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There are places where it's cold, where it rains and snows. So we can't bike everywhere. The good thing about the driverless cars is that they solve the parkin

There are places where it's cold, where it rains and snows. So we can't bike everywhere. The good thing about the driverless cars is that they solve the parking problems in the cities. We can even add lanes or pavements by removing all parking spaces in the city centers.

ed312 7y ago
You can absolutely bike in the cold, and in the rain, and even in light snow. Also, public transit & busses can get you further without even the dreaded prospect of burning a calorie. Removing free rental of public space to park your private vehicle is something I _do_ endorse though!
- arethuza 7y ago
  After commuting by bike for a number of years the only weather than I found sensible to avoid was very strong winds - I got blown off my bike onto the side of a lorry once, fortunately I was OK but I did get a scare!
  - mikestew 7y ago
    In the Seattle area, if it’s 38F or below, I use four wheels. In 35 years of riding a motorcycle, the singular time I’ve dumped one on the street was black ice when bike’s temp sensor was screaming, “it’s 38F, ice! Ice!” One time it was right. :-( That, and I’ve dumped enough bicycles in similar conditions that I’ve just quit doing it. So total, there’s about a week of days every winter that I drive. I’m fine with that, because as I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I ain’t young anymore, and that collarbone is gonna snap one of these days if I don’t start exercising some caution.
AlexandrB 7y ago
> The good thing about the driverless cars is that they solve the parking problems in the cities. They only solve them by doubling the traffic problems. I'm not a civil engineer so I'm not sure which problem is harder to solve, but this hardly seems like a free lunch.
stkdump 7y ago
> There are places where it's cold, where it rains and snows. Like Amsterdam and Copenhagen? > The good thing about the driverless cars is that they solve the parking problems in the cities. They solve the search for parking by humans. But if you want to get the cars out of the city while they aren't used, you practically double the traffic and emissions.
- criddell 7y ago
  Amsterdam and Copenhagen don't get very cold.
  - bogle 7y ago
    The canals freeze. That's sea water, too.
    - criddell 7y ago
      I'm not saying it never gets cold, just that the climate is much warmer than, say, Wisconsin. I grew up in Southwestern Ontario and we had days were school was cancelled due to cold, not snow. They were worried about frostbite on any exposed skin.
- todd8 7y ago
  No, not like Amsterdam. I love Amsterdam, but I'm so tired of it being used as an example of how we should all be on bikes. It has a very temperate climate. The weather in most of the US isn't as mild and cool as Amsterdam. There are cites in the US with great weather, for example San Diego, Santa Barbara, all of Marine and Sonoma Counties in CA have great weather (sadly it is having wild fire problems right now). I agree that we could be biking in those places more. The US as a whole has climate all over the place, from polar (N. Alaska) to tropical (S. Florida) to a desert. The coldest it has ever been in the Netherlands is -27 °C, but the continental US has gotten down to -57 °C (Alaska has reached -62 °C). The hottest it has ever been in Amsterdam is +41 °C while the US has reached +57 °C. It's true that these are crazy extremes and we can't decide on public policy based solely on rare events, but there are big cities all over the US where it is too cold to bike. Consider: Average Weather: days at or below temperature: City (population) -18 °C 0 °C ----------------- ------ ----- Amsterdam (821 K) none none Minneapolis (422 K) 23 148 Chicago (2716 K) 7 122 Denver (620 K) 7 157 Milwaukee (595 K) 7 126 Detroit (673 K) 4 115 Indianapolis(872 K) 4 104 Rochester (208 K) 4 129 Buffalo (259 K) 3 124 Cleveland (386 K) 3 104 Hartford (123 K) 3 125 It also gets too hot to bike in the US: Average Weather: days at or above 38 °C: City (population) 38 °C ------------------- ----- Amsterdam (821 K) none Phoenix (1626 K) 107 Las Vegas (642 K) 70 Riverside (328 K) 24 Dallas (1341 K) 17 Austin (951 K) 16 Sacramento (502 K) 11 Oklahoma City (644 K) 11 San Antonio (1493 K) 8 Salt Lake City (201 K) 5 Houston (2313 K) 4 Kansas City (489 K) 3 Some very hardy people do bike in the cold. See [1], the worlds longest winter ultra-marathon (running, biking or skiing 1000km, the last 500 miles without support!!!) It might be the hardest race in the world. (There are not very many other races where contestants have had to be evacuated by helicopter because they were being stalked by a pack of wolves.) [1] https://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com https://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com
PanMan 7y ago
You mean places like... Amsterdam? Plenty of rain here. That won't stop people from biking. If the majority of people own a bike, but not a car, biking becomes the default. Even with rain.
- trenning 7y ago
  No places like Wisconsin and Minnesota where there's week spans of high temps that barley get above 0F and wind chills that will give you frost bite if you're exposed for too long. I live in Seattle, rain sucks to ride in and most people don't have facilities to change or shower at work. That's a luxury not a standard. It's all a moot point anyways because all this assumes everyone lives within biking distance of work and that work trucks/vans don't exist for a valid purpose.
  - bluGill 7y ago
    I went to school in MN, and regularly did 1 mile walks in all weather including highs of -25F. You learn to dress for it.
mikestew 7y ago
I keep forgetting that since the dawn of time, humans have been so sensitive to environmental conditions that it is a wonder we survived as a species. I get what you're saying, but in the end it boils down to "it must be 72F and dry anywhere I go". A little rain isn't going to kill you, leave the car at home today. Don't want to ride in the rain? Then don't ride in the rain, I certainly won't judge. But it is not some failing of the design of human beings that makes us incapable of doing so. they solve the parking problems in the cities By turning the general traffic lanes into de facto moving parking spaces?
- rustybelt 7y ago
  So you're admitting that your solution involves a reduced quality of life?
  - lazerpants 7y ago
    Trench foot builds character.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
NovaS1X 7y ago
>There are places where it's cold, where it rains and snows. So what? Can you only bike on sunny days? Get better gear. Hell I motorcycle year round even when it drops below freezing. When it gets real crazy I just take the bus for a day or two.

ed312 7y ago

You can absolutely bike in the cold, and in the rain, and even in light snow. Also, public transit & busses can get you further without even the dreaded prospect of burning a calorie. Removing free rental of public space to park your private vehicle is something I _do_ endorse though!

arethuza 7y ago
After commuting by bike for a number of years the only weather than I found sensible to avoid was very strong winds - I got blown off my bike onto the side of a lorry once, fortunately I was OK but I did get a scare!
- mikestew 7y ago
  In the Seattle area, if it’s 38F or below, I use four wheels. In 35 years of riding a motorcycle, the singular time I’ve dumped one on the street was black ice when bike’s temp sensor was screaming, “it’s 38F, ice! Ice!” One time it was right. :-( That, and I’ve dumped enough bicycles in similar conditions that I’ve just quit doing it. So total, there’s about a week of days every winter that I drive. I’m fine with that, because as I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I ain’t young anymore, and that collarbone is gonna snap one of these days if I don’t start exercising some caution.

AlexandrB 7y ago

> The good thing about the driverless cars is that they solve the parking problems in the cities. They only solve them by doubling the traffic problems. I'm not a civil engineer so I'm not sure which problem is harder to solve, but this hardly seems like a free lunch.

stkdump 7y ago

> There are places where it's cold, where it rains and snows. Like Amsterdam and Copenhagen? > The good thing about the driverless cars is that they solve the parking problems in the cities. They solve the search for parking by humans. But if you want to get the cars out of the city while they aren't used, you practically double the traffic and emissions.

criddell 7y ago
Amsterdam and Copenhagen don't get very cold.
- bogle 7y ago
  The canals freeze. That's sea water, too.
  - criddell 7y ago
    I'm not saying it never gets cold, just that the climate is much warmer than, say, Wisconsin. I grew up in Southwestern Ontario and we had days were school was cancelled due to cold, not snow. They were worried about frostbite on any exposed skin.
todd8 7y ago
No, not like Amsterdam. I love Amsterdam, but I'm so tired of it being used as an example of how we should all be on bikes. It has a very temperate climate. The weather in most of the US isn't as mild and cool as Amsterdam. There are cites in the US with great weather, for example San Diego, Santa Barbara, all of Marine and Sonoma Counties in CA have great weather (sadly it is having wild fire problems right now). I agree that we could be biking in those places more. The US as a whole has climate all over the place, from polar (N. Alaska) to tropical (S. Florida) to a desert. The coldest it has ever been in the Netherlands is -27 °C, but the continental US has gotten down to -57 °C (Alaska has reached -62 °C). The hottest it has ever been in Amsterdam is +41 °C while the US has reached +57 °C. It's true that these are crazy extremes and we can't decide on public policy based solely on rare events, but there are big cities all over the US where it is too cold to bike. Consider: Average Weather: days at or below temperature: City (population) -18 °C 0 °C ----------------- ------ ----- Amsterdam (821 K) none none Minneapolis (422 K) 23 148 Chicago (2716 K) 7 122 Denver (620 K) 7 157 Milwaukee (595 K) 7 126 Detroit (673 K) 4 115 Indianapolis(872 K) 4 104 Rochester (208 K) 4 129 Buffalo (259 K) 3 124 Cleveland (386 K) 3 104 Hartford (123 K) 3 125 It also gets too hot to bike in the US: Average Weather: days at or above 38 °C: City (population) 38 °C ------------------- ----- Amsterdam (821 K) none Phoenix (1626 K) 107 Las Vegas (642 K) 70 Riverside (328 K) 24 Dallas (1341 K) 17 Austin (951 K) 16 Sacramento (502 K) 11 Oklahoma City (644 K) 11 San Antonio (1493 K) 8 Salt Lake City (201 K) 5 Houston (2313 K) 4 Kansas City (489 K) 3 Some very hardy people do bike in the cold. See [1], the worlds longest winter ultra-marathon (running, biking or skiing 1000km, the last 500 miles without support!!!) It might be the hardest race in the world. (There are not very many other races where contestants have had to be evacuated by helicopter because they were being stalked by a pack of wolves.) [1] https://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com https://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com

PanMan 7y ago

You mean places like... Amsterdam? Plenty of rain here. That won't stop people from biking. If the majority of people own a bike, but not a car, biking becomes the default. Even with rain.

trenning 7y ago
No places like Wisconsin and Minnesota where there's week spans of high temps that barley get above 0F and wind chills that will give you frost bite if you're exposed for too long. I live in Seattle, rain sucks to ride in and most people don't have facilities to change or shower at work. That's a luxury not a standard. It's all a moot point anyways because all this assumes everyone lives within biking distance of work and that work trucks/vans don't exist for a valid purpose.
- bluGill 7y ago
  I went to school in MN, and regularly did 1 mile walks in all weather including highs of -25F. You learn to dress for it.

mikestew 7y ago

I keep forgetting that since the dawn of time, humans have been so sensitive to environmental conditions that it is a wonder we survived as a species. I get what you're saying, but in the end it boils down to "it must be 72F and dry anywhere I go". A little rain isn't going to kill you, leave the car at home today. Don't want to ride in the rain? Then don't ride in the rain, I certainly won't judge. But it is not some failing of the design of human beings that makes us incapable of doing so. they solve the parking problems in the cities By turning the general traffic lanes into de facto moving parking spaces?

rustybelt 7y ago
So you're admitting that your solution involves a reduced quality of life?
- lazerpants 7y ago
  Trench foot builds character.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

NovaS1X 7y ago

>There are places where it's cold, where it rains and snows. So what? Can you only bike on sunny days? Get better gear. Hell I motorcycle year round even when it drops below freezing. When it gets real crazy I just take the bus for a day or two.