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> Also the majority of trips are short enough to be done via bike or ebike if you give people safe routes to do so, something the UK has been completely unwilli

by jfk13 8y ago

> Also the majority of trips are short enough to be done via bike or ebike if you give people safe routes to do so, something the UK has been completely unwilling to do. Just because a trip is short enough doesn't necessarily mean it's actually practical to make via (e)bike. People often need to take more than a backpack's- or pannier's-worth of stuff with them. I love my bike, and use it when appropriate, but it doesn't come close to replacing a car.

knorker 8y ago
Yeah, so since it'd only get us 99.99% of the way there let's not do it. :-P
CalRobert 8y ago
Which is about as relevant as saying "sometimes I have to cross a river so a car doesn't come close to replacing a boat". This strawman argument is trotted out every time someone suggests an alternative to cars for normal getting around. I'm not suggesting a human-powered piano delivery service. I'm not proposing we replace logging trucks with cargo bikes. I am saying that a large number of trips can be taken by modes other than car when doing so becomes a safe and pleasant option. We have proven examples of this (DK, NL) and they are really nice places to walk, cycle, and perhaps paradoxically, drive, as a result.
ndnxhs 8y ago
Often? I'm a developer like most people here and I have to carry less than a backpacks worth on almost all of my trips. On the times I do need to carry more it could fit on one of those bike trailers I see around. Of course if you are are a tradie or something and you need to carry around ladders and pipes than a bike isn't ideal but for almost everyone it is for almost all of our trips. Taking a car to work for most of us is using a sledge hammer to push in a thumb tack.
- jfk13 8y ago
  I wasn't thinking in terms of a developer getting to the office. Personally, I don't think I've driven my car to work for at least the past ten years. Many days it doesn't leave the driveway. But there aren't adequate alternatives that would allow me to get rid of it altogether.
  - CalRobert 8y ago
    Which is why that seems like a strawman. The article is not proposing banning all automobiles. Just ICE ones.

by jfk13 8y ago

knorker 8y ago

Yeah, so since it'd only get us 99.99% of the way there let's not do it. :-P

CalRobert 8y ago

Which is about as relevant as saying "sometimes I have to cross a river so a car doesn't come close to replacing a boat". This strawman argument is trotted out every time someone suggests an alternative to cars for normal getting around. I'm not suggesting a human-powered piano delivery service. I'm not proposing we replace logging trucks with cargo bikes. I am saying that a large number of trips can be taken by modes other than car when doing so becomes a safe and pleasant option. We have proven examples of this (DK, NL) and they are really nice places to walk, cycle, and perhaps paradoxically, drive, as a result.

ndnxhs 8y ago

Often? I'm a developer like most people here and I have to carry less than a backpacks worth on almost all of my trips. On the times I do need to carry more it could fit on one of those bike trailers I see around. Of course if you are are a tradie or something and you need to carry around ladders and pipes than a bike isn't ideal but for almost everyone it is for almost all of our trips. Taking a car to work for most of us is using a sledge hammer to push in a thumb tack.

jfk13 8y ago
I wasn't thinking in terms of a developer getting to the office. Personally, I don't think I've driven my car to work for at least the past ten years. Many days it doesn't leave the driveway. But there aren't adequate alternatives that would allow me to get rid of it altogether.
- CalRobert 8y ago
  Which is why that seems like a strawman. The article is not proposing banning all automobiles. Just ICE ones.