair access?
Yeeeeesss, bike riders only worry about their own agenda.
Next time you are able to roll into a gov't office instead of being carried in? Thank us and many others.
We've got your back, (literally.)
... or even most of the roads. Don't let your fears get the best of you, that's how the Republicans get under your skin.
Nothing eats my lunch faster than seeing some old fart tooling around in one of those gas gobbling Ford F Series trucks the size of Winnebago.All part of the Bush/Cheney/Oil Consortium that decided Americans needed to go out and consume ever more precious resources like drunken frat boys to "fight the war on terror".More like the war on Terra.
Here in the metro I hardly think they are "paths" if they are separate, paved, striped, have their own road signs, rest stops, info stations, the occasional water break and historical markers. I know of three strip malls in different directions within 1/2 an hour of my place that motorists probably don't even realize have paved bike entrances off the bike highway and racks in the back.
It's legal here to ride on _most_ sidewalks (unless they are marked). I have one street to cross and a second double crossing (east, then north) before I'm riding safely on a _vast_ system. Hell, I could even ride west half way across the state and hardly get off a path.
Seasonality is, of course, an issue, but there are 365 day/year riders in the Minneapolis/St. Paul centers in particular so the suburbs are still imposing some artificial restrictions in not believing people will use the system and not plowing like they should.
i use to live in uptown great place to ride. isles,calhoun,harriet
I noticed at the end of the broadcast the reporters were wondering what to do with the bikes when they get to their jobs. Well, New York City.. MY city.. in which I do NOT own a car and bike almost everywhere I go, they just made it a law that all office buildings provide an indoor area where bike commuters may leave their bikes while they work. What an awesome city for biking.
Republicans only care about protecting corporate interest. Just think about the hell they raise whenever Congress(Dems.) want to curb corporate abuse(recent credit card excess chagres). They Repubs. are adamantly against it. So a smidgeon of govt. money goes to help encorage people to do healthy things, and the right-wingers think it's socialism.
I guess all them phony goat ropers that pass for cowboys in that town, don't want to be seen on bicycles. I also notice that most of them... including the most notable of the "down east Connecticut cowpunchers himself... don't like to have much to do with horses either. Or even cows.
Used to be that in order to be called one, a cowboy had to have two things...a horse and at least a few four legged critters of the bovine persuasion. Now all he needs is a brush pile and a chain saw.
Dallas' reputation, besides it's city officials' hostility to building bike infrastructure, is mostly due to the aggressively non-sharing and hostile attitudes of its car drivers.
Bicycles are always beneath us;-)
that probably most Repugs laugh because biking is just somehow 'beneath them'. Many get their jollies by showing off their 'status, their expensive & absurd vehicles', their 'drivers'.
I would have to agree that many are also of the (ahem) overweight body-type, therefore just not interested in anything requiring effort, or possibly afraid of hurting themselves.
Besides, it's such a 'European thing' isn't it? Don't mess with our need to be the biggest & most absurd vehicle on the road!
Reminds me of when I lived in Louisville, many decades back...and was shocked at the blatant disdain most people had for anyone using (OMG) public transportation. I live in Toronto (have for all of my years except those three in Louisville) & public transportation is a way of life in the city. Thousands use it every day. Many of us who drive, use it when going into the city to events.
Such insecurities these silly people must foster, having to look down their noses at things that make so much sense.
have you ever been to Amsterdam? Don't get caught walking in the bike lanes.
they make fun of anything that helps the environment...
remember, they're PRO business...which to their tiny little minds, means anything pro-environment is by nature, anti-business...
If it doesn't make their overlords, and themselves a ton of taxpayer money...then it ain't worth a shit to them.
I cycle everywhere including doing all my local shopping. (I also have free public bus and train transport.) Most of the pavements are dual cycle/ footpaths. (where I am in Australia.)The gas guzzlers look down on me and even tailgated me once. I am soooo happy I have all the cycleways to myself. I am selfishly not looking forward to the day when more people get the hint and start crowding me out. Not only do I save money, but I get to cycle along the ocean three blocks from my home.
I love cycling but I do it more for fun than transportation. Seems like everytime I start thinking about commuting more often I hear about a fatal accident in my area (Seattle.) I would like to see bike lanes in US cities like they have in Copenhagen. The bike lane is raised like a sidewalk. Much more difficult for a car to just drift into the bike lane.
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