On 10/3/2019 11:00 AM, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-10-01 16:46, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 4:39:22 PM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
This was forwarded to me by one of my bike commuter cohorts:





-- Jay Beattie.

Pretty much the entire commuter bicycle movement is built around John
as a starting point. ...


I disagree with many of the things John Forester advocates. In this
interview he clearly dodged a key point:

Quote, "[Interviewer] ... I'm not a transportation policy person but I
would guess that there's data now to demonstrate that on avenues where
protected infrastructure has gone in that incidents with serious injury
or death have gone down since that infrastructure go put in. So I feel
like I see evidence in the US that in some places at least where it's
practical, that protected infrastructure can make a difference and
vastly increase the number of people who feel safer riding a bike.

JF: Your statement is full of false assumptions." ... and then he veered
off the topic above.

Which "false assumptions"? The interviewer was correct, the vast
majority of cyclists prefers cycling infrastructure.

The majority of American cyclists may prefer cycling infrastructure, but
that's due to a couple reasons.

First, the majority of those "cyclists" drive their car to a bike trail,
park, unload their bike and ride out and back. They use the trail as a
linear park, not to replace car trips.

Second, the majority of "cyclists" aren't competent to recognize the
dangers imposed by most facilities. Even when (as with the Jensen study
in Copenhagen) data clearly shows significant increases in crash rates,
the cyclists say they FEEL safer. The syndrome can be described as "Any
bike facility is a good bike facility." That's happened with countless
door zone bike lanes, with bike lanes to the right of right-turn-only
lanes, and other monstrosities.

I know only one cyclist who doesn't care much whether he rides in the
lane or on a bike path, though even he is mostly found on long
segregated bike paths.

All others prefer, like myself, good quality bike paths.

I don't know what to say to a person who pretends we can build
separated, car-free paths everywhere everyone might want to ride. What a
fantasy world he must live in!


--
- Frank Krygowski