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I recently moved to Austin from Seattle. People had told me that people tended to be more car focused and less pedestrian/bike friendly in Austin compared to th

I recently moved to Austin from Seattle. People had told me that people tended to be more car focused and less pedestrian/bike friendly in Austin compared to the PNW. I didn’t believe them. Look at all the bike lanes, I told myself. I could easily ride my bike to work, it’s only 7 miles. Then I saw a guy on a bike get absolutely crushed by a truck turning right without stopping. A cherry picked example but a very convincing one. I’ll be sticking to the bus thank you

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
weird-eye-issue 5y ago
I got downvoted recently here for saying that Austin is not bike friendly and you'd be really lucky to live close enough to work (or wherever you're going) for it to even be feasible. Not sure what reality people live in where they feel safe biking in Austin. If you can afford to live downtown and you work downtown (which is a very, very small percentage of the Austin population) then yeah maybe you can bike to work, but like I said in my previous comment that is basically an edge case.
- teslafire124 5y ago
  That's depressingly accurate. US infrastructure is so bad.I went to Austin a month ago and there are a lot of highways outside of the main city. Biking along those roadways sounds insane.
- twalla 5y ago
  It does't help that the Google maps cycling directions are often woefully bad. I just put in my old (2 mile, downtown) Austin commute and the entirety of the suggested route was on streets I would never ride on for fear of my own safety, and my personal risk tolerance for these types of things is pretty high. There's protected bike line on most of 3rd street that can get you across the entirety of downtown and Google maps just ignores it.
- prox 5y ago
  I heard a few years back it the same for London, I do hope it has improved last time I was there.
  - midasuni 5y ago
    I’ve ridden in centeal london over the last 15 years. The biggest problems have always been buses and taxis. Riding in 2020 when everything was abandoned was great. I was in a hotel near Blackfriars during the first lockdown, and rode along Oxford street, barely any traffic at all - it’s normally chock full of buses attempting to kill you. Ride confidently, take the lane, ignore the bus and taxi drivers who think they own the road, and it tends to be fine. Outside of london there’s a big problem with car drivers though - every year in the U.K. about 40 pedestrians are killed by car drivers while they are on the pavement, yet we continue to turn a blind eye to drivers who drive on the pavement, and even those who attempt to murder people with their car get off with less than a year in prison https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/dad-hurled-himself-over-3ft-5593822 https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/dad...
    - CalRobert 5y ago
      For any confused Americans, "pavement" means "sidewalk". (For Brits/Irish, "pavement" effectively means "tarmac" in the US)
    - prox 5y ago
      Is there a big movement like in Paris to make it more bike friendly? Own lanes and that sort of stuff?
ehnto 5y ago
Infrastructure can only help so much, you have to be in a bike friendly community for it to work really well from home to your destination. Of course on the sparodic separated bike lanes it goes well, but then you get to the last few miles and you're dropped into the traffic at the mercy of people who haven't seen a bicycle until now, and you are definitely in their space not the other way around. Because people take time to change, I think the two bandaids for the social problem are expanding separated bike lanes and then dropping people into pedestrian/cycle shared streets, not the roads. I know I know, you didn't buy the Ultegra gear set just to sit on the big ring dodging foot traffic, but a cycling city will need to cater to the majority of commuters not the speed machines. Most potential cycle commuters are just everyday people wanting to meander into work and around the city centers.
- xmprt 5y ago
  Until it becomes faster, cheaper, or more convenient to cycle than drive for most cases, people will continue driving.
  - ehnto 5y ago
    Well it is definitely cheaper, but I would hazard a guess it's not always faster from the burbs. For me it is because I am a 30 minute ride and in car traffic it is 45m-1h. So it checks all the boxes you mentioned. But people still drive here. I think convenience is subjective too, since I find it convenient to not deal with car parking in the CBD and I don't find the cycling inconvenient, but others would consider the cycling inconvenient enough that an extra 15 minutes in the car doesn't worry them.
    - baliex 5y ago
      It’s the convenience that’s missing. The difference is not having to worry about the weather (too hot, too cold, wet) and even aside from that, carrying an extra set of clothes even in ideal conditions. And you’re obviously limited as to how much you can carry. Speaking as someone who cycles as a hobby and for transport around the city (commuting and leisure).
kody 5y ago
I used to commute from Flatbush to Chelsea in NYC via bike. Other than tourists chilling in the bike lane, no problem. The rattiest cab and National Guard hummer deferred to my ratty little bike. Now in SoCal, I don’t even feel comfortable walking my kid in a stroller on the left side of the road without some shithead roaring round the corner honking at me cause god bless America roads exist for your Expedition.
agumonkey 5y ago
I have a 7mi commute I do by bike, 50% is along an isolated channel, the rest is city. At first I tried to find the shortest path, meaning more city than channel, now I do the opposite, I'd rather enjoy the peace even if it means 2-3 more miles.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

weird-eye-issue 5y ago

I got downvoted recently here for saying that Austin is not bike friendly and you'd be really lucky to live close enough to work (or wherever you're going) for it to even be feasible. Not sure what reality people live in where they feel safe biking in Austin. If you can afford to live downtown and you work downtown (which is a very, very small percentage of the Austin population) then yeah maybe you can bike to work, but like I said in my previous comment that is basically an edge case.

teslafire124 5y ago
That's depressingly accurate. US infrastructure is so bad.I went to Austin a month ago and there are a lot of highways outside of the main city. Biking along those roadways sounds insane.
twalla 5y ago
It does't help that the Google maps cycling directions are often woefully bad. I just put in my old (2 mile, downtown) Austin commute and the entirety of the suggested route was on streets I would never ride on for fear of my own safety, and my personal risk tolerance for these types of things is pretty high. There's protected bike line on most of 3rd street that can get you across the entirety of downtown and Google maps just ignores it.
prox 5y ago
I heard a few years back it the same for London, I do hope it has improved last time I was there.
- midasuni 5y ago
  I’ve ridden in centeal london over the last 15 years. The biggest problems have always been buses and taxis. Riding in 2020 when everything was abandoned was great. I was in a hotel near Blackfriars during the first lockdown, and rode along Oxford street, barely any traffic at all - it’s normally chock full of buses attempting to kill you. Ride confidently, take the lane, ignore the bus and taxi drivers who think they own the road, and it tends to be fine. Outside of london there’s a big problem with car drivers though - every year in the U.K. about 40 pedestrians are killed by car drivers while they are on the pavement, yet we continue to turn a blind eye to drivers who drive on the pavement, and even those who attempt to murder people with their car get off with less than a year in prison https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/dad-hurled-himself-over-3ft-5593822 https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/dad...
  - CalRobert 5y ago
    For any confused Americans, "pavement" means "sidewalk". (For Brits/Irish, "pavement" effectively means "tarmac" in the US)
  - prox 5y ago
    Is there a big movement like in Paris to make it more bike friendly? Own lanes and that sort of stuff?

ehnto 5y ago

Infrastructure can only help so much, you have to be in a bike friendly community for it to work really well from home to your destination. Of course on the sparodic separated bike lanes it goes well, but then you get to the last few miles and you're dropped into the traffic at the mercy of people who haven't seen a bicycle until now, and you are definitely in their space not the other way around. Because people take time to change, I think the two bandaids for the social problem are expanding separated bike lanes and then dropping people into pedestrian/cycle shared streets, not the roads. I know I know, you didn't buy the Ultegra gear set just to sit on the big ring dodging foot traffic, but a cycling city will need to cater to the majority of commuters not the speed machines. Most potential cycle commuters are just everyday people wanting to meander into work and around the city centers.

xmprt 5y ago
Until it becomes faster, cheaper, or more convenient to cycle than drive for most cases, people will continue driving.
- ehnto 5y ago
  Well it is definitely cheaper, but I would hazard a guess it's not always faster from the burbs. For me it is because I am a 30 minute ride and in car traffic it is 45m-1h. So it checks all the boxes you mentioned. But people still drive here. I think convenience is subjective too, since I find it convenient to not deal with car parking in the CBD and I don't find the cycling inconvenient, but others would consider the cycling inconvenient enough that an extra 15 minutes in the car doesn't worry them.
  - baliex 5y ago
    It’s the convenience that’s missing. The difference is not having to worry about the weather (too hot, too cold, wet) and even aside from that, carrying an extra set of clothes even in ideal conditions. And you’re obviously limited as to how much you can carry. Speaking as someone who cycles as a hobby and for transport around the city (commuting and leisure).

kody 5y ago

I used to commute from Flatbush to Chelsea in NYC via bike. Other than tourists chilling in the bike lane, no problem. The rattiest cab and National Guard hummer deferred to my ratty little bike. Now in SoCal, I don’t even feel comfortable walking my kid in a stroller on the left side of the road without some shithead roaring round the corner honking at me cause god bless America roads exist for your Expedition.

agumonkey 5y ago

I have a 7mi commute I do by bike, 50% is along an isolated channel, the rest is city. At first I tried to find the shortest path, meaning more city than channel, now I do the opposite, I'd rather enjoy the peace even if it means 2-3 more miles.