I'd love to see more people bike to work. But I don't expect it to happen.

My step-brother lives in Seattle, lives less than two miles from his office so he bikes to work. One day he gets bounced off the hood of a Mercedes(driver's fault, confirmed by witnesses). Driver gets out, flashes his "best defense is a strong offense" business card showing he's an attorney. Step-brother, cradling an arm and bracing sore ribs fishes out his own business card indicating that he too is an attorney. Inattentive Mercedes-driving POS pales, stammers, and needs to sit down, looking so bad that the paramedics approach him first.

Step-brother still bikes to work. Sigh. Perhaps he believes that statistically he's in the clear?

They've been plugging the whole "bike to work day" here, too. Parts of Austin are pretty bike friendly- you can get around certain areas on a bike faster than you can by car. (I use a bike courier to send things to the state agencies around downtown.) However, even if it only is 4 miles, I'm not going to bike to work in a silk blouse, high heels, and a pencil skirt. This must be a hipster "casual fun office" type of thing. In my building, people wear suits- and it's gross and humid today.

I just bought the Wee Ride Kangaroo Carrier (a little seat that goes on the front of the bike) and a little pink helmet with bunny rabbits for Baby A. It's only for cruising around our neighborhood, though.

I am fortunate to be able to bicycle to my current (but not for long...) day-job. About 2/3rds of the trip in on a hike/bike trail away from traffic. The remaining portion is on carefully mapped-out low-traffic back streets and alleys. Plano is pretty good for biking, although not quite as good as Austin was.

I like bikes too, but people who are advocating mass biking aren't considering the repercussions. Bikes are fine on urban streets when there are few of them. Once they reach a certain density, you'll start encountering the sorts of problems that you see in cities in SE Asia and India. The Dutch government had studied this problem - the Dutch have commuted by bike since way before it was cool - and recognized that while bikes are fine for towns and residential and shopping areas, they shouldn't be a primary commuting modality. What happens is that they clog traffic and actually result in more pollution in the local area.

I would kill to be able to walk or bike to work. Some of my coworkers bike here (more than 10 miles for some of them). I work in northern Austin, so the only way into and out of this area involves biking along a major, high-speed thoroughfare, which I'm not brave enough to do. Granted, during rush hour, the damn bike would probably be going faster than any car on said thoroughfare.

I used to live in Anchorage AK. They have bike trails all over the city.. you can get anywhere on them!

However, even if it only is 4 miles, I'm not going to bike to work in a silk blouse, high heels, and a pencil skirt.

You pack your work clothes in a backpack, and ride in more normal riding gear. Get to work and change. Then change back when you leave.

Maybe people in cooler areas can avoid that, no one living where it gets hot can.

@ IRA... But, I don't WANT to! And, I've got to drop the kid off at preschool on the way to the office.

Right - pack your dress clothes, and then put them on your stinking sweaty body with all their new wrinkles. Then burn my nostrils all day by making me smell you.

If you're that concerned about Gaia, park the SUV, buy a little beater car, and drive to work.

The main reason people wind up buying these behemoths is because taxes and insurance make it too expensive to have a regular car for everyday use, and the behemoth when you need it.

This reminds me of the "communal bike" thing they have going in quite a few places in Asia. At almost every street corner, there's a bike rack and you can find 4 or 5 bright blue bikes on it. These bikes are communal property. If you want to go somewhere and it's in biking distance, you just take one of the blue bikes and leave it at the communal bike rack at your destination. Someone else can come along and take that bike, but you just take a different one. If a bike breaks down, you phone in its location and the city comes and takes it in for repair or replacement.

The end result is that a whole lot of people bike everywhere instead of driving. A lot of people don't even have cars. The people that have personal bikes almost never get get them stolen because people can just use the free ones. And biking/walking is good exercise, while driving is definitely not.

I think that in order for this to work in America, we'd have to get rid of the mentality that everyone must own a car. Lots of cars+lots of bikes on the same roads really do not mix no matter how many bike lanes or safety crossings you put in. The over-concern for safety and the sue-happy and sue-threatening culture that we have today is another concern entirely.

Yeah, we got bikes in Portland. People bike to work.

The city paints bike lanes and green boxes all over the roads. Entire traffic lanes are confiscated by the city for the occasional use by bikers, rendering downtown streets essentially one lane - one way - streets. The city is trying to increase density and encourage auto traffic delay, so as to encourage people to be dependent on public transportation. The key concept is dependency.

And the bikers love to wear their special spandex so the city can be identified by the special hot cyclist aroma.

Cyclists, I'm sure you know, are self-appointed members of nature's nobility, and can do no wrong. For this reason, when I was obliged to hit the brake with both feet partway into the intersection on a green light, the bike rider running through the intersection on the red light in front of me called me the asshole.

I had the green. I should have hit and killed him, thereby affording the remaining cyclists a chance to piously place a white ghost bike at the intersection in memory. For when we lose one cyclist, we are all diminished.

Self-indulgent children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3nMnr8ZirI

I don't think that it's fair to frame all bikers as self indulgent, though a lot of them are.

I love biking. Between my bike and LA's (vastly) under-rated public transportation, I rarely even get in my car during the week unless I have to go mid-day to a client's location. Even then, I'll check to see if a convenient bus stop is available. Typically only adds an extra 10 minutes or so to the trip and I get to read/work/sleep on the ride.

If my beloved 12 year old Mustang wasn't in good working condition, I would happily convert to a one-car family. My wife thinks I'm nuts.

@snakeman - you are nuts.

Trading a Mustang for public transit?

Besides, have we learned nothing from our brothers on the other side of the pond? Any time you put your trip in the hands of others, you get screwed.

The city is trying to increase density and encourage auto traffic delay, so as to encourage people to be dependent on public transportation. The key concept is dependency.

I just got back from Portland, and I loved it. Not having to rent a car to get to work-related stuff and everywhere I needed to go (for a cheap day pass) was awesome.

I'd rather be "dependent" on public transit than on a car. When you ride a train or bus, you can read, listen to your headphones, people-watch or chat with your neighbor (in the more friendly cities, anyway). In your car, you are stuck with inching forward, hitting the break, inching forward, stopping, looking at the clock, repeat. If an accident happens to occur, you're suck, hunched over the wheel, unable to move, trapped. Drives me INSANE.

@sofar - I guess you've never lost 15 hours to a missed connection then.

Public transit is worse than cars in almost any conceivable situation.

Traffic can be avoided by prudent timing. Your bus gets stuck in rush hour traffic, and it's not a lot different for you except you don't have your own vehicle on the line.

I know the condition of my car, I maintain it meticulously. I'm not so sure about that bus or train -- especially if it's a government worker that's maintaining it.

And I know the condition of me. I can't vouch for the pilot or bus driver and their sanity or sobriety.

Finally, in my car, I'm on my schedule, not someone else's. And for me (self-employed), trying to align my customer visits with public transit schedules would be madness-inducing.

I'd rather be "dependent" on public transit than on a car.

I'd rather have a choice.

I live in Portland and we used to have communal bikes. I think it was called "Yellow Bike project" The bikes very quickly disappeared and the program was replaced with a different program that provides bikes to anyone who needs but can't afford one (and proves it.)

I'd rather have a choice.

@marco EXACTLY! Hence the need for a good public transit system, so that one can choose. I hate living in a city where my only choice is sitting in traffic.

Public transit is worse than cars in almost any conceivable situation.

I lived in DC, and public transit is almost ALWAYS the better, more efficient option. In smaller cities, I agree, that's not always the case. Depends on where you live.

Finally, in my car, I'm on my schedule, not someone else's.
Not if someone gets in an accident that blocks all lanes. Or if construction blocks two lanes on a 3-lane interstate and EVERYONE else takes the alternate routes not built for increased traffic.

And I know the condition of me. I can't vouch for the pilot or bus driver and their sanity or sobriety.

Nor can you vouch for the sanity or sobriety of the idiot driving 75 mph on the interstate next to you. :)

By coincidence the weather here today is so good finally that I biked to work twice (I go home for lunch). I like the idea of leaving my car at home, saving gas and getting a good workout for the 20 minutes it takes me each way.

But it's not for everyone and there are considerable traffic skills to learn. Too many adults are just freeriding the wrong way, on sidewalks and through red lights, making us all look bad.

Oh, and I really loathe the sanctimonious Critical Mass douchebags.

Oh, and I really loathe the sanctimonious Critical Mass douchebags.

Me too. Most cyclists I know are just people who want to get around on their own steam and not get killed.

Your post reminded me of this guy, from the show Portlandia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3nMnr8ZirI

"I hate living in a city where my only choice is sitting in traffic."

The solution to this problem is to not live in one, then.

I'm surprised at how many fellow Portlanders read this blog! My upstairs neighbor has one of those stolen Yellow Bike Project bikes sitting on his balcony. He insists he didn't steal it because it was "free for anyone to use." apparently that means for all eternity in his mind without the need to let others have a chance. I hate driving downtown because of all the cyclists and bike lanes and one way streets and it just keeps getting worse. More frustrating is that despite the ridiculous amount of accommodations for bikers they don't use the bike lanes or observe the most basic traffic laws and it seems to extend all over the Portland Metro area. I'm amazed at all the cyclists that ride against traffic and/or sidewalks and mowing down pedestrians. I used to walk to work (when I worked a couple miles from home) and this would happen to me several times a week.

We have a great public transportation system here, but it takes a long time to get around and often multiple bus changes to get somewhere, at least in my case. I work 15 miles from my home, which happens to be very near a transit center and the MAX line. Unfortunately, for me to get to work roughly 15 miles away I need to take four different buses and nearly two hours of my day to get there or two different MAX trains and just over an hour. I'd rather spend 25 minutes by car or 45 minutes if I'm working a shift that requires me to deal with rush hour traffic on I-84.

The solution to this problem is to not live in one, then. My job/career is here, as is my bf's business. It's tricky because we can't afford to live in the area my office is ... yet... I'm hoping in a few years we will be able to. So, for now, I go to every public input event I can that has to do with making this city easier to get around in/beefing up mass transit ... and whine...a lot.

@sofar - so you admit to intentionally making everyone else's lives worse for your benefit.

Thanks!

Brian, your point seems to be that anybody who decides to either use a bike for personal transportation, or supports mass transit, is defacto 'intentionally making everyone else's life worse . . .'

How's that again? Keep in mind that you are arguing against what seems to be a fairly high number of people who live in the Portland OR metro area, and strangely enough, seem to like the transit options available there.

RE cyclists who ignore traffic laws: You think YOU'RE angry about it?? Well this long time cyclist has been angry with many of his fellows for years about this. Solution: Enforcement. Fine the ass off of folks on bikes who flout the traffic laws. The flouting would soon stop (or at least be greatly diminished) and many justifiably angry motorists would hopefully calm down. A few lives might be saved as well.

IMO - every cyclist out there that blows through a red light, or rides against the traffic flow, or jumps on and off the sidewalk, as it suits them, deeply undermines the hard work many folks have put in, over many years, to attempt to make bikes a viable transportation option to those who would choose to ride them.

" I go to every public input event I can that has to do with making this city easier to get around in/beefing up mass transit ... and whine...a lot."

Mass transit systems just about everywhere require subsidies to operate. Why do you think it's reasonable to force other people to help pay for your transportation?

Years ago, when I lived in Arlington VA, I worked in DC, about five miles away. Because of traffic jams I could actually get there quicker. However, I also got there sweaty, stinky, and filthy dirty from vehicle exhaust. I gave it up after a few times. Better to sit in an air conditioned car for a few minutes longer.

Brian, your dislike of public transit is a personal preference. I am from the SF Bay Area and the BART system there is excellent and well-used by commuters. I'm in LA now and I wish LA had a system half as good. (I do take the buses down here and agree that they are under-rated, but only for traveling short distances. I also wouldn't take them at night alone.)

...you could be eligible for a steel plate in your head after some Malibu housewife texting her six nannies mows you down.

True. And you could end up with a brain injury after being hit by a bicyclist while walking to work on the sidewalk. What's your point?

Plan your route, be alert, obey traffic rules, watch for cars and pedestrians, and don't carry a bag on the handlebars. Good to see so many cycling enthusiasts here.

People who rollerskate should be fined and made to wash bikes and shine shoes, though. For the environment.

The problem is that people are trying to spend my money here in CT to put a system like that over the top of 300+ year old cities and towns where it won't work and won't be used anyhow.

That and my money from CT is being used to pay for your public transit over there in Portland.