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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%.
to get ahead since companies don't really give raises anymore, that means you can't really live within biking distance unless you're really, really lucky. Doesn't help that people usually hate cyclists with a passion, and that's if they see them. I've been run off the road more than once by somebody completely oblivious to my existence.
And of course most cities don't have money for bike paths. No joke, there's several places in my city where there's a path going out but not coming _back_. And a lot of times the bike path has just eroded away and there's no money to restore it.
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Motorcycle safety Quote:
... Motorcycle rider deaths were nearly 30 times more than drivers of other vehicles. Motorcycle riders aged below 40 are 36 times more likely to be killed than other vehicle operators of the same age."
"Per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists' risk of a fatal crash is 35 times greater than a passenger car.
Not worth it unless you have a death wish. Also what are you supposed to do in the summer when its hot and humid already in the morning? Get to work and be soaked with sweat? Plus around here we have these things called hills. Some of which are over 20% grade.
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We’ve been doing that for decades here in the Netherlands.
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>"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 :)
Does any leader of the US congress or the US government commute to work by bicycle?
900K bicycle commuters. Out of 150 million commuters. yeah, a 0.6% sliver of the commuters are going to get ignored - there simply isn't enough incentive to pay attention to their needs.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
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.
American towns & roads weren't designed with cyclists or pedestrians in mind, they were designed for the exclusive use of cars. It's an interesting exercise to attempt to retrofit US towns & cities to try to make them safer & more pleasant for cyclists but the fact remains, the distances, roads, etc., are mostly unsuitable. Also, most American towns are butt ugly, dirty, dangerous places to be without the protection of being inside a car. Yes, there are exceptions & congratulations to those lucky people who live in those areas.
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It's dangerous enough in Melbourne, I'll be *DAMNED* if I would *EVER* consider riding a bike on the roads in your country. That's some seriously dangerous roads.
I imagine most of it's telecommuting. I'd guess there's significant overlap between bike-friendly employers and remote-friendly employers.
Let me know next time you have to do 32C+ for, say, seven months straight. Which is a mild summer for Tampa....
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I bike because driving in SoCal is a shitshow. I've got to where I hate even being in a car, when I have to Uber. Luckily the weather makes that rare. I sold my truck am 400/month richer for that, and I don't have to play asshole roulette on the freeway anymore.
As an added bonus, I get to give people shit when they say they want the government to do something about global warming, while they burn 80 gallons of gas every month.
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.
My town (northern AZ) is well-equipped with bike lanes, but we also have a lot of roundabouts, which are relatively new in the state as a whole. Drivers here know that the bike lanes do not continue through roundabouts; bikers are supposed to merge in-line through each roundabout. Unfortunately tourists do not know this, and as a result cyclists are steadily being selected out of the road population. But be warned, for they are evolving the ability to shoot back.
Yeah, usually. And I bring a fresh T-Shirt. But if there were no showers at work, I could just change the T-Shirt and apply some deodorant. It depends on distance, how fast you are cycling, the weather and how well your clothes are adjusted to the weather.
The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head
her 18 year old son couldn't walk from his high school to his job after school because of traffic safety in Clearwater, FL. She tells me that it's dangerous to cross the street.
I asked her "Have you taught him to look both ways before crossing?"
She said "You wouldn't believe this scooter accident we saw there recently"
I pointed out "He probably didn't look both ways"
People don't walk not just because of laziness but because they're scared of EVERYTHING. And they pass it down to their kids. I've been crossing streets for 40 years and never once have I had a problem. I've crossed the street she mentioned many times growing up and even recently when visiting. I can't understand how with nearly a full kilometer of visibility in all traffic directions how it could possibly be dangerous to cross the street.
But this is America today. America has chosen to stop living because they have too much fear of getting hurt.
To be fair, most of those came while racing - not on his trip to work. He now works from home :)
And he races less now, mostly doing things like hosting foreign racers at his house and riding in chase vehicles to feed his addiction... he's a good guy, just nuts.
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