1500 hours per year ...

cfsmtb wrote:

The model... male spends more than 1500 hours per year on his car;
driving or sitting in it, parking or searching for it; earning enough
to pay for the vehicle, the tolls, the tyres, the insurance or the
highway taxes. These four hours per day for gathering his resources for
it do not include his transport-related dally-ing in hospitals, traffic
courts, and garages, his sitting time before the TV to be sold a new
model, or the time needed to earn or enjoy the travelling on his
vacation. In terms of lifetime invested, the average (driver) attains
four miles per hour. In countries without any transport industry,
people walk at this rate wherever they want to go.


Man, unaided by any tool, is quite efficient when he moves. He carries
one gram of his weight over a kilometre in 10 minutes by expending 0.75
calories, which makes him thermodynamically more efficient than any
motorized vehicle and most animals, such as rats or oxen. He is still
less efficient than horses or sturgeon.


A century ago, however, the bicycle appeared. It lifted man's
self-powered mobility into a new order, beyond which there can be no
further progress. On flat ground he can travel faster than on foot and
do so using only one-fifth of the calories he would have expended
walking. He can now carry one gram of his weight over one kilometre
expending only 0.15 calories. Equipped with a bicycle, man does better
not only than any machine but also than any animal.

It's only going to get worse here in WA (Bunbury). The Harvey Shire has
voted to become part of the pilot program for 40km/h speed limits in
built-up areas and 30km/h limits in school zones! If it's 'successful'
it will be expanded throughout the state.

--
Brett"Now I can get a speeding ticket on the flat without a tailwind"S

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 26 May 2006 17:38:25 +1000
Rory Williams wrote:
by a particular mode of transport. Applying this concept of 'effective
speed' provides some surprising results in the comparison of cars,
bicycles and public transport

Sigh... motorcycles lose again.

can't be enough lazy cyclists in Canberra!

Zebee

On Fri, 26 May 2006 16:12:15 +0800, BrettS
wrote:

It's only going to get worse here in WA (Bunbury). The Harvey Shire has
voted to become part of the pilot program for 40km/h speed limits in
built-up areas and 30km/h limits in school zones! If it's 'successful'
it will be expanded throughout the state.

SA has had "25kmh in school hours or when children present" zones for
some years now.

Aeek wrote:

On Fri, 26 May 2006 16:12:15 +0800, BrettS
wrote:


It's only going to get worse here in WA (Bunbury). The Harvey Shire has
voted to become part of the pilot program for 40km/h speed limits in
built-up areas and 30km/h limits in school zones! If it's 'successful'
it will be expanded throughout the state.


SA has had "25kmh in school hours or when children present" zones for
some years now.

That sounds bizarre! How much more likely are kids to be on the road
*during* school hours than on the road outside their house *after*
school hours?

--
BrettS

"Aeek" wrote:

SA has had "25kmh in school hours or when children present" zones for
some years now.

Whoa!!

I'd be a candidate to get booked every day while riding past the local high
school under those rules. Crazy stuff.

Oh yeah. I don't do it while children are present - well no more then one or
two.

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 26 May 2006 21:55:12 +1000
Peter Signorini wrote:

"Aeek" wrote:

SA has had "25kmh in school hours or when children present" zones for
some years now.

Whoa!!

I'd be a candidate to get booked every day while riding past the local high
school under those rules. Crazy stuff.

Yeah, but the zones have flashing lights in school hours so that
helps.

I didn't know about the "when children present" bit, and never heard
of anyone being done when the lights weren't flashing.

Zebee