Why bicycles are better urban vehicles than cars. - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#13963672
Ten reasons why bicycles are better than cars in the urban context.
  1. Bicycles don’t cause cancer and other lung diseases. Cars do.
  2. Bicycles can get out of the way of emergency vehicles far more easily than cars.
  3. Bicycles make less noise. Cars are responsible for a significant percentage of noise pollution.
  4. Bicycles cost far less. Even custom jobs are affordable compared to a car.
  5. Riding a bicycle improves your health. Driving a car makes it worse.
  6. People kill each other every day with cars. Bicycles are not involved in nearly as many fatalities.
  7. Bicycles consume far less fossil fuels and energy. Transportation consumes a large quantity of fossil fuels.
  8. Bicycle maintenance is far easier than maintaining a car.
  9. You don’t need a license or be a minimum age to ride a bicycle.
  10. Parking is free and easy.
  11. I look sexy in my tight biking clothes. Okay, this one’s a bit subjective, which is why I put it as number 11. But damn, I look good.

Okay, so these are some of the reasons why I prefer a bicycle to a car when in the city.
#13963707
The ClockworkRat wrote:Cycling also makes you smelly when you get to your location, and is pretty dreadful in cold and/or wet weather.


I don't wear cycling gear. I just wear tight clothes.

Smell isn't that big an issue if you shower daily and use deodorant.

Using any sort of traffic in inclement weather is annoying, but you get colder sitting on your ass in a cold car than you do exercising on a bike. When it rains, wear a raincoat.
#13963710
I've been 'living' during the working week in central Birmingham for the last two years, and from what I've witnessed nothing on Earth could give me the bravery necessary to venture out onto our Whacky Races roads on a push-bike. A motorbike, perhaps, but certainly not a push-bike.

When I was living and working on an RAF base, my bike was my main form of transport. Not only was it good for all the reasons you listed, it also functioned very effectively as a salute-avoidance tool. ;)




(i.e. you can't/don't have to salute/return a salute when riding a bicycle!)
#13963727
The more people bike, the more cars watch out for bike traffic. The more cars watch out for bike traffic, the less likely motorists are to drive like they are on "Whacky Races" roads, whatsoever they may be.

Though I do look good in tight pants, I will bump "not having to salute" into 11th place.
#13963759
Live in Edmonton and a lot of those reasons for riding a bike are irrelevant for 7 months of the year. Hard, and dangerous, to cycle through 2 feet of snow and ice.

The last few jobs I have had would have been impossible to use a bicycle to get too and from. 12 hours shifts followed by 1+hrs cycling, each way? Not even on a nice day.

I guess it depends on what you call "Urban". Some cities are very spread out, even if they are bicycle friendly.

Your reasons are valid, but often logistics make cycling a non-option. Weather can make it cycling very undesirable too.

Number 11 is reason enough to ban bicycles from use, entirely. ;)
#13963766
Godstud wrote:Live in Edmonton and a lot of those reasons for riding a bike are irrelevant for 7 months of the year. Hard, and dangerous, to cycle through 2 feet of snow and ice.


Not really. Edmonton, if I recall correctly, does not remove snow, but instead lays down a coating of sand that mixes in to get traction. Y'all do this because you get so little snow that it never piles up to 2 feet on the roads. The constant traffic plus wind tends to make the snow on the road into a hard packed mix of snow and sand. A bike with fat snow tires could easily ride on that.

The last few jobs I have had would have been impossible to use a bicycle to get too and from. 12 hours shifts followed by 1+hrs cycling, each way? Not even on a nice day.


Don't get jobs that are so far away.

I guess it depends on what you call "Urban". Some cities are very spread out, even if they are bicycle friendly.

Your reasons are valid, but often logistics make cycling a non-option. Weather can make it cycling very undesirable too.


I've cycled year round in Edmonton. I'm apparently not the only one.

Number 11 is reason enough to ban bicycles from use, entirely. ;)


The one in the OP, or Cartertonian's contribution?
#13963772
Pants-of-dog wrote:Not really. Edmonton, if I recall correctly, does not remove snow, but instead lays down a coating of sand that mixes in to get traction. Y'all do this because you get so little snow that it never piles up to 2 feet on the roads. The constant traffic plus wind tends to make the snow on the road into a hard packed mix of snow and sand. A bike with fat snow tires could easily ride on that.
:lol: No. You do not recall correctly. They absolutely DO have snow removal. One of the best in Canada, too. It's still hazardous as hell to try cycling.

Living in Edmonton 30 years does give me a little perspective on this. Cycling is DANGEROUS in winter, if only for the fact that the roads get huge ruts in them where the cars drive in and a cyclist would be screwed trying to go on sidewalks or on the roads. Unless they had a death wish, I mean.

Pants-of-dog wrote:Don't get jobs that are so far away
:roll: That's a very nice thing to say, but at the same time has no basis in reality. The type of job, etc. decides where it is. When you allow a plastic manufacturing plant in your downtown core we can talk about it.

Pants-of-dog wrote:I've cycled year round in Edmonton. I'm apparently not the only one.
That's about a guy cycling in Toronto. The article just appeared in the Edmonton paper. You didn't read it, did you?
#13963779
Godstud wrote: :lol: No. You do not recall correctly. They absolutely DO have snow removal. One of the best in Canada, too. It's still hazardous as hell to try cycling.


Maybe on the major arteries, but once you get inside residential neighbourhoods, you start riding on ice and snow. If they do remove snow, as you say, then it's even easier to ride.

Living in Edmonton 30 years does give me a little perspective on this. Cycling is DANGEROUS in winter, if only for the fact that the roads get huge ruts in them where the cars drive in and a cyclist would be screwed trying to go on sidewalks or on the roads. Unless they had a death wish, I mean.


How do they get ruts in the road if they have the best snow removal in Canada?

:roll: That's a very nice thing to say, but at the same time has no basis in reality. The type of job, etc. decides where it is. When you allow a plastic manufacturing plant in your downtown core we can talk about it.


I guess all those jobs I got that were within biking distance weren't real. Silly me. The only real job is in large scale plastic manufacturing.

That's about a guy cycling in Toronto. The article just appeared in the Edmonton paper. You didn't read it, did you?


That doesn't change the fact that people bike year round in Edmonton.
#13964521
Pants-of-dog wrote:How do they get ruts in the road if they have the best snow removal in Canada?
Lots of SNOW and ice. Having one of the best snow removal plans doesn't mean that you can afford to take all the snow and ice off the roads, everywhere. Sure a lot of major arteries get cleared, but the snow this year was piled 4 feet high and there were even running out of space to PUT the snow, there was so much.

Pants-of-dog wrote:I guess all those jobs I got that were within biking distance weren't real. Silly me. The only real job is in large scale plastic manufacturing.
Do we all have the same job? i didn't get that memo stating that we all must work at the same job. Is everyone in your area employed by your employer? That's pretty impressive if it's true.

It's probably because you have a white collar job. I suppose we should abolish blue collar work so that they can work near their homes, too.

Being lucky and privileged enough to have a job that's close to your home must make you feel special indeed. Hundreds of thousands of people commute daily in Vancouver, and when I lived in Edmonton I had a daily commute from Capilano(on the east side), to Villeneuve, AB(west of St. Albert). Why? Because that's where the work was. I'd have gladly taken work close by, IF it was available. Sadly, this was not the case. (Yet another factor- work availability in your area)

A great many people end up having to commute to work, due to something called "reality", that means that all jobs can't be in the downtown core. Please discuss noise bylaws and other things with your MLA to change this. I somehow doubt that we'll be seeing meat processing plants, plastic manufacturing, etc. in downtown areas in the near future.

Pants-of-dog wrote:That doesn't change the fact that people bike year round in Edmonton.
The number that do so is so insignificant, that it is not worth mentioning. Pretending that this is a feasible, or even realistic option for most people, is deluding yourself. It is a nice dream, though. Tell me when you wake up.
#13964568
Godstud wrote: Lots of SNOW and ice. Having one of the best snow removal plans doesn't mean that you can afford to take all the snow and ice off the roads, everywhere. Sure a lot of major arteries get cleared, but the snow this year was piled 4 feet high and there were even running out of space to PUT the snow, there was so much.


Again, if the snow is not removed, then the use of snow tires over snow works effectively. If not, it is even easier. Is it more convenient for people to use cars in inclement weather? Arguably, but the other advantages outlined in the OP far outweigh a question of mere temporary convenience.

Montreal gets more snow than Edmonton. You know what I do when I hit snow that I can't ride over or through? I get off my bike and walk a few feet. Most cars get stuck in shallower snow. So, even the higher convenience of cars in inclement weather is questionable.

Godstud wrote:Do we all have the same job? i didn't get that memo stating that we all must work at the same job. Is everyone in your area employed by your employer? That's pretty impressive if it's true.

It's probably because you have a white collar job. I suppose we should abolish blue collar work so that they can work near their homes, too.

Being lucky and privileged enough to have a job that's close to your home must make you feel special indeed. Hundreds of thousands of people commute daily in Vancouver, and when I lived in Edmonton I had a daily commute from Capilano(on the east side), to Villeneuve, AB(west of St. Albert). Why? Because that's where the work was. I'd have gladly taken work close by, IF it was available. Sadly, this was not the case. (Yet another factor- work availability in your area)

A great many people end up having to commute to work, due to something called "reality", that means that all jobs can't be in the downtown core. Please discuss noise bylaws and other things with your MLA to change this. I somehow doubt that we'll be seeing meat processing plants, plastic manufacturing, etc. in downtown areas in the near future.


I am always not-so-secretly amused when people try to discredit my argument by suggesting that I am privileged.

Anyways, I have no doubt that you, like the vast majority of Edmontonians who had a car before their current job, decided to look for jobs that were so far away that you had to commute long distances every day. If your primary vehicle was a bicycle, your job search criteria would have been different.

Mind you, I have one very good reason for wanting to keep my daily commute short: in any drastic emergency, I can literally run to my kid's school in less than half an hour from my work.

Godstud wrote: The number that do so is so insignificant, that it is not worth mentioning. Pretending that this is a feasible, or even realistic option for most people, is deluding yourself. It is a nice dream, though. Tell me when you wake up.


Let us compare Edmonton to most cities in the world.

Does Edmonton have more severe weather than most? The climate is similar to Siberia, so yes, most cities have less inclement weather.

Is Edmonton a relatively young city? More specifically, has most of it been designed and built after Henry Ford introduced the idea that every worker should have a car? Yes. Most of Edmonton was built after 1903, when Ford started his motor company.

Does Edmonton have more resources to invest in the infrastructure required to make highways everywhere than most places? Edmonton is the capital of the oil rich province of Alberta. How many developed nations are also oil rich? Few. Therefore, Edmonton has comparatively more resources than most cities.

Edmonton is as close as you can get to ideal for driving in, as cities go.

Now, that might drastically reduce the number of winter bikers in Edmonton, but does that contradict any of the claims I made in the OP?
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