4 ms·

I don't understand why so many people use their cars for every chore in the Bay Area. A decent bike commuter can do 16 mph which is plenty fast for most trips.

I don't understand why so many people use their cars for every chore in the Bay Area. A decent bike commuter can do 16 mph which is plenty fast for most trips. It's also 'free' in that you burn lunch instead of fuel.

SirensOfTitan 10y ago
I would love to ride a bike around SF, but the thought of being hit by a car is sort of terrifying to me. As a result I ride the bus everywhere: it's non ideal.
- abrkn 10y ago
  I was looking into buying a bike for commuting from Mission to SoMa until I noticed how there are multiple hit and runs reported every week. Several times have I witnessed Uber/Lyft drivers (with me as a passenger) endanger bicyclists during the morning commute. How do they solve this in other cities?
  - benologist 10y ago
    Cars are starting to report collisions automatically so soon it will be very difficult to escape unnoticed, especially when they start reporting on other vehicles around them. At that point collisions, speeding, reckless driving etc accountability will be as automatic as red light cameras and people will drive responsibly all the time because how they drive will always be under so much scrutiny. http://abc7chicago.com/technology/car-auto-dials-911-to-report-accident-after-driver-allegedly-commits-hit-and-run/1109554/ http://abc7chicago.com/technology/car-auto-dials-911-to-repo...
  - Maultasche 10y ago
    The Netherlands does this very well. Car traffic is nicely separated from bicycle traffic, which is nicely separated from pedestrians. There's even an entire nationwide network of bicycle paths. I suggest using Google street view to look around. Usually, you can see a bike path off on the side of the road that's nicely separated from the cars. I don't think that Google has gotten around to taking street view pictures in all the bike-only paths in more rural areas, although I hear they've done that in some places. The Netherlands has been committed to improving bicycle use and safety since the 1950s, so they've built up a lot of infrastructure with that in mind. In fact, I hear that in any accident in the Netherlands involving a car and bicycle, the car is always at fault unless they can prove that the bicycle was being reckless. It makes cars a lot more careful, and encourages riding a bike instead of driving. From what I hear, the effect is from all this that automobile traffic in is pretty congested and slow. The Dutch government seems to be making a general policy of discouraging car driving and encouraging alternate forms of transportation, as a means to unclog the roads and reduce pollution. The Netherlands is very dense, so pollution would be very bad if all those people were driving everywhere. I'm not Dutch, but sometimes I wish I were, because I would very much like to bike to work on a regular basis. My city in California has some bike lanes, but they aren't very wide and are right next to the cars. They've been starting to build bike paths that are completely separate from roads, but we don't yet have a city-wide bike path network yet. I suspect we'll eventually get one, but it will be decades away. I'll go biking with my children on quiet residential streets or the bike paths, but there's no way I'd take them on the bike lanes on the bigger roads.
- habosa 10y ago
  Riding around SF is really all about knowing which streets are good for bikers. Many major streets with no hills have bike lanes (Valencia, Polk, Market, Embarcadero, etc). I have not felt in danger of being hit by a car riding on those streets for the majority of my ride.
omegaham 10y ago
The one thing that gives me pause is that it's relatively easy to steal a bicycle, but it's difficult to steal a car. Here in Portland, bicycle theft is an enormous problem, and I'm not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a bike that could be stolen with impunity.
- tobltobs 10y ago
  A second hand bike for $200 is more than enough for cycling in a city.
  - habosa 10y ago
    I've been in SF for 2 years. Had my $500 commuter bike stolen twice so far. This time I went for a $200 Craigslist big. One issue is it seems silly to invest properly in security. For example a good lock is $60-100 no matter how much your bike costs, and locking pins for my wheels/seat would be $50 more. Another thing is getting your bike stolen has a mental effect that I find exceeds the financial. If every time I go somewhere I'm not sure if I will lose my bike, it makes me want to ride my bike less. So I use it mostly to commute where I can keep it indoors on both ends.
    - Fricken 10y ago
      I'm 40, I've been cycling almost daily since I was a kid, and my bikes get stolen every 3 years on average, I take it now as a matter of course. My last several city bikes I bought used, spending $400-$600, for rides worth $800 to $1200 new, which I consider worth it. I use a small u-lock that can fit in my back pocket, and I don't get too uptight about leaving my bikes out all night somewhere strange.
Shivetya 10y ago
convenience, weather immune compared to a bicycle, feeling of safety that steel cage provides, speed (real or perceived) its never too hot, too cold, to windy, to wet, to anything, for driving a car versus a bicycle or any other exposed mode of transport. hence you can have all the articles you want about how there is a resurgence but it never amounts to any substantial numbers because weather is the greatest factor against it
- api_or_ipa 10y ago
  The Bay Area for the most part has a sublime climate for biking. It hardly rains, and when it does, it never lasts more than a day. The temps seldom top 90 in the peninsula (SF stays even cooler) and humidity is never a problem. If biking can take off, it should start here. Alas I feel that car culture might be too ingrained in the very fabric of our culture and cities. It's a shame.
- justinator 10y ago
  I think the best kept secret of cycling is the convenience of it. Never have to find a place to park, the ride itself is exercise so no need to go to the gym, the ride itself is refreshing and can help with your mental health, no metal cage to isolate you from your environment, so you have a chance to actually connect with your community. Too cold, windy, and wet? You invest in some proper clothes, and you change when you get somewhere. Cars are expensive. What I think of when I think of the inconvenience of cars is their cost, and how that translates into how many hours of my life I give up to pay for them. If riding a bike all year also meant getting two months off every year from work every year (or just pocket/invest in the money you saved with car ownership/upkeep/taxes/gas), would you do it?

SirensOfTitan 10y ago

I would love to ride a bike around SF, but the thought of being hit by a car is sort of terrifying to me. As a result I ride the bus everywhere: it's non ideal.

abrkn 10y ago
I was looking into buying a bike for commuting from Mission to SoMa until I noticed how there are multiple hit and runs reported every week. Several times have I witnessed Uber/Lyft drivers (with me as a passenger) endanger bicyclists during the morning commute. How do they solve this in other cities?
- benologist 10y ago
  Cars are starting to report collisions automatically so soon it will be very difficult to escape unnoticed, especially when they start reporting on other vehicles around them. At that point collisions, speeding, reckless driving etc accountability will be as automatic as red light cameras and people will drive responsibly all the time because how they drive will always be under so much scrutiny. http://abc7chicago.com/technology/car-auto-dials-911-to-report-accident-after-driver-allegedly-commits-hit-and-run/1109554/ http://abc7chicago.com/technology/car-auto-dials-911-to-repo...
- Maultasche 10y ago
  The Netherlands does this very well. Car traffic is nicely separated from bicycle traffic, which is nicely separated from pedestrians. There's even an entire nationwide network of bicycle paths. I suggest using Google street view to look around. Usually, you can see a bike path off on the side of the road that's nicely separated from the cars. I don't think that Google has gotten around to taking street view pictures in all the bike-only paths in more rural areas, although I hear they've done that in some places. The Netherlands has been committed to improving bicycle use and safety since the 1950s, so they've built up a lot of infrastructure with that in mind. In fact, I hear that in any accident in the Netherlands involving a car and bicycle, the car is always at fault unless they can prove that the bicycle was being reckless. It makes cars a lot more careful, and encourages riding a bike instead of driving. From what I hear, the effect is from all this that automobile traffic in is pretty congested and slow. The Dutch government seems to be making a general policy of discouraging car driving and encouraging alternate forms of transportation, as a means to unclog the roads and reduce pollution. The Netherlands is very dense, so pollution would be very bad if all those people were driving everywhere. I'm not Dutch, but sometimes I wish I were, because I would very much like to bike to work on a regular basis. My city in California has some bike lanes, but they aren't very wide and are right next to the cars. They've been starting to build bike paths that are completely separate from roads, but we don't yet have a city-wide bike path network yet. I suspect we'll eventually get one, but it will be decades away. I'll go biking with my children on quiet residential streets or the bike paths, but there's no way I'd take them on the bike lanes on the bigger roads.
habosa 10y ago
Riding around SF is really all about knowing which streets are good for bikers. Many major streets with no hills have bike lanes (Valencia, Polk, Market, Embarcadero, etc). I have not felt in danger of being hit by a car riding on those streets for the majority of my ride.

omegaham 10y ago

The one thing that gives me pause is that it's relatively easy to steal a bicycle, but it's difficult to steal a car. Here in Portland, bicycle theft is an enormous problem, and I'm not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a bike that could be stolen with impunity.

tobltobs 10y ago
A second hand bike for $200 is more than enough for cycling in a city.
- habosa 10y ago
  I've been in SF for 2 years. Had my $500 commuter bike stolen twice so far. This time I went for a $200 Craigslist big. One issue is it seems silly to invest properly in security. For example a good lock is $60-100 no matter how much your bike costs, and locking pins for my wheels/seat would be $50 more. Another thing is getting your bike stolen has a mental effect that I find exceeds the financial. If every time I go somewhere I'm not sure if I will lose my bike, it makes me want to ride my bike less. So I use it mostly to commute where I can keep it indoors on both ends.
  - Fricken 10y ago
    I'm 40, I've been cycling almost daily since I was a kid, and my bikes get stolen every 3 years on average, I take it now as a matter of course. My last several city bikes I bought used, spending $400-$600, for rides worth $800 to $1200 new, which I consider worth it. I use a small u-lock that can fit in my back pocket, and I don't get too uptight about leaving my bikes out all night somewhere strange.

Shivetya 10y ago

convenience, weather immune compared to a bicycle, feeling of safety that steel cage provides, speed (real or perceived) its never too hot, too cold, to windy, to wet, to anything, for driving a car versus a bicycle or any other exposed mode of transport. hence you can have all the articles you want about how there is a resurgence but it never amounts to any substantial numbers because weather is the greatest factor against it

api_or_ipa 10y ago
The Bay Area for the most part has a sublime climate for biking. It hardly rains, and when it does, it never lasts more than a day. The temps seldom top 90 in the peninsula (SF stays even cooler) and humidity is never a problem. If biking can take off, it should start here. Alas I feel that car culture might be too ingrained in the very fabric of our culture and cities. It's a shame.
justinator 10y ago
I think the best kept secret of cycling is the convenience of it. Never have to find a place to park, the ride itself is exercise so no need to go to the gym, the ride itself is refreshing and can help with your mental health, no metal cage to isolate you from your environment, so you have a chance to actually connect with your community. Too cold, windy, and wet? You invest in some proper clothes, and you change when you get somewhere. Cars are expensive. What I think of when I think of the inconvenience of cars is their cost, and how that translates into how many hours of my life I give up to pay for them. If riding a bike all year also meant getting two months off every year from work every year (or just pocket/invest in the money you saved with car ownership/upkeep/taxes/gas), would you do it?