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> Yes, there are always a few folks who will pull their bikes out in 0°F (-18°C) and go out on icy roads, but they are a vast minority. And a lot of cities in t

> Yes, there are always a few folks who will pull their bikes out in 0°F (-18°C) and go out on icy roads, but they are a vast minority. And a lot of cities in the world experience those kinds of temperatures. The majority of population centers are outside of regions with that kind of low temperatures. Even if the temperatures get that low, its usually not for the majority of the year. And cities with well planned out and maintained cycling infrastructure do demonstrate that cycling even with low temperatures is a feasible mode of transportation. > Also, bikes (especially individual bikes) are not very compatible with many types of disabilities. Getting rid of cars that don't _need_ to be in a city makes space for cars that do need to be there. Very few people who are seriously debating this topic are for banning every kind of motorized vehicle outright. Obviously there are many cases where cars/trucks are the only feasible/best option, even in a city. Emergency vehicles, delivery trucks or vehicles for people with limited mobility. > We really should keep accessibility in mind when working on Urban areas. Cars are incredibly expensive. They are even more expensive if you have special needs (that is, if your disability even allows you to drive at all). Pedestrianized and bike friendly areas, that often go hand in hand with well designed public transportation infrastructure, are far more accessible than car-centric planning ever could be.

mrwh 4y ago
Indeed! We already have dedicated parking spaces for the disabled. Keep those, get rid of all the others.
mattmaroon 4y ago
Umm no they’re not. And the ones that are just have the opposite problem half the year. Very few cities are in a climate where all but the most hardcore people will want to bike more than half the time. Go down the list of American cities by population. NYC, Chicago, Philly, etc. Not biking in the cold months. Megacities in Texas, Cali, Florida, AZ: not biking in hot months. This might work for Honolulu or San Diego and that’s about it, even if you completely disregard the 50% of the population that couldn’t ride a bike in any weather due to being old, injured, obese, etc. It’s preposterous to think this is an actual solution. Getting rid of cars necessitates some other motorized form of transport from which you can’t easily fall and get injured.
- shortsightedsid 4y ago
  I lived for a couple of years in Amsterdam. Cycled fine in the rain, snow or sunshine. Then again, the infra was amazing and supportive. Can’t speak for the cities you mention though but in Phoenix where I live now, cycling in Summer is impossible.
  - AlotOfReading 4y ago
    It's worth noting that the nearby city of Tucson is a cycling mecca for pros during the offseason and many avid cyclists continue riding throughout summer. If Phoenix were better designed for the climate it's in (e.g. dense, narrow streets between high thermal mass buildings and lots of shade), the summers would be far less intense.
  - shagie 4y ago
    How many days does it snow and how much? Compare https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/netherlands/amsterdam-climate#snowfall_days https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/netherlands/amsterdam-clima... and https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/illinois-usa/chicago-climate#snowfall_days https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/illinois-usa/chicago-climat... If you get less than an inch of snow a month and it doesn't stay long enough to go through thawing and freezing cycles, then bike infrastructure can handle it reasonably well. If you get a foot of snow at times and the snow you get in November hasn't melted by March, then bike infrastructure and the safety of riding bikes on segments of road that are difficult to plow, biking in the winter may be more problematic. I'd suggest a trip up to Minneapolis, Madison, or Chicago in January and consider how bikeable those areas are and if it would be reasonable to do a commute. (And as an aside, I don't consider those areas to be AI drivable in the winter either)
    - lelandbatey 4y ago
      Deeply freezing temperatures, ice, snow, all of those are completely ridable on bicycles, but you have to ride with very fat tires, often called "fatbikes"[0]. You can ride those bicycles in just about anything; I've ridden them across frozen lakes and up chunks of frozen glacier in the dead of the Alaskan winter, so cold roads don't sound particularly scary. If you want to have a single bike that you can ride in any weather very easily, an electric "fatbike"[1] makes for a super versatile single-person car replacement. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatbike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatbike [1] - https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrover-plus-electric-fat-tire-bike https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrover-plus-electri...
angrycontrarian 4y ago
> The majority of population centers are outside of regions with that kind of low temperatures. Do NYC, Boston, and Chicago not count? As well as all the other people who live in similar latitudes? There are also a large number of areas where it's too hot to safely rely on bikes for transportation without risking heatstroke in vulnerable populations. If anything, areas like San Francisco are outliers in terms of being good for cycling.
- cguess 4y ago
  It gets to 0F in NYC for... maybe 4-5 days a year, tops (most years never). Same with Boston and Chicago. If it gets that cold it's big news (yes, I've lived or spent time in all three). You're talking about like, one week in January that makes it unbearable, which is what busses, subways and the like are for.
  - falcolas 4y ago
    Chicago is miserable in the winter even at 40°F. The cold, humid wind cuts through almost any clothing. My brother-in-law specifically bought a car for Chicago winters after attempting to bike his way through one.
    - cguess 4y ago
      I grew up even further north and we biked all year round without a problem. Just dress appropriately (base layers are your friend).
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    That's just not true. Chicago gets a week straight of 0F every single year. Sometimes close to a month straight.

mrwh 4y ago

Indeed! We already have dedicated parking spaces for the disabled. Keep those, get rid of all the others.

mattmaroon 4y ago

Umm no they’re not. And the ones that are just have the opposite problem half the year. Very few cities are in a climate where all but the most hardcore people will want to bike more than half the time. Go down the list of American cities by population. NYC, Chicago, Philly, etc. Not biking in the cold months. Megacities in Texas, Cali, Florida, AZ: not biking in hot months. This might work for Honolulu or San Diego and that’s about it, even if you completely disregard the 50% of the population that couldn’t ride a bike in any weather due to being old, injured, obese, etc. It’s preposterous to think this is an actual solution. Getting rid of cars necessitates some other motorized form of transport from which you can’t easily fall and get injured.

shortsightedsid 4y ago
I lived for a couple of years in Amsterdam. Cycled fine in the rain, snow or sunshine. Then again, the infra was amazing and supportive. Can’t speak for the cities you mention though but in Phoenix where I live now, cycling in Summer is impossible.
- AlotOfReading 4y ago
  It's worth noting that the nearby city of Tucson is a cycling mecca for pros during the offseason and many avid cyclists continue riding throughout summer. If Phoenix were better designed for the climate it's in (e.g. dense, narrow streets between high thermal mass buildings and lots of shade), the summers would be far less intense.
- shagie 4y ago
  How many days does it snow and how much? Compare https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/netherlands/amsterdam-climate#snowfall_days https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/netherlands/amsterdam-clima... and https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/illinois-usa/chicago-climate#snowfall_days https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/illinois-usa/chicago-climat... If you get less than an inch of snow a month and it doesn't stay long enough to go through thawing and freezing cycles, then bike infrastructure can handle it reasonably well. If you get a foot of snow at times and the snow you get in November hasn't melted by March, then bike infrastructure and the safety of riding bikes on segments of road that are difficult to plow, biking in the winter may be more problematic. I'd suggest a trip up to Minneapolis, Madison, or Chicago in January and consider how bikeable those areas are and if it would be reasonable to do a commute. (And as an aside, I don't consider those areas to be AI drivable in the winter either)
  - lelandbatey 4y ago
    Deeply freezing temperatures, ice, snow, all of those are completely ridable on bicycles, but you have to ride with very fat tires, often called "fatbikes"[0]. You can ride those bicycles in just about anything; I've ridden them across frozen lakes and up chunks of frozen glacier in the dead of the Alaskan winter, so cold roads don't sound particularly scary. If you want to have a single bike that you can ride in any weather very easily, an electric "fatbike"[1] makes for a super versatile single-person car replacement. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatbike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatbike [1] - https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrover-plus-electric-fat-tire-bike https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrover-plus-electri...

angrycontrarian 4y ago

> The majority of population centers are outside of regions with that kind of low temperatures. Do NYC, Boston, and Chicago not count? As well as all the other people who live in similar latitudes? There are also a large number of areas where it's too hot to safely rely on bikes for transportation without risking heatstroke in vulnerable populations. If anything, areas like San Francisco are outliers in terms of being good for cycling.

cguess 4y ago
It gets to 0F in NYC for... maybe 4-5 days a year, tops (most years never). Same with Boston and Chicago. If it gets that cold it's big news (yes, I've lived or spent time in all three). You're talking about like, one week in January that makes it unbearable, which is what busses, subways and the like are for.
- falcolas 4y ago
  Chicago is miserable in the winter even at 40°F. The cold, humid wind cuts through almost any clothing. My brother-in-law specifically bought a car for Chicago winters after attempting to bike his way through one.
  - cguess 4y ago
    I grew up even further north and we biked all year round without a problem. Just dress appropriately (base layers are your friend).
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  That's just not true. Chicago gets a week straight of 0F every single year. Sometimes close to a month straight.