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First, Tantallon, Bowie and Upper Marlboro are not exurbs of Washington, DC. Second, you can live in an inner ring suburb and still have a very difficult time commuting to the center city without a car. It's only a small minority that have the money to live in suburbs that offer that type of access. It's like telling someone to just send his kid to Princeton if a bright future for his child is really what he values. It's not that easy.
Which speaks to the point I was making earlier, which is that rail and cycling have similar restrictions. Accessbility to good routes/stations will temper how many people will cycle or take public transportation. Routes for a cyclist means that most people aren't going to ride if the only reasonable route they have to work with is this:
First, Tantallon, Bowie and Upper Marlboro are not exurbs of Washington, DC. Second, you can live in an inner ring suburb and still have a very difficult time commuting to the center city without a car. It's only a small minority that have the money to live in suburbs that offer that type of access. It's like telling someone to just send his kid to Princeton if a bright future for his child is really what he values. It's not that easy.
If bike commuting does not work for you or your location, don't do it.
No one is claiming it is a solution for everyone, everywhere.
BUT, between transit, walking and biking, many (not all) people have more options than they think.
And options is a good thing!
Which speaks to the point I was making earlier, which is that rail and cycling have similar restrictions. Accessbility to good routes/stations will temper how many people will cycle or take public transportation. Routes for a cyclist means that most people aren't going to ride if the only reasonable route they have to work with is this:
Yes, which is why I don't get the "I don't understand why people don't bike into work" thing. Most people live near routes like the one you posted, not routes like this:
Yes, which is why I don't get the "I don't understand why people don't bike into work" thing. Most people live near routes like the one you posted, not routes like this:
I guess I did miss some of this thread from earlier, so maybe someone did. I think the fact that the goal for cities is having just 5% of trips be via bicycle is pretty telling - though the fact that I would be a sweaty mess is enough to dissuade me from bicycling into work (other than for something that would be very short).
This was one of the statements that led down this path. Similar statements were made in a couple of other threads, but I don't really feel like tracking those down at the moment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJNEOA
Imagine the size of the lightbulb that will go off when the mainstream public realizes that recreation turned into commuting gives you the same enjoyment AND gets you to/from work.
That light bulb will never go off because the "mainstream public" is not in any position to ride a bike to work. 50 percent of the public attempting to cycle into work would likely result in a 30,000% increase in bicycle fatalities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by munchitup
I guess I did miss some of this thread from earlier, so maybe someone did. I think the fact that the goal for cities is having just 5% of trips be via bicycle is pretty telling - though the fact that I would be a sweaty mess is enough to dissuade me from bicycling into work (other than for something that would be very short).
That's the goal? Most cities would be lucky to get 10 percent of their residents on some mode of transit little less a bike.
That light bulb will never go off because the "mainstream public" is not in any position to ride a bike to work. 50 percent of the public attempting to cycle into work would likely result in a 30,000% increase in bicycle fatalities.
Yeaaaaaah.... right after I posted that I went back and read the older comments and saw that one. I'm with you that most people would have a hard time cycling to work. Though it sounds like people are less into car-pooling and getting more into riding their bike: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2...bile-commutes/
And actually, as bicycling has increased in popularity, fatalities have gone down (can't find the source right now, but I am pretty sure that is what I read).
Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee
That's the goal? Most cities would be lucky to get 10 percent of their residents on some mode of transit little less a bike.
I should have been more specific - I believe the top cities (I believe it was in North America only) had a cycling share of 5%... So it's the pinnacle, not really the goal.
This is what I was going off of:
Quote:
Many within the bike industry have been grousing for years about the Vegas siting of Interbike. There are many practical and defensible reasons why it continues there (and will apparently continue through at least 2015). But for many bike shop owners and employees, Interbike is their only trip out of town for the year. If Mr. Burke and Bikes Belong want the industry (and the local bike shop part of that industry in particular) to take on a far more active advocacy role, they can start by urging Interbike to morph into an opportunity to give the people in the industry to [see] what cities must look like to get bike modeshare to 5% of all trips (Portland OR, Palo Alto CA, Vancouver BC, etc.), and stop shipping them out to talk about radical change in an environment that is emblematic of the exact opposite.
Yes, which is why I don't get the "I don't understand why people don't bike into work" thing. Most people live near routes like the one you posted, not routes like this:
Hold on a minute. I didn't mean I don't understand why ALL people don't ride their bikes to work. I guess I assumed that people would read it as though there needed to be context. To spell it out, there are people who could ride to work, but do the gym cycling thing. There are many people who drive downtown from neighborhoods that are within a 3 - 5 mile radius, and they could easily bike to work.
My statement was meant to be a generic statement, not to be taken literally as though everyone could ride, but they haven't thought of it yet. Now I see why ad companies need the fine print at the bottom of the commercial (e.g. save money does not mean "everyone" will save money).
LOL yah, all the poors of LA would be rich tourist shoppers if only LA had kept the streetcar system who drive to ride toy trains.
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