Cycling in the Economist

[PATRICK MOORE]

And in the US and in London.

http://www.economist.com/node/21562252

http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2012/08/cycling-london

http://www.economist.com/node/21556970

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Patrick Moore, Albuquerque, NM, USA
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[Robert Zeidler]

Portland is the obvious leader in terms of infrastructure, and adoption of the cycling culture, in terms of alternative transportation. 

That said, it's economy is so-so, compared with Minneapolis or D.C.  These will have to be the places where this total integration is showcased for people to sit up and take notice. Minneapolis more so, because D.C. will always have the stigma of having easy gov't money thrown at it. 

A fair(er) weather Minneapolis would be ideal. When a working father of 3, for example, decides to start commuting down to the plant or job-site, by bike instead of the F-150, whenever weather permits, we'll be onto something. 

Sent from my iPad

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[Tim McNamara]

On Sep 13, 2012, at 5:58 AM, Robert Zeidler wrote:

> Portland is the obvious leader in terms of infrastructure, and adoption of the cycling culture, in terms of alternative transportation.
>
> That said, it's economy is so-so, compared with Minneapolis or D.C. These will have to be the places where this total integration is showcased for people to sit up and take notice. Minneapolis more so, because D.C. will always have the stigma of having easy gov't money thrown at it.
>
> A fair(er) weather Minneapolis would be ideal. When a working father of 3, for example, decides to start commuting down to the plant or job-site, by bike instead of the F-150, whenever weather permits, we'll be onto something.

We are already on to that in theTwin Cities, bike commuting having risen by an off-the-cuff-totally-subjective factor of about 4 in the past few years. The gas price spike of a few years ago brought gas to about $4.25 a gallon here and I immediately saw a large bump in self-transporting cyclists. When the price of gas went back down, interestingly enough the numbers of commuters on bikes didn't seem to drop that much. I see people of all varieties riding bikes around town- urban hipsters, grandparents, middle aged folks like me, etc. Most are dressed in normal clothes. The "Nice Ride" bike rental program seems to be booming- new kiosks continue to go up and I see people riding those bikes every day.

Of course, that factor-of-four increase is a rise from .05% of commuting trips to .2% of commuting trips, so we have a ways to go before we are the Copenhagen of the US...

[robert zeidler]

Slow and steady.....

[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

I'm a working father of 3, commuting by bike year-round in fair-weather Minneapolis (almost no snow last year!). I agree that Portland has more "bike culture", but we have them beat with infrastructure (we have more trails, they have more bike boulevards).

[Peter Morgano]

The issue with these initiatives is that they alot of them are not set in stone. I am afraid here in NYC all the progress we have made can be unraveled in a few years by some short sighted politicians who want to take us back to the Robert Moses years. We already have Bill Deblasio stating that Bloomberg has over stepped his boundaries and that cyclists rights and safety should take a back seat to the flow of "commerce" (see SUVs with one person in them idling in the bike lane).  I guess I can only follow the wise words of "vote once but often".

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[Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery]

I think that in smaller cities and towns, the cycling infrastructure is more universally seen as a positive quality of life enhancement. Here in Minneapolis, I don't believe an anti-bike mayoral candidate could get elected in the foreseeable future. Gas hit $4 here today, by the way...

[Addison Wilhite]

Yes, I think smaller/midsized cities are really poised to reap benefits from cycling infrastructure if the people/cyclists can advocate and exert pressure (and elect people) who are willing to create better places to cycle.   That is what we are seeing in Reno anyway.  There have been hiccups along the way but in the last 10-15 years it has been extraordinary the shift here.

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[cyclotourist]

Long Beach, CA seems to be getting a lot of attention for it's bike infrastructure commitment. It's a medium sized city, similar to MLPS. Approximately half a million people, but is in the middle of the Greater LA megalopolis. Year round fantastic weather. 

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[Michael Richters]

On Wed, Sep 12, 2012 at 8:57 PM, PATRICK MOORE <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:
> And in the US and in London.
>
> http://www.economist.com/node/21562252

From the first article:

"Yet while the future looks bright, America will struggle to catch up
with northern Europe, where the proportion of local trips done by bike
can be as high as 30%. One reason for this is that car ownership
remains far cheaper in America. Another is the absence of restrictions
on car use, which would greatly improve cycle safety. Europeans are
far keener on traffic-calming measures, car-free zones, fewer parking
spaces and road 'diets'—where cars are allocated a narrower piece of
road."

The author(s) don't even mention the single biggest reason for the
normalcy of transport cycling in the Netherlands: separated cycle
paths (not "mulit-use paths"), with junctions designed to eliminate
conflict between different modes of transport. Disappointingly sloppy
analysis from the Economist.

[PATRICK MOORE]

Is it the peculiar Dutch cycling infrastructure that causes more cycling in The Netherlands, or vice versa? Do Denmark and Germany have such infrastructure?

Not being snarky, but I rather suspect that the main criterion for cycling growth is the number of cyclists. 

At any rate, the Economist was talking about northern Europe generally and not TN in particular.

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[Marc Irwin]

I think there is a symbiotic relationship between the growth of cycling and infrastructure.  Over the past 40 years, the number of cyclists has grown making municipalities look at including them into the traffic infrastructure which in turn encourages more to take up cycling, etc, etc. Here in Kalamazoo, the mayor is an enthusiast, both adjacent cities (Kalamazoo and Portage)  have created bike lanes wherever they will fit and the county road commission consults with the local bike club whenever it considers a change.  When I moved here 20 years ago there was a trail project which was less than 5 miles long, now it's more than 30, there were 2 bike shops now there are 5.  It continues to grow exponentially.

Marc

[Peter Morgano]

Again jealous of a community that doesn't outright hate cyclists like they do here in NYC. I am not a Bloomberg fan but he has done alot for cycling in our community here and he is hated for it.  The issue is that everyone here is so incredibly important that the thought of them being inconvenienced if only a minute amount for the safety of others is unspeakable.  I mean in a hyper capitalist environment why waste money on helping people do something that improves their life and society? Bah, one more year here in NYC and I can escape!

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[Michael Richters]

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 9:58 AM, PATRICK MOORE <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is it the peculiar Dutch cycling infrastructure that causes more cycling in
> The Netherlands, or vice versa? Do Denmark and Germany have such
> infrastructure?

Neither Denmark nor Germany has nearly the same quality of cycling
infrastructure found in the Netherlands. Copenhagen has been hyped so
much in recent years that it's easy to think of the Danish and Dutch
infrastructure being equivalent, but it simply isn't. One example is
the design of road junctions; in Denmark, cyclists usually get a green
light at the same time as motor vehicles traveling in the same
direction, so it takes two light cycles to execute a left turn from
the cycle path. In the Netherlands, it is much more common to have a
simultaneous green light for all cyclists, with a red light for all
motorists. They do a much better job of separating cyclists from
motorists in both time and space, while simultaneously making cycling
more efficient.

> Not being snarky, but I rather suspect that the main criterion for cycling
> growth is the number of cyclists.

That's basically circular logic, isn't it?

> At any rate, the Economist was talking about northern Europe generally and
> not TN in particular.

Yes, and since there are such large differences between the countries
in northern Europe, this demonstrates that they haven't really done
their research properly. (Also, Tennessee isn't in northern Europe ;)

Don't take my word for it, though -- most of my information comes from
David Hembrow, who does a superb job of describing the cycling
infrastructure of the Netherlands (NL, that is), and how it differs
from that found in Denmark and Germany. For example:

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2009/12/truth-about-copenhagen.html
http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2010/05/german-cycle-paths-vs-dutch-cycle-paths.html