RMTBaiden

I noticed that a two way bike lane is the same length as a one way car lane. I also found some bike racks that you may find outside of a store if they are kind enough to include them. Mostly what this forum is about, is how cycling takes up less space then a car does. In a town other than the buildings, most of the space is taken up by road and parking. If towns started to go more into cycling, the towns would start to shrink. For example, ten parking spaces would fit twenty bikes. Add a bike rack that would hold eleven bikes. The rack I found is 9ft 3in (2.8m) wide, and a normal parking space is about 9ft (2.7m). This ends up showing how ten parking spaces will fit nine, eleven bike bike racks. Roads would be cut in half, and parking lots would end up decreasing. The more people also start cycling the less pollution gets into the air, and more scenery is open. This can lead to more natural surroundings like trees and grass. I understand some people might find what I am saying stupid, but I would like to here what everyone else thinks about what I said. Do you think more bike oriented towns is a good or bad idea? Of course cars still have there pros so taking cars completely out of the picture isn't the best idea, but mostly out in my opinion seems like a good idea.

tomato coupe

So, bikes are smaller than cars?

RMTBaiden

Everyone knows that. That's not the point I was trying to make. Unless I did without realizing...

MarcusT

What you're saying is not stupid, but it has been proposed millions of times. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok constantly make these comparisons.

RMTBaiden

Surprisingly I havent seen other things on it, but I am not surprised people make the comparisons.

Leisesturm

Roads would be cut in half? Really? Like with Sawzall's? Parking lots? Parking structures? I'm smelling something and it isn't cement dust. Infrastructure built is infrastructure built. It isn't going anywhere. All the dead malls and defunct fast food franchises lying around should tell you that.

Maelochs

What you are suggesting is unrealistic in a lot of situations. It would be a Very expensive alteration in a lot of cases.

Half the country is dangerously cold for cycling half the year and half dangerously hot for cycling half the year. Many people have multiple children. Many people need to shop for many people. In a lot of areas, distances between dwellings and stores is too far for any but the strongest cyclists. In some cases, people need to use available free time to run multiple errands at physically distant locations and trying to do all that on a bike, even towing a trailer, would be impractical for a very strong cyclist and impossible for most people.


Could some downtown areas be redesigned to be car-free? Yes, and this has been done in some places. However, this generally only affects a very small part of a city, and only the wealthier citizens. Think about people who have to go to Walmart, Ross or some other clothes outlet, some grocery store and maybe some other store, all of which are in strip malls located on busy urban streets .... There is no place where all the stores are conveniently grouped to buy cheap necessities .... the "downtown boutique" sort of shops and restaurants which frequently surround "car-free" downtown spaces carer to wealthier clientele and those tend to be a smaller percentage of the populace, so while those downtown or cit-center sites are a lot more pleasant, the rest of the city is unchanged.

Also, a lot of cities take an hour to cross by bike even for an experienced commuter ... even if there were no cars on the road, a mother of three with two toddlers trying to haul two kids and all her groceries all around town ..... think of the care, and feeding of the children, towed around out of doors in a trailer all day ... exposed to the weather, getting hungry and irritable, while the mother also has to take care of her own health ....

Actually a lot of road congestion problems could be alleviated significantly if every city had really good public transit and people wanted to use it ... but usually the first thing people do when they have the financial means is buy a car. No one wants to ride the bus, even if it is free or cheap, and convenient.

RMTBaiden

I know what your saying. I explained this to a friend who talked about fixing towns. What's built is whats built.

RMTBaiden

I understand what your saying. Cars do come in handy for most things. And I lived in places where the climate gets too cold and icy during winter months. It was mostly just something that popped into my head, and yes ik it would be expensive.

Maelochs

I would add that much of US development design is based around the idea of motorized transport and mostly around widespread auto ownership and usage. This was a practical choice, though also a commercially/financially driven choice--people who build cars, drill and refine oil, and build roads are major financial forces with a lot of government influence---but once a population center reaches a certain size, powered transit is almost a necessity. And of course, even i car-free city centers and such, there have to be access roads and service roads for truck to deliver goods, and for emergency and municipal repair vehicles.

I am not saying a Like the way this nation's urban and suburban areas have been designed, but I don't have a feasible alternative.

MarcusT

Here is one example among the many

Maelochs

^ yeah, then some dude on an overpriced bike bobs through the group yelling "Strava! Strava!" and the whole group hits each other and the pavement.

We need to keep it in mind: If everyone rode bikes, the buttholes who coal-rolled you, ran you off the road, squeezed by an an uphill blind corner, ran red lights, and spaced out in stop-and-go traffic and hit the car ahead of them .... would be out there on bikes .

MarcusT

True, but bike road rage has many, many fewer murders

shelbyfv

This seems like a great fit for A&S.

RMTBaiden

Ive thought about how delivery vehicles would work. The idea is basically impossible and unreasonable.

Steel Charlie

The real answer and the only one that would actually work is to simply eliminate a substantial portion of the human population from the planet.

Moronic wars and the next plague may take care of it

HTH

TiHabanero

My wife and I live in the northern climate of the USA. This week and most of last week we were in single digit temps. In the spring it rains a lot. Summer is not bad with highs only in the 90's, and that is typically at the end of July and most of August. I commute through spring, summer and fall and can tell you from decades of experience it takes a hearty soul to commit to it and do it on a consistent basis. Worried my wife sick for the first 20 years of our marriage when I commuted in blizzards and iced road conditions. I realize now it was not fair to her and no longer commute in winter months.
Truth is bicycle commuting is not practical for most people.

Wildwood 

Fewer cars/trucks and more bikes is a positive from every perspective - unless you are in the oil&gas or automotive industries. Those industries are huge. Greater good is hard to debate when your current livelihood depends on those industries.

Face it, the American lifestyle of big houses, large yards, sprawling residential neighborhoods, no effective public transport (in most regions) is not conducive to widespread bike use. The world's largest 'consumer' society could care less about efficient transportation, dense housing communities and conservation of resources. Big cars, big roads and affordable gasoline are at the heart of the American Dream.

Become a one car family, if you really care.
In the mean time, Roll On.

wheelreason

Bike vs Car? Take the car give the points. Go Ravens!

Chuck M 

The development of the infrastructure to support automobiles outpaced the development of bike lanes for a reason. It would be fantasy to assume any community anywhere would rework their roadways for a transportation mode that is used a fraction of what cars are used for. I'm thankful I can bike to work if I want, go to the store for some groceries by bike, and that all the major parts of town are connected by a MUP. But I'm also glad I can take my entire family places regardless of the weather, cargo or time restraints.

IMHO, if the OP wants to improve his community for bicycles, he should contact his city planner or take some ideas to a city council meeting. But I wouldn't get my hopes up that they will give bikes half the road or remove parking spaces to put in bike racks.

indyfabz

My pick for the Super Bowl.

indyfabz

Take time to notice all the various forums here, like this one:

https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-safety/

Troul 

In theory, it may be applicable; but in reality it would unlikely ever be precisely measured in order to have society in whole support continuing such a theorized lifestyle change.

Reflecting back to where I've paid much time & thinking on such subject, such compliance would be governed by its immediate (& limited) communities' environment. It would be very difficult if not impractical to have a town adapt to imposed changes & expect to see results in a few years if the supporting mechanisms are in place.

Arranging things to meet numbers is not going to yield nearly the end results with the various differences that continue to exists in society & array of cultural clashes. If the expectations of before implementation & after are expecting a "this = that" concept, it may be foolish & ignorant logic.

Put in perspective the often failed weight loss diet plans. In general for an average healthy cookie cutter individual; Most might already know that, in order to achieve a lower weight the intake of calories have to be accounted. When the person is not achieving the goal or is gaining weight, they lose the plan & hunt for something different. It's not a stupidity thing, it's accountability. Maybe they are not 'seeing' the new high protein rehydrating smoothie they introduced into the initial plan adds a bunch of unspent calories. Putting a tight collar on the areas that are assumed to be high polluters will not end with a pretty scenery...

Could you imagine knowing someone that is a well intentioned person go & make life changing irrational decisions not just for themselves, but for everyone else.... including you? We can joke & say that is the case now in the US.... it hasn't went to that extreme.... yet.
Hyper egalitarianism would stifle creativity & harbor a dysfunctional future imo.
Dysfunctional deindividuation may be enforced in other parts of the world, that is not somewhere I want to live.
I'd rather have a short stay with my own identity than be in an overrun groupthink society.

ScottCommutes

I work in a medium-size city that had, back in the day, the woolen mills, the freight and passenger railroads, the housing for the workers, and the beautiful houses for the bosses. The city was designed for most everyone to walk. There were 13 grade level crossings when the railroad ran through downtown and even back in the day, cars didn't really fit. There's only room for so many cars. Everyone else takes the bus, the jitney, the train, the taxi, their feet, their bike, or (increasingly) their e-bike.

I predicted e-bikes will catch on the instant I saw a group of cool teenagers riding them. No licence=no problem - Now you've got a ride!

The change will be very gradual. Urban areas without room for cars will embrace bikes. The financially challenged will embrace e-bikes. Younger riders will embrace e-bikes and then schools and colleges will as well. Those riders will grow up with them. Infrastructure will follow.

"E" does more for bikes than it does for cars. E-bikes have a long way to go, but fortunately the government is staying out of it for now. Look in the future for e-car charging stations that also support bike charging.

base2 

Dead malls and defunct fast foot franchises are the way they are because our current urban planning model guarantees anything you may need is a long way from wherever you are. Everything is a trip. It's no wonder the rise of eCommerce and instant small parcel delivery like Uber Eats, Postmates, Amazon Groceries, etc...have taken root. A community designed to human scale (not car) makes everything even convenient, accessible, vibrant. In a car light/human scale community, retailers aren't competing on price; They're competing on convenience and relationships.