More fun and more efficient, sure, but really more important? Electric cars will clearly replace a lot more fossil fuel car miles than bikes in the next five years - in part because cultural change is slow and they require less of it.
Seems like we’re talking past each other. It’s obvious that bikes+PT are more efficient, and definitely they work. But it’s also obvious (to me, I guess) that electric cars will have far higher adoption (especially outside of areas with dense supportive infrastructure)
That is simply not true, most journeys are under 10km, so well within cycling range, especially with e-bikes, the vaste majority of those could be eliminated
It has really stalled in London. We have to do something more drastic but even Sadiq's a bit too afraid of drivers' votes, and the horrendous awfulness of the anti ULEZ 'not right wingers at all' crowd
Not if you create dedicated cycle lanes and safe infrastructure. It's fear of death and injury that keeps many people off bikes, not a desire to shell out £30k for a lump of steel, plastic and glass
if you live in a dense city and don’t have kids and live close to work this might work — but with kids, suburbs, work commute it is not a very easy ask.
Probably a best case scenario would be to improve cycling routes with the intent of making it possible to get from their homes to rail transit easily by bicycle.
Also secure storage for bikes at the destination is vital to get people on their bikes more. I used to commute to BART in the Bay Area (CA) and they had lockers for bikes for a nominal fee (like <$1 per day). It was awesome. My commute was still horrendous but at least I got 90+ min/day of cycling
The same arguments are used in the UK. And they are true for truly rural people. But remember in the US, 80% of the population live in urban areas = a lot of people who might dump their cars with a safe joined up cycling/rail transit system. It's 84.6% in the UK.
I live an hour drive from my office. I bike for 5 minutes, bring my bike on the train, bike 15 minutes from the station to work. That's how we get by with a single car in the suburbs. Spouse is out and I want groceries or to go to yoga? They're biking distance because there's a trail with no cars.
Yes, raised two kids without owning a car for 20 years because London has great public transport, cycling works for all local journeys (and for grocery shops), and I could use a car club car on the very few occasions when I needed one
Yes! I travel a lot and in every city with bike lanes available I’ll rent a bike and love it. But at home with no lanes? I alone bike occasionally on weekends for fun on the one recreational trail near home and even then I never get hit often in the one mile until I hit the trail.
Worth considering: it’s not either/or. I own a car and a bike. Sometimes I drive, sometimes I bike.
Outside of Amsterdam, many Dutch people have cars (kids, distances, etc). Sometimes they drive, and sometimes they bike. Works well. And it significantly reduces congestion.
I would love to commute by bike, but in my area of Atlanta, it’s incredibly dangerous. The city is investing in bike lanes just not in my area of town. Bummer
At least. There is simply no way that using a 1,500 kg vehicle to move an 80kg payload (us) is ever going to be efficient or environmentally sustainable, no matter how the vehicle is powered.
tell that to the biker bros of NYC who think "eh, I've been to Amsterdam, I know how to ride a bike in the city" and speed the wrong way in the bike lane while they talk on the phone. They're why we can't have nice things.
well, true. but in nyc at least it's one of the really aggravating things about cycling here. I yell "wrong way sparky!" but curiously that doesn't seem to be fixing the problem 😉
and don't let the deniers fool you. ebikes may be a little less clean than standard bikes, but they are still 8 times more imporant than EVs and they are fun and they allow you to get the best of both worlds.
Walking is better and no one gets run over by Lycra clothed 40+ year olds who think they have a right to cycle on the footpath at a speed that would be worthy of the Tour de France
I wish my town would speed up the process. There's basically no cycling infrastructure and they've only now proposed the idea for cycling lanes l... to be built 10-20 years from now 😠
I had a geography teacher who once said, "Americans are fat, dumb, and happy."
These are educated people. Wealthy people. They'd rather sit back, complain about traffic congestion, and watch the planet burn around them. That's not a mentally healthy or logical stance.
European countries have figured this out with Netherlands taking the lead. Lots of bicycle infrastructure there with separated bike lanes, large bicycle parking garages, and separate bicycle traffic signals.
but is it... efficient/sustainable? i'd need my bike to work every day no matter what, PLUS i'd need the time and extra energy to ride through my commute
It's not that I hate the idea the problem is I live in Ohio winter is here are very cold I would do it during the summer but much past August and it's just not practical
It's silly of you to doubt observable reality. In city after city, when networks of safe bike routes, exist, they get used. Davis, Montreal, Paris, Chicago, Osaka...
If you just put down dangerous door zone bike lanes, at random, then yeah those don't get used much. Those are bad lanes.
We had a terrible accident in Boston recently where the bicyclist was in a lane and was hit and killed by a driver who moved into the unprotected lane. Just as drivers of cars don't follow rules should be ticketed, then drivers of bikes should face consequences.
It's not just the US. London has terrible bike infrastructure too. Paris is a good example of a major city transforming itself through investing in cycling and walking
Indeed - activists in the cities and towns need to work with planners; especially around how to make it happen effectively and expeditiously. It took over 20 years here to get 'carriage roads' on one of our main roadways reclassified into bike lanes. Makes no sense.
Yes! Where I live they don't even believe in sidewalks, much less bike lanes. Biking on the road is highly dangerous here. Plus, commutes are 40+ miles each way. I would love to live elsewhere but it's not in the cards at this time.
That’s something I loved about Davis. Their biking infrastructure is great compared to most cities and towns in the US and motivated people to actually use bikes. There was still lots of traffic in peak times but it would have been worse without the bikes
Electric cars are definitely not the be all and end all, with the resource heavy batteries (looking at you, lithium) and the PFAS concerns. Love the cycling stats, great encouragement to get 'on ya bike' 👍
90% of US cities won't work for cycling.
We don't have the carbon budget to rebuild them to fix that.
But we do have the carbon budget for EV instead, which solver 90% of the emissions targets by 2040.
In actual studies.
Yes, as long as we include people with all disabilities and their assisted methods of transportation. The activity I miss the most is cycling and I am sure I’m not the only pwME missing it much more than driving.
It would be a utopia if cycling was even remotely considered 'normal'. When I had to cycle to work it was always maximum awareness, maximum stress, maximum aggression... because, around cars, there is absolutely no room for letting your guard down when you're on a pushbike.
This is pretty true. I’ve been hit by cars multiple times while walking through the city but only once while riding. Yet while on a bicycle the stress and fear is so much greater.
Just so people don’t assume I’m reckless, the one time I was hit on a bicycle, I was stationary at a stop sign. The car I was waiting for swerved into me when they turned.
As for the pedestrian hits, twice while I was walking on a sidewalk people jumped the curbs, another time an elderly woman waved me across when they stopped but then accelerated when I was in front of them.
It's why many dutch people don't consider themselves cyclists. Cyclists are people who wear spandex and try hard. The dutch are just people who ride bikes as a means of transportation. No helmets or advanced bike features because it's safe.
I’m genuinely curious, not trying to start a fight. What region does everyone very pro-bike reside in?
Agreed that it is a net zero winner, but how to utilize it in regions like Chicago/NYC in winter, or Phoenix in summer. How would you rank it with the likes of public transit and electric cars?
@jetraven.bsky.social @colchesteressex.bsky.social @colchestercycling.bsky.social
Can we please prioritise walking and cycling in the new garden cities ? I’m only seeing guided buses going in atm. Hardly any journeys to town are by cycle….wonder why?
I agree and enjoy cycling. There's a whole embedded social, cultural, economic and infrastructural complex around cars in modern society. So I figure realistically for now and foreseeable future it's better for the climate to keep focus on moving to electric cars using renewable energy sources.
The article sensibly points out that it would take 15-20 years to replace the world’s ICE auto fleet with EVs, but it doesn’t consider that it might take even more time than that to change the world’s land use patterns to make a mass transition to active transport worldwide possible. It’s all hard!
I would love to commute by bike, but since Covid my city has constant bicycle thefts. You can’t leave one unattended anymore, even with heavy padlocks. 😢 And so I drive.
I commuted to work for a year by bike. At the end of a workday, people in cars would deliberately try to hit me. I changed my hours to go home at 3:30 pm instead of 5:00, and even that was iffy. I had to stop just for self-protection. I was also depressed by all the flattened fauna up close.
Thanks. Just a note - I'm a sister. I always wondered if some of the guys who swerved out of their lane toward me were influenced by that, that they wouldn't have tried to hit a man on a bike. And every time I saw a bumper sticker saying "I owe I owe, so off to work I go," it made me so sad.
I totally agree. I use mostly the MTA here in NYC but also love walking and riding wherever I can. The problem is I'm no longer young and some routes I need to take are still dangerous. When I arrive, locking my bike safely is almost always an issue. This is why I can't ride everywhere just yet.
I live in a very bike-friendly city and it's sad how few people choose cycling. The world is going to hell and yet 99% of folks can't be bothered to do anything about it.
Bike lanes change very little in studies.
The problem is the multiple trips and distances
50% of US live in suburbs, 25% in rural
We MUST stop bitching at ea other about false solutions
And I bike commute for 1 of 2 jobs. I get it. I study it. I work with a bike non-profit in PDX...come on!
But most can't due to distances and duties. Yes, many are <3 mile trips but that leaves out the context: 3 mi trips which average around 40 miles a day.
Our US cities aren't built for this to work for enough people to move the emissions needle. Paper here is central cities old world too.
Grocery shopping not too bad with a bike.. I have an e-bike and probably do it every other time I go to store. I have a bag in the back and a basket in the front. I also don’t mind taking multiple trips with the bike
Cargo bikes, panniers, good rain gear are necessary but you also need secure parking. It’s a missing piece of the infrastructure conversation. I have a big heavy lock but still hesitate to take my bike if I’m going to leave it for any length of time.
You may be interested to know a person doesn't need a 2000lb motorized umbrella, nor an entire living room set to retrieve foodstuffs.
Bikes, and raincoats, both fantastic inventions.
In the recent snow/bad weather I noticed everyone jumped in their cars and they were warm & comfortable but gridlocked - they couldn’t get where they wanted but on my bike I got to my destination in the same time as normal. Smug and on time on a bike!
This article is over 3 years old. Things have moved on since then, esp regarding the embodied carbon issue in EV manufacture. As someone has already stated on this thread, the experience in London re ULEZ shows the difference between an academic study and the reality on the ground
I'm pro cycling but this is beyond absurd. Even if we close our eyes and make believe that this is something everyone around the globe would push for, it's still like a 100 year project. EVs are going to cut carbon emissions by more than half, it's actually going to happen, and soon.
I'm too old to cycle now, and where I live, it would not be safe, anyway (narrow, winding roads and fast drivers). But I love the bicycle culture and think it's great for cities, if the traffic is calmed down.
Until the UK invests in cycling infrastructure that physically separates cyclists from the 2 ton death machines- or "cars" - then people are just not going to cycle. I've given up cycle-commuting recently because of this.
Pity that cycling benefits are never included in any analysis.
If people parked their cars 1km away from their destination & walked 15 mins then:
- most car journeys are 5km or less, so >20% less emissions from car journeys
- 30 mins (out & back) walking for people, health +++
- less congestion at busy locations
1/ ....
- more parking at busy locations for people who can't walk
- more opportunities for businesses on outskirts of hubs to access valuable foot traffic
- more opportunities for people to interact with each other
Cycling is great, and we can also make big change with small nudges too 😀
I doubt it is only ten times. In fact most benefits of electric cars are wasted as these are mostly very heavy SUVs with often lousy aerodynamics. Also best electric cars are comparable to worst buses.
The provincial government is currently in talks to get rid of bike lanes up here in Ontario, protected or not. It always feels like one step forward, twelve steps back
So true. Having fled from car-centric Los Angeles and moved to bike-centric Amsterdam many years ago, I can vouch for this. I especially love the Dutch saying about ignoring the rain and just getting on your bike anyway: “Ik ben niet van suiker”, ‘I’m not
made of sugar’ so I won’t melt in the rain
Unless you’re injured, or a senior citizen, or it’s 30° F outside, or you don’t want to risk getting hit because almost every car has a screen below dashboard level now.
Not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, but it is worth remembering that in the UK alone there are at least 3,000,000 disabled people, many of whom couldn't do the cycling thing.
I do, incidentally, at least some of the time. But there remains a place for powered transport no matter what.
So why don’t governments at all levels just do it then? 🤷♀️ I think it’s the few appealing to those that should. We need a mass increase in all kinds of people (moms, dads, kids, older folks) everyone of every color pushing for greater change. Most gov’ts timid, need loud voices.
Comments
E-bikes make it easier to do the long distances for commutes.
Outside of Amsterdam, many Dutch people have cars (kids, distances, etc). Sometimes they drive, and sometimes they bike. Works well. And it significantly reduces congestion.
The future suddenly looked bright with new ministers promising “unprecedented funding” for walking and cycling.
But the budget dashed all hope of change
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-the-cuts-to-walking-and-cycling/
So, it’s not even close to being 10 x more important than electric cars!
These are educated people. Wealthy people. They'd rather sit back, complain about traffic congestion, and watch the planet burn around them. That's not a mentally healthy or logical stance.
How do we talk to them?
https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/electric-assisted-bicycle-e-bike-rebate
✔️Your city or state can, too
Super popular with voters
“e-Bike Rebate
discount of up to $1,500 on a qualifying e-bike
discount is 50-75% of a buyer's qualifying expenses, depending on their income”
fun
good for me
good for planet
If you just put down dangerous door zone bike lanes, at random, then yeah those don't get used much. Those are bad lanes.
And yet, in proportion, number of cyclists has been decreasing
It’s cultural issue, not a regulation one
We don't have the carbon budget to rebuild them to fix that.
But we do have the carbon budget for EV instead, which solver 90% of the emissions targets by 2040.
In actual studies.
Yeah I’ve got great luck.
They are only intended to save the car industry.
Agreed that it is a net zero winner, but how to utilize it in regions like Chicago/NYC in winter, or Phoenix in summer. How would you rank it with the likes of public transit and electric cars?
Can we please prioritise walking and cycling in the new garden cities ? I’m only seeing guided buses going in atm. Hardly any journeys to town are by cycle….wonder why?
Counting with that basic, more people could move.
This is always a city perspective.
The problem is the multiple trips and distances
50% of US live in suburbs, 25% in rural
We MUST stop bitching at ea other about false solutions
And I bike commute for 1 of 2 jobs. I get it. I study it. I work with a bike non-profit in PDX...come on!
This is not my opinion, this is research.
I'm all for bikes, but the reality is lost on may advocates who have opinions but haven't been a part of solutions/studies.
It’s the areas that make it hard to bike where people have to own a car.
Our US cities aren't built for this to work for enough people to move the emissions needle. Paper here is central cities old world too.
https://www.iea.org/countries/france
raincoat ✅
Bikes, and raincoats, both fantastic inventions.
Walkable communities, less consumption, better connectivity.
People do. Thriving cities require people being people.
Pity that cycling benefits are never included in any analysis.
- most car journeys are 5km or less, so >20% less emissions from car journeys
- 30 mins (out & back) walking for people, health +++
- less congestion at busy locations
1/ ....
- more opportunities for businesses on outskirts of hubs to access valuable foot traffic
- more opportunities for people to interact with each other
Cycling is great, and we can also make big change with small nudges too 😀
The answer is abolish cars so we can ride bikes on the entire road.
I've got snow, hills, kids, stuff to haul, disabled and elderly relatives, and a 22 mile commute (by highway - longer by surface streets.)
I didn't get a car until I was 32 - held off as long as I could. But at this point in my life, a bike would NOT be more fun for me […]
Horses for courses!
made of sugar’ so I won’t melt in the rain
I do, incidentally, at least some of the time. But there remains a place for powered transport no matter what.
The problem with bike lanes and closing streets to traffic is you have to build the lanes first so people will use them.
You can’t wait for everyone to start biking on dangerous AF roads