5 ms·

Crossing my fingers hoping this happens in the US, then I look at how many places that don't even have sidewalks (let alone bike lanes) and remember why cars ar

Crossing my fingers hoping this happens in the US, then I look at how many places that don't even have sidewalks (let alone bike lanes) and remember why cars are the only way to get anywhere here...

OnACoffeeBreak 6y ago
If we can take the dearth of bikes for sale during the pandemic as an indicator of growth in popularity, I would say the US is experiencing a biking boom. I've been trying to buy a mountain bike for my kid for the past four months unsuccessfully. Local shops are just out of stock at least for bikes below $1k.
- analog31 6y ago
  While I think that the COVID has triggered a genuine level of interest in cycling, I also think it has been compounded by supply chain disruptions. Bikes are low margin items, which means they probably ship by container, are also shipped seasonally, so even possibly the delay of one or two ship loads in early Spring could disrupt the entire industry.
aaaxyz 6y ago
I live in Canada in a bike friendly city but I dread having to bike through the US-style suburbs for many reasons: - 3-4 lane boulevards where motorists drive at 60-70km/h and pass close to you; - giant malls where cars turn into and out of parking lots without paying too much attention; - lots of right turn only lanes that force you to stay on the middle lane between two lanes of cars (which makes some motorists very angry) or to stay close to the curb and cross with the pedestrians (which forces you to get on the sidewalk, disembark to hit the button and wait 1-2 minutes at _every_ intersection); - intersections where cars can turn right on a red light; - motorists not being used to driving around cyclists;
bleepblorp 6y ago
Pandemic-induced growth in bike use for commuting is mostly at the expense of public transit ridership. People aren't trading their cars for bikes, they're trading the risk of dying from a transit-related COVID-19 superspreader event for the risk of dying in a vehicle vs. bike crash. A mode shift towards bikes won't happen in most of the US because most of the US doesn't have viable public transit, and therefore, there's no need for Americans to switch transport modes. I believe bike use has increased in relation to public transit ridership in greater New York, but this is absolutely the exception to the rule as NYC was (prior to COVID-19) a transit-dependent city.
bobbylarrybobby 6y ago
Here in New York City I’m noticing the use of CitiBike, our bike share program, really taking off. Many more people in the bike lanes than a few months ago. It’s getting to the point that the volume of bikes is beginning to exceed the system’s ability to rebalance itself (or be rebalanced by people whose job it is to do so); popular destination bike stations have no empty bike docks and popular source locations are nearly entirely empty.

Crossing my fingers hoping this happens in the US, then I look at how many places that don't even have sidewalks (let alone bike lanes) and remember why cars are the only way to get anywhere here...

OnACoffeeBreak 6y ago

If we can take the dearth of bikes for sale during the pandemic as an indicator of growth in popularity, I would say the US is experiencing a biking boom. I've been trying to buy a mountain bike for my kid for the past four months unsuccessfully. Local shops are just out of stock at least for bikes below $1k.

analog31 6y ago
While I think that the COVID has triggered a genuine level of interest in cycling, I also think it has been compounded by supply chain disruptions. Bikes are low margin items, which means they probably ship by container, are also shipped seasonally, so even possibly the delay of one or two ship loads in early Spring could disrupt the entire industry.

aaaxyz 6y ago

I live in Canada in a bike friendly city but I dread having to bike through the US-style suburbs for many reasons: - 3-4 lane boulevards where motorists drive at 60-70km/h and pass close to you; - giant malls where cars turn into and out of parking lots without paying too much attention; - lots of right turn only lanes that force you to stay on the middle lane between two lanes of cars (which makes some motorists very angry) or to stay close to the curb and cross with the pedestrians (which forces you to get on the sidewalk, disembark to hit the button and wait 1-2 minutes at _every_ intersection); - intersections where cars can turn right on a red light; - motorists not being used to driving around cyclists;

bleepblorp 6y ago

Pandemic-induced growth in bike use for commuting is mostly at the expense of public transit ridership. People aren't trading their cars for bikes, they're trading the risk of dying from a transit-related COVID-19 superspreader event for the risk of dying in a vehicle vs. bike crash. A mode shift towards bikes won't happen in most of the US because most of the US doesn't have viable public transit, and therefore, there's no need for Americans to switch transport modes. I believe bike use has increased in relation to public transit ridership in greater New York, but this is absolutely the exception to the rule as NYC was (prior to COVID-19) a transit-dependent city.

bobbylarrybobby 6y ago

Here in New York City I’m noticing the use of CitiBike, our bike share program, really taking off. Many more people in the bike lanes than a few months ago. It’s getting to the point that the volume of bikes is beginning to exceed the system’s ability to rebalance itself (or be rebalanced by people whose job it is to do so); popular destination bike stations have no empty bike docks and popular source locations are nearly entirely empty.