Slashdot Mirror
Even More Americans Have Stopped Biking To Work (usatoday.com)
The percentage of Americans biking to work has dropped for the third year straight, reports the U.S. Census Bureau. An anonymous reader quotes USA Today:
Nationally, the percentage of people who say they use a bike to get to work fell by 3.2 percent from 2016 to 2017, to an average of 836,569 commuters, according to the bureau's latest American Community Survey, which regularly asks a group of Americans about their habits. That's down from a high of 904,463 in 2014, when it peaked after four straight years of increases....
Experts offered several explanations for the nationwide decrease that has unfolded even as cities spent millions trying to become more bike-friendly. Most obviously, lower gasoline prices and a stronger economy contributed to strong auto sales and less interest in cheaper alternatives, such as mass transit and bikes. The rise of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft and electric scooters cut into bike commuting, said Dave Snyder, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition.
In at least two American cities -- Cleveland and Tampa -- the number of bike commuters has dropped by 50%.
Experts offered several explanations for the nationwide decrease that has unfolded even as cities spent millions trying to become more bike-friendly. Most obviously, lower gasoline prices and a stronger economy contributed to strong auto sales and less interest in cheaper alternatives, such as mass transit and bikes. The rise of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft and electric scooters cut into bike commuting, said Dave Snyder, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition.
In at least two American cities -- Cleveland and Tampa -- the number of bike commuters has dropped by 50%.
>"Experts offered several explanations for the nationwide decrease that has unfolded even as cities spent millions trying to become more bike-friendly. Most obviously, lower gasoline prices and a stronger economy contributed to strong auto sales and less interest in cheaper alternatives, such as mass transit and bikes."
No. Who are these "experts"??
Almost nobody rides a bike to work to "save gas." For most, if he/she is within easy biking range, that doesn't amount to much gas. And it isn't cost either. Those biking do so primarily for exercise, possible enjoyment, and in some cases to reduce wear on their car (short start/stop trips are rough on ICE cars, plus they sit in the sun parked all day). For most it is certainly not as fast or convenient, especially in bad weather. And it is often very unsafe, certainly if it requires ANY riding on major/busy roads.
I bike almost every day to work and have for many years, but I also live 0.5mi from work. Yes, I also sometimes walk, but typically want to get there/home faster and also biking deters being stopped for conversations with neighbors :)
I do, even in the snow, especially the snow actually. I find it takes less time for me to bike to work than to clear the snow off my car in the morning. When I got my job, I went online to look for a place to rent, I put my work's postal (zip) code into craigslist and sorted results for the closest. Bicycle ride is all of 10 minutes. I used to have an hour long commute, it was terrible, what a waste of my life. I'll take a tiny apt over a nice house rather than ever do that again. In the winter, my ride is all in the dark, so I have blindingly bright lights on my bike, no way someone won't see me. About 1/4 of my ride is on a bicycle path, so I get to see lots of nature, rabbits every day, and there is a homeless camp that provides some entertainment as well. That little bit of exercise in the morning wakes me up and leaves me feeling great coming in to work.
I've bike-commuted to work in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and downtown Chicago. No matter how close you hug the shoulder, how courteous you try to be, a significant minority of auto drivers are insufferable cunts. They will cruise behind you and blast their horn for no reason, cut you off, hurl bottles and invective at you when passing, and cut you off while looking straight at you so you know it wasn't a mistake. At the end of the day their lives are not at all on the line. It's too dangerous, so I only do bike trails now. Yeah, I guess the fat fucks win.
You know, in the early 1900s, there was a major push for the US to pave its roads. A large part of that push came from lobbying by The League of American Wheelmen. That's a bicycle club sonny.