wow. and, i don't know if you can see, but this station is very close to a freeway entrance in SF's soma neighborhood. look at how many cars there are! to be fair, there was a giants game, and that always increases the traffic in the neighborhood, but...what if it didn't. there is free bike parking for giants fans. maybe the skyrocketing price would convince some people to CYLRAB.
one of the main reasons I got my bike 3yrs ago was the fuel price here in the UK & thus began my cycle commuting, only for my office to be moved to an entirely different town! The biggest obstacle for me is the lack of proper facilities - no secure bike parking, no lockers & it rains here a lot! My building's currently having a refurb & we should finally be getting better facilities (showers woo) so hopefully I can extend my commuting beyond a few dry days.
ReplyDeleteLast week in the UK we had total madness when everyone was panic buying fuel incase there was a shortage & they had an 'emergency'. It's so sad that people have become overly reliant on their cars often where it isnt needed. But roads here are dangerous - most UK roads are a heck of a lot narrower than the ones I've seen in the USA. We get lines painted onto roads to create bike lanes that are far from safe - pushing cars close to bikes and leaving bikes to negotiate the terrible potholes we have been suffering with the last few years. It's understandable why so many people dont feel safe riding in these conditions.
indeed. sounds like a lack of infrastructure. it seems (i say that only because i don't have direct knowledge of it) that some larger cities in europe have dedicated time and money to building infrastructure in order to increase cycling. lack of secure bike parking is certainly a large barrier, but what good is secure bike parking, if the route from home to destination is not safe?!
ReplyDeletei use european cities as an example because they are older than the cities in the US, so they likely have narrower roads that were made long before cars were around. it would be super interesting to see how to carry that to the UK.
you have a supportive friend in us over here in SF! :)
I live in the UK too and it's worth pointing out that cycling here actually isn't as dangerous as people think it is. There are actually fewer fatalities per billion miles cycled than there are per billion miles walked for pedestrians: http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/it-may-be-fun-but-is-cycling-part-of.html
ReplyDeleteAs for infrastructure, I visited Copenhagen a while ago to write about the cycling facilities and they said their infrastructure didn't reduce accidents, just rearrange them. They put the lanes in because people like them and feel safer (even though they're actually not): http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/in-which-our-hero-picks-up-cycling.html
The main problem, I think, is to change motorist attitudes to cyclists. Unfortunately, nearly every road user on both sides of the Atlantic appears to follow an entirely illogical set of principles, which I outline here: http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/am-i-real-to-you-noam-chomsky-and-real.html
I, like the other commenter, was, however, very smug when everyone was worrying about the UK running out of fuel. It wasn't a problem for me at all.
All the best,
Invisible
http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.co.uk/
I love this photo.
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thanks invisible and joe for your comments!
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