5 ms·

>Removing damn near all city parking spaces. The absolute arrogance of thinking that the city should use some of their most valuable real estate so that you ca

by occz 5y ago

>Removing damn near all city parking spaces. The absolute arrogance of thinking that the city should use some of their most valuable real estate so that you can cheaply store your personal property is baffling. >If you live downtown and you have a bike it is kinda nice. Except we have winters (should not surprise many) when travelling by bike a good option. (Yes there is a tiny minority who risk life and limb by biking all year around) Entirely a question of infrastructure maintenance and entirely not a question of geography. Cars only work in the winter because of the high amount of money spent on making roads accommodate winter driving, and the same is not done for bicycle infrastructure. >This is mitigated in part by a sharp increase in bikes with electric engines. (Which I am not a huge fan of since it takes a near zero polluting vehicle and bang on a not ideally green battery) If only someone told you about this other type of vehicle that has to run on fossil fuels, or be extremely heavy in order to carry around a decently-sized battery. >I think spending many millions of dollars to make Oslo better for bikes is an unfortunate strategy. If they instead spent the money in improving and expanding public transit (something sorely needed) it would benefit a lot more people all year round. False dichotomy - it's entirely possible to do both, in particular if you continue to divest in absurdly expensive car infrastructure. I'm sorry to hear about your injury. It's odd that you do not qualify for an exception if you are as restricted as you say. I wish you luck in getting that sorted out . That doesn't mean that we need to accommodate non-disabled car users in cities, though. >Anti car movement seems best for rich, healthy young people. Not at all. People with reduced mobility generally benefit from not having to risk being hit by cars when they traverse the built environment, plus public transportation is a great option for people who are not allowed to drive on account of their disability. Finally, those that do have a disability that requires them to move around using a car, they benefit from having streets with less car traffic on, so that they can efficiently move about the built environment.

ThinkBeat 5y ago
>Entirely a question of infrastructure maintenance and entirely not a question >of geography. Cars only work in the winter because of the high amount of money >spent on making roads accommodate winter driving, and the same is not done for >bicycle infrastructure. Have you ever lived in a place that has -real- winters? Show me a city that has real winters with real cold, real snow, real ice which lasts months where the city has accomplished what you mention. Even more fun when there are a lot of hills.
- occz 5y ago
  Yes, I have lived in a place that has real winters, unless you don't think the northern part of Sweden qualifies. For a city that does winter cycling properly, refer to Oulu in Finland. Winter cycling is common, because the infrastructure is well-maintained, and hence not an issue.
  - ThinkBeat 5y ago
    That was interesting to read about. 1) Its fairly flat. 2) It is unique in that it stays consistently below 0 for extended periods. Avoiding problems with ice, rain and so on. 3. The median age is young. (but growing consistently older) During the summer in Oulu bikes account for 19% of travel. During the winter it is about 9%. During the winter in Helsinki its 7% So they do use their bikes a lot. And a lot more than Oslo. But over 90% travel by car or bus in the wintertime. Based on: Sykkelplanlegging i tre nordiske byer https://www.toi.no/getfile.php?mmfileid=52136 https://www.toi.no/getfile.php?mmfileid=52136

by occz 5y ago

ThinkBeat 5y ago

>Entirely a question of infrastructure maintenance and entirely not a question >of geography. Cars only work in the winter because of the high amount of money >spent on making roads accommodate winter driving, and the same is not done for >bicycle infrastructure. Have you ever lived in a place that has -real- winters? Show me a city that has real winters with real cold, real snow, real ice which lasts months where the city has accomplished what you mention. Even more fun when there are a lot of hills.

occz 5y ago
Yes, I have lived in a place that has real winters, unless you don't think the northern part of Sweden qualifies. For a city that does winter cycling properly, refer to Oulu in Finland. Winter cycling is common, because the infrastructure is well-maintained, and hence not an issue.
- ThinkBeat 5y ago
  That was interesting to read about. 1) Its fairly flat. 2) It is unique in that it stays consistently below 0 for extended periods. Avoiding problems with ice, rain and so on. 3. The median age is young. (but growing consistently older) During the summer in Oulu bikes account for 19% of travel. During the winter it is about 9%. During the winter in Helsinki its 7% So they do use their bikes a lot. And a lot more than Oslo. But over 90% travel by car or bus in the wintertime. Based on: Sykkelplanlegging i tre nordiske byer https://www.toi.no/getfile.php?mmfileid=52136 https://www.toi.no/getfile.php?mmfileid=52136