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Fewer Americans bike to work despite new trails, lanes, bicycle share programs
- derrekl 8y agoI wonder how much electric scooters impacted the decline over the last year, anyone have any data or further insight on this?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- bobnarizes 8y agoHere in Germany there is a strong culture to bike to work. Even with bad weather (as now in winter) you see a lot of people including kids biking. At the company I'm working at there is some programs where you can buy a bicycle and the company pays you some percentage of the price back [1] [1]: https://www.jobrad.org https://www.jobrad.org
- megaremote 8y agoIn the UK as well. As someone from Australia, I was so surprised so many people riding in all conditions, when back home it was incredibly rare even though the conditions were so good, all the time.
- adrianN 8y agoHow much of the new infrastructure is just paint on the roads? That doesn't do very much to make people feel safe on a bike.
- bike1321 8y agoI feel like in Europe and America, the attitude is "If somebody breaks the rules, it's morally justified to endanger that person". I recently experienced cycling in Taipei. Traffic rules seem to be somewhat "loose" compared to the situation in European cities. Two lanes, but some space? Let's make a third lane. Red light? Better pay attention while running it. But, and that's my main takeaway, people don't want to kill each other and keep calm in any situation. Riding the bicycle doesn't feel like "one against them", it's more like "I'm in this chaos together with all the others". [edit] I'm not advocating for less rules, but for a more harmonic attitude towards others in traffic.
- learc83 8y agoI can't find numbers specifically for bikes being hit by cars, but it looks like vehicle related deaths per vehicle owned are significantly higher for Taiwan than the US. If you take into consideration that Americans drive more per person than any other country, driving is much more dangerous in Taiwan. I'd imagine biking is also fairly dangerous.
- bike1321 8y agoOh it sure is, the traffic is crazy after all. But there is no hostile attitude towards each other. My point is not that traffic rules should be loose -- it is that we're in traffic together and we should relax from time to time, watching out for others.
- colechristensen 8y agoThis is a generalization but very many less developed countries have much less adherence to traffic laws and very many more traffic injuries. The attitude might be better but the outcomes are worse.
- bike1321 8y agoYou should google Taipei, it's location and development, though. Taiwan's HDI is between Austria and Luxembourg.
- nathanaldensr 8y agoIs this a surprise? America's run on the car for over 100 years; it's deeply ingrained in the culture. Replacing that culture was never a matter of trails, lanes, or bike sharing.
- skookumchuck 8y agoThe Seattle bikers disappear when it's cold and rainy. In Amsterdam, the bikers are more sensible. They wear street clothes, and ride heavy bikes suitable for street clothes and casual use. In Seattle, it has to be a $$$$ racing bike and one has to wear a tour de france spandex outfit. It's the law.
- jvolkman 8y agoAmsterdam is also flatter than Seattle. Heavy bikes (without assist) and street clothes don't work as well on large hills.
- fyfy18 8y agoA racing bike for commuting isn't that sensible an option either though. Unless you race in your spare time and want to get miles on the bike, a hybrid or touring bike will be a lot more comfortable and durable on city roads.
- jvolkman 8y agoPeople don't actually commute on racing bikes in Seattle all that often. At least not the ones I see. Touring bikes, cyclocross, and similar with slightly larger tires and often disc brakes seem more common.
- apathy 8y agoWhere are the hills in Seattle? It may not be as flat as Amsterdam, but it certainly isn’t San Francisco (or even LA, for that matter). I had the good fortune to essentially never get in a car in Seattle — I always took the subway, or the trolley, or walked. Granted I only ever spent a lot of time at Amazon and the Hutch, most everywhere beyond walking distance of south lake union or the subway is a blank spot on the map to me. But it seemed like a pretty casual place to bike commute. I rode to work most every day when I lived in SF, and in DC, and for a while in LA. Perversely, it was always safest where the traffic was worst (gridlocked) as drivers couldn’t get going fast enough to severely injure me then. Northern Virginia by contrast was terrifying — soccer moms barreling around at 70mph in SUVs while on cell phones. I think it’s a cultural issue — that wouldn’t fly in the Netherlands.
- JSHat 8y agoI would love to bike to work everyday, but there are a few things that prevent me from doing so, none of which are the weather like another poster suggests. 1. Lack of showers in basically everywhere I’ve worked. I don’t mind making a 10+ mile trip each way twice a day, but not if it means I get to sit there at work smelly and gross the entire day. 2. The ingrained sense of “fuck bikers” that most people feel in the US. I mean, go on any public forum and ask people what they think of bicyclists riding their bikes on the road, where we are legally allowed to do. You will be met with so much vitriol. People will literally tell you they hope you get ran over and die because you deserve it.
- soperj 8y agoI bike to work every day (10km each way) in Victoria BC, and people are dicks here. You're definitely a second class citizen as a biker. I had a guy that lives on my street that basically did everything except run me over less than 500 meters from my house. I see him regularly and he still did it.
- Fricken 8y agoIt's not the sweat that stinks, it's the bacteria living in your sweat, which takes hours to foment. If you take a shower and wash it off before you leave in the morning, the ride isn't going to make you smell. It's sitting around all day with damp pits that causes the smell.
- ip26 8y agoeBikes make a really big difference for #1
- bsder 8y ago> I mean, go on any public forum and ask people what they think of bicyclists riding their bikes on the road, where we are legally allowed to do. To be fair, there just is no good way to share a 40mph thoroughfare between bikers and cars. Most of the Northern European countries get away with sharing by having MUCH slower roads. Bikers need their own dedicated lanes that don't interact with automobile traffic.
- petsormeat 8y agoNot mentioned is whether sprawl has increased the distance between home and workplace, beyond acceptable cycling limits.
- stretchwithme 8y agoWhen the route to work was mostly bike trails and I only encountered two heavy traffic intersections, I cycled to the office a few days a week. Otherwise, it's just too dangerous from my perspective. Too many drivers do not pay attention.
- choward 8y agoWalking can also be dangerous. Especially if you follow the laws. If find it a lot safer the do the made up crime of "jaywalking" between intersections than crossing legally. I have had several close calls crossing legally because of people just not paying attention. I have had zero close calls crossing between intersections.
- chrisseaton 8y agoAm I right in thinking that American traffic lights don’t actually stop cars for pedestrians? They just sort of give you more priority don’t they? What’s the advantage of crossing away from the lights?
- war1025 8y agoAway from the lights you have 2 directions to check for traffic from. At an intersection you have to be aware of people coming from 4 directions potentially turning towards you.
- chrisseaton 8y agoJust wait for your turn to cross at the lights? People don’t often just full on run red lights do they?
- war1025 8y agoThe walk light will often be on at the same time as the green light for drivers going the same direction. Sometimes a turning driver won't notice you. Doesn't happen that often, but happens often enough that you have to be aware of it. A lot of times it is just easier to cross in the middle of a block because you have a much better buffer area where random cars can't pop out from. Obviously it depends on the particular road. If it is some 6 lane wide main thoroughfare, I'd probably opt for the cross walk.
- sandworm101 8y agoBikers tend to forget the class separations that biking entails. You can only ride to work if your work supports biking. That means a place to lock your bike and a place to shower/change. Most people work at places without such luxuries. And you have to be in a job where you don't have to look nice all day. Public-facing people such as receptionists or sales people cannot bike to work. People who have to haul their own tools cannot bike to work. If your job can tick all the boxes, great for you. But don't lecture those who don't have such options. I'm reminded of that scene from the IT Crowd where the boss, in bike shorts, is yelling at a room full of people in suits about stress. The ability to bike to work is often a distinction, something to be waved over those in you organization who dare not wear spandex in an office environment.
- adrianN 8y agoYou don't need to shower or change after biking to work in many climates. Look at the cyclists in Holland. They wear street clothes and don't go fast enough to sweat a lot.
- Rainymood 8y agoYour argument already starts to show it's flaws when considering the Netherlands where a lot of people bike to work in all layers of the organization ... most notably our prime minister bikes to work, but so does everyone else basically if you live close by.
- punanen 8y agoThis is because this issue is now tribal and political. In "Critical Mass" bicyclists gather together and block common roads. Very American, but not an effective way to promote anything. Was there also some other action where mostly ugly fat people drive around naked - the purpose of which now escapes me. Also in America you can often see fat bicyclists in tights, to reduce wind resistance I presume?
- dfgert 8y agoI feel like biking to work is being promoted just for the sake of polishing city's reputation. Cities would build all these fancy facilities, which are grossly expensive infrastructure to build and maintain, just for sake of feeling that they did something to solve traffic problems. Everyone is aware of problems a biker faces on everyday commute(lack of amenities at work, not safe, weather, lack of infrastructure and motor driver's attitude) all of which needs to be solved for more people to adopt biking.
- adrianN 8y agoIn what way is improving infrastructure not a step in the right direction?
- arpuja 8y agoThis is because this issue is now tribal and political. In "Critical Mass" bicyclists gather together and block common roads. Very American, but not an effective way to promote anything. Was there also some other action where mostly ugly fat people drive around naked - the purpose of which now escapes me. Also in America you can often see fat bicyclists in tights, to reduce wind resistance I presume?
- ikawe 8y agoKeep in mind this is the American Community Survey, which, unlike the full census, only counts about 1% of the population. Given that cyclist commuters only only account for 0.3% of the population already, the large swings become a little less statistically significant. I don’t find it hard to believe that cyclist commuting decreased by a few percent overall, but it is hard to believe that cycling decreased in Oakland by 25% while increasing in Philadelphia by 20% in one year.