Slashdot Mirror
As Gas Prices Soar So Does City Biking
Hugh Pickens writes "As California's gas prices hit record highs, the millions of dollars spent in recent years on commuter bike lanes and public transportation projects in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities are being seen in a new light by many drivers. Jason Dearen reports that San Francisco is seeing a 71-percent increase in cyclists in the past five years, and Los Angeles is reporting a 32 percent increase from 2009-2011. Both findings gibe with the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which found a 63 percent increase in bicycle commuters from 2000 to 2010 in the nation's 70 largest cities. 'In some ways it's a perfect storm of events that is starting to take place,' says Claire Bowin, head of policy planning for Los Angeles' planning department. Getting people out of cars 'is a very daunting task, but on other hand we have largely benefited from a growing community here that is demanding these things.' Los Angeles is building almost 1,600 miles of bike infrastructure (PDF) over the next five years. Los Angeles County's Metrolink, which features open train cars for bike riders is seeing record ridership. Changing attitudes about cars — caused by climate change — are helping these efforts as people in their twenties and thirties have adopted biking in larger numbers than previous generations (PDF)."
It's healthier and it's more fun. The idea that the car equals freedom is pretty much dead these days if you live anywhere with a dense population. Cars are for the fat and lazy.
In a city I agree. In a dense city you can easily get by without a car since there is no sprawl. Here in the suburbs and in nearby semi-rural areas that is not the deal.
Here, an adult on a bicycle means one of two things: he's been convicted of a DUI or he's a fruity fitness nut.
In this conservative area I also suspect that a man wearing spandex and sticking his ass up in the air is how members of the gay community find each other since they would catch flak for being openly gay around here. I mean *I* could use a bicycle in regular clothes, without the costume, so why can't they? There must be a reason. Don't tell me that at 30 mph the wind resistance of spandex gives you extra speed or something, that's ridiculous. There is a distinct lack of female cyclists, by the way. And for some reason the male cyclists insist on picking narrow, high-speed roads during rush hour and then making risky maneuvers like running red lights instead of following traffic rules like bikes are supposed to. Like I said there's gotta be a reason they go to such trouble.
I mean *I* could use a bicycle in regular clothes, without the costume, so why can't they? There must be a reason.
Unlike you, I imagine, they don't have to hide their fat asses and oversized guts from the rest of the world.
My experience in America is that being fat and out of shape never seems to cause Americans to dress modestly.
I often think thoughts like "they should have never made Spandex in those sizes". At the beach, thongs shouldn't be made above a certain size either. Nobody wants to see rolls of fat and cellulite. And frankly fat chicks trying to get a tan is the same as fat chicks getting their hair permed - they are polishing a turd, tans and perms won't make men want you again, losing the weight will, so you might as well put the effort where it will be effective.