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Cities Turning to Bicycles



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 7th 04, 02:36 PM
Roger Zoul
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Default Cities Turning to Bicycles

DonQuijote1954 wrote:
|| It makes sense to me, but will "the powers that be" make it happen? I
|| see SUVs in full control of the road in America.
||
|| I'm afraid my bicycles will continue to rust...

Well, I tell all of my friends that I sense a resurgence of the bicycle in
the US. Since I started bicycling, I see more and more people on bikes. On
the University campus where I work, the use of bicycles by students seems to
be going up tremendously - and even the campus police use bicycles (some of
them, anyway). I also think that people are starting to realize that
triple-bypass surgery is almost a foregone conclusion if they don't get off
their asses and start getting some real exercise in.

I just wished I lived closer to work - 40 miles is a bit too much and I'm
too slow a rider right now to commute that distance.

||
||
|| CITIES TURNING TO BICYCLES TO
|| CUT COSTS, POLLUTION, AND CRIME
|| by Gary Gardner
||
|| For safer streets, less congestion, and cleaner air, the bicycle is
|| poised to become an integral part of urban transportation systems for
|| the 21st century, says the Worldwatch Institute in a new report. Too
|| often relegated to weekend jaunts and children's use, bicycles are
|| emerging as a solution to some of today's most intractable urban
|| problems.
||
|| Putting bicycles to work could produce enormous savings, like reduced
|| air and noise pollution, better land use, less congestion and lower
|| health costs. "Americans drive cars and taxis more than 1.5 trillion
|| miles each year," said Gary Gardner, author of "When Cities Take
|| Bicycles Seriously," an article in the September/October issue of
|| World Watch. "Shifting just 5 percent of those miles to bicycles
|| would save at least $100 billion."
||
|| Much of urban travel is already "bike-sized": 40 percent of all trips
|| in the United States (and 50 percent in Britain) are 2 miles or
|| shorter. More than 25 percent of all trips are under a mile in the
|| United States. "Cycling could eliminate some of these short,
|| air-polluting trips," Gardner said, citing estimates that 90 percent
|| of emissions in a 7-mile trip are generated in the first mile before
|| the engine warms up.
||
|| Strong support from citizens and local officials has been driving new
|| bike policies around the world. In several major cities in the
|| Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, bicycles now account for 20 to 30
|| percent of all trips. In many Asian cities, the bicycle's share of
|| trips is even higher, accounting for more than half of all trips in
|| some Chinese cities-more than buses, cars, and walking combined. In
|| stark contrast, bicycles are used for less than 1 percent of all
|| trips in Canada and the United States.
||
|| In addition to bicycles' environmental and health benefits, mayors
|| all over the world are finding that bicycles can also fight crime
|| and cut administrative costs. City inspectors, health workers, meter
|| readers, parks and recreation officials, paramedics, and a host of
|| other employees can use bikes for at least some of their work.
||
|| Bicycle use by police departments has mushroomed in the past decade.
|| The International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA) estimates
|| that more than 2,000 police departments in the United States, Canada,
|| Australia, Iceland, and Russia have bicycle units, with some 10,000
|| officers on bikes.
||
|| Even better, the IPMBA reports that half of the police departments it
|| surveyed saw a jump in arrest rates-by an average of 24 percent-when
|| bicycles were introduced into patrol areas. Putting cops on bikes
|| also improves community relations and cuts costs.
||
|| The average car costs 12 cents per mile to operate, while bicycles
|| run for less than 1 cent per mile. One patrol car costs about
|| $23,000 and requires $3,000 to $4,000 each year in maintenance. One
|| police bicycle costs about $1,000 and requires $100 each year in
|| maintenance.
||
|| Gardner cites numerous examples of how cities around the world are
|| encouraging the use of bicycles by making inexpensive but effective
|| changes in their transportation systems:
||
|| -In Muenster, Germany, bus lanes can be used by bicycles, but not by
|| cars. Special lanes near intersections feed cyclists to a stop area
|| ahead of cars, while an advance green light for cyclists ensures that
|| they get through the intersection before cars behind them begin to
|| move.
||
|| -In Japan, local governments bolstered the "bike and ride" link with
|| railways. The number of train station bike parking spaces rose from
|| 600,000 in 1977 to nearly 2.4 million in 1987, maintaining the high
|| levels of railway use despite rising levels of car ownership.
|| (Construction of covered and locked bike racks costs from $50 to $500
|| per space-a fraction of the $12,000 to $18,000 to build garage space
|| for each car.)
||
|| -In Lima, Peru, the city set up a micro-credit program to help
|| low-income citizens buy bicycles. By eliminating dependence on public
|| transportation, which runs about $25 per month, workers making $200
|| per month would see their income effectively rise by 8 percent during
|| the repayment period, and by more than 12 percent once the loan is
|| paid off.
||
|| -Copenhagen's City Bike program makes 2,300 bicycles available for
|| public use around the city. Users pay 20 krona (about $3) to check
|| out a two-wheeler, but the fee is refunded when the bike is
|| returned. The bikes are intensively used: a Danish newspaper
|| reported that the City Bike it tracked for 12 hours spent only 8
|| minutes at bike stands waiting for new patrons. This program is a
|| public-private partnership, with businesses buying the bikes in
|| return for advertising space on the bikes.
||
|| "By 2025, the share of people living in cities is expected to reach 5
|| billion," said Gardner. "Increasing bicycle use will be key to making
|| the urban habitat, now home to nearly half of humanity, a far more
|| livable space."
||
|| http://committed.to/justiceforpeace


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  #2  
Old September 8th 04, 05:08 PM
R15757
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George Conklin wrote in part:

the horse could not pull both my wife and me,

That just pretty much speaks for itself.
  #3  
Old September 8th 04, 05:08 PM
R15757
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George Conklin wrote in part:

the horse could not pull both my wife and me,

That just pretty much speaks for itself.
  #4  
Old September 8th 04, 10:40 PM
Luigi de Guzman
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On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 11:11:45 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

In my experience, there are too many people who use "If only..."
fantasies to excuse their contribution to the problem. Get out there
and do what needs to be done!


I wish I had a job that let me ride to work.

My present one has me hauling hundreds of pounds of photo equipment to
sites that are pretty far from my house (I covered 150 miles' driving
today). And getting to the site very early in the morning.

I ride my bike in town, as much as I can, and stubbornly refuse to
carry my bike in the car to meet friends for rides if the meeting
point is within a reasonable ride from my house (and the pace of the
ride doesn't kill me outright). But I can't use it for work, until I
find other work that would allow me to ride.

-Luigi
  #5  
Old September 8th 04, 10:53 PM
the black rose
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Luigi de Guzman wrote:
On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 11:11:45 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:


In my experience, there are too many people who use "If only..."
fantasies to excuse their contribution to the problem. Get out there
and do what needs to be done!



I wish I had a job that let me ride to work.

My present one has me hauling hundreds of pounds of photo equipment to
sites that are pretty far from my house (I covered 150 miles' driving
today). And getting to the site very early in the morning.


Tsk tsk. If you were a Real Cyclist (TM), none of that would be an
obstacle.

-km, ducking and running

--
С детьми воюют только трусы -- Only cowards fight kids.
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
  #6  
Old September 9th 04, 02:27 AM
Luigi de Guzman
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On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 21:53:08 GMT, the black rose
wrote:

Luigi de Guzman wrote:
On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 11:11:45 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:


In my experience, there are too many people who use "If only..."
fantasies to excuse their contribution to the problem. Get out there
and do what needs to be done!



I wish I had a job that let me ride to work.

My present one has me hauling hundreds of pounds of photo equipment to
sites that are pretty far from my house (I covered 150 miles' driving
today). And getting to the site very early in the morning.


Tsk tsk. If you were a Real Cyclist (TM), none of that would be an
obstacle.


If I were a Real Cyclist, I wouldn't be fat enough to break spokes. I
would also beat my friends up the last hill home, every time. And I'd
go touring two weeks of the year.

If I were a Real Cyclist, I'd be fit enough to do the Shenandoah
Valley tour I keep wanting to do.

blah.

Fat ******* bikiedom for me.

-Luigi


-km, ducking and running


  #7  
Old September 9th 04, 05:55 PM
the black rose
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Luigi de Guzman wrote:
On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 21:53:08 GMT, the black rose
wrote:


Luigi de Guzman wrote:

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 11:11:45 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:



In my experience, there are too many people who use "If only..."
fantasies to excuse their contribution to the problem. Get out there
and do what needs to be done!


I wish I had a job that let me ride to work.

My present one has me hauling hundreds of pounds of photo equipment to
sites that are pretty far from my house (I covered 150 miles' driving
today). And getting to the site very early in the morning.


Tsk tsk. If you were a Real Cyclist (TM), none of that would be an
obstacle.



If I were a Real Cyclist, I wouldn't be fat enough to break spokes. I
would also beat my friends up the last hill home, every time. And I'd
go touring two weeks of the year.

If I were a Real Cyclist, I'd be fit enough to do the Shenandoah
Valley tour I keep wanting to do.

blah.

Fat ******* bikiedom for me.

-Luigi


-km, ducking and running


If I were a Real Cyclist (tm), I'd be out riding today. But up here in
the northeast, we're getting what's left of Frances, and even though
it's not raining at the moment, it's SO gusty and windy that I'm afraid
to ride.

*sigh*

-km

--
Only cowards fight kids.
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
  #8  
Old September 10th 04, 02:27 AM
Fx199
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Default

America does imprison reckless drivers that kill and maim.

Well, some of them. Most walk away from the court with minor
penalties.


Murderers don't even get convicted, how are you surprised a bad driver doesn't
get sent to jail either?
  #9  
Old September 11th 04, 06:00 PM
Fx199
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I agree that there's a place for these SUVs/trucks, but the vast,
overwhelming majority of people who own them never do anything like going
off road/hauling anything. I've owned my Jeep Comanche for a long time
and only been off road four times with it. If I outfit my Saab with sn


res, I go basically any road the Jeep goes during snow, with better
stopping and better control (my truck oversteers in a heartbeat)


How many people "need" a subaru with AWD? These cars gat as crappy mileage as a
small SUV, in the low 20's, but I guess they're OK because they're foreign
cars. No one puts their money where there mouth is, most people are driving
around in gas guzzling high horsepower V6's that are just as bad as SUV's. A
lot of it is just perception. Buy more 4 cylinders, they work just fine. Do
research on cars that get 30 or over in the city, you'll find very few.
  #10  
Old September 11th 04, 06:03 PM
Fx199
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You underestimate the off-road and climbing capabilities of the Type 1
Beetle, then. A lightweight rear-drive vehicle with its weight biased
over the drive wheels can climb pretty much any slope that can be
climbed on wheels. The fact that it pushes with half as many wheels
as a 4x4 is no impediment if it weighs less than half as much as the
4x4. Front wheels can't help much anyway when the grade is steep.

The Kubelwagens used by the German military in WWII were mechanically
almost identical to Beetles, differing chiefly in ride height and body
shape. They didn't seem to slow the Wehrmacht down very much.



The beetle pollutes more than a modern SUV Sheistbrains
 




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