D.C. needs to get a lot more car friendly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's weird how much time and energy the city puts into bike lanes that hardly anyone uses, but no one cares that the subway has become basically unusable.

More people used to use the subway in a single day than people who use bike lanes in a year. The subway got far more cars off the streets than all this wishful thinking about bike lanes.

If we cared about the environment, we would focus on fixing the subway.

I like to bike and often bike commute but this is absolutely 100% the case. I wish we wound invest in the metro properly so it was ubiquitous and functional.

I agree..I believe in carrots. If you want people to not drive, probably vide amazing alluring alternatives. Meanwhile, I don't need people circling the block looking for parking - so provide ample parking. Most people would choose an alternative if it were safe cheap and easy .

If you provide ample parking, you will attract more cars. No thanks. Use Uber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's weird how much time and energy the city puts into bike lanes that hardly anyone uses, but no one cares that the subway has become basically unusable.

More people used to use the subway in a single day than people who use bike lanes in a year. The subway got far more cars off the streets than all this wishful thinking about bike lanes.

If we cared about the environment, we would focus on fixing the subway.

I agree with this, even though I ride a bike with some frequency and appreciate protected bike lanes. I think it's an example of how policy often flows to the noisiest constituency. Cyclists in DC are very noisy in terms of agitating for bike infrastructure. That's partly due to a safety issue -- people have died cycling in this city, and it's often due to infrastructure that does nothing to slow or deter dangerous driving. So drivers in this city do absolutely insane things, with impunity, and it's very dangerous to pedestrians and people on bikes. When you fear for your life, you tend to get really loud.

But another reason cyclists are noisy is privilege. The cyclists in DC skew male, white, and well-educated. I happen to agree with a lot of their policy proposals so it's hard to criticize this, but I can't ignore the fact that most of the cycling advocates I know in DC are speaking from a place of privilege. Whereas metro serves a broader constituency, and the people who benefit most from a reliable, affordable, convenient metro network are much poorer and browner than the average DC cyclist.

I wish cyclists in DC would practice more self-awareness about this fact. I'm all for protected bike lanes and street scoping that slows down drivers and protects both pedestrians and cyclists. But I also wish that cycling advocates in the city would speak more about multi-modal infrastructure instead of just focusing on bikes. It's better for cyclists in the end anyway. If you can get more people out of cars and not metro cars or buses, the streets will be safer for cyclists and pedestrians. It's a win-win. You do not need to convince everyone to do a bike commute in order to make cyclists safer, and making cycling safer will also make it more appealing to more people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

Something tells me that they are not dropping their kids at soccer practice, picking up dry cleaning and then making a Costco run on their bicycles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's weird how much time and energy the city puts into bike lanes that hardly anyone uses, but no one cares that the subway has become basically unusable.

More people used to use the subway in a single day than people who use bike lanes in a year. The subway got far more cars off the streets than all this wishful thinking about bike lanes.

If we cared about the environment, we would focus on fixing the subway.

I like to bike and often bike commute but this is absolutely 100% the case. I wish we wound invest in the metro properly so it was ubiquitous and functional.

I agree..I believe in carrots. If you want people to not drive, probably vide amazing alluring alternatives. Meanwhile, I don't need people circling the block looking for parking - so provide ample parking. Most people would choose an alternative if it were safe cheap and easy .

If you provide ample parking, you will attract more cars. No thanks. Use Uber.

Has this been proven? I have no desire to drive. That doesn't change based on parking availability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

Something tells me that they are not dropping their kids at soccer practice, picking up dry cleaning and then making a Costco run on their bicycles

It doesn’t just have to be bicycles. Walking is pretty great! So are buses and metros and trams. And yes, people in Neth ride bikes to soccer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

Something tells me that they are not dropping their kids at soccer practice, picking up dry cleaning and then making a Costco run on their bicycles

It doesn’t just have to be bicycles. Walking is pretty great! So are buses and metros and trams. And yes, people in Neth ride bikes to soccer

Yes, a lot of people in the Netherlands bicycle. But don’t over sell it. A lot of people in the Netherlands have cars. And obviously a lot have both and use which ever is the most convenient for their needs for a specific purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

Something tells me that they are not dropping their kids at soccer practice, picking up dry cleaning and then making a Costco run on their bicycles

It doesn’t just have to be bicycles. Walking is pretty great! So are buses and metros and trams. And yes, people in Neth ride bikes to soccer

Yes, a lot of people in the Netherlands bicycle. But don’t over sell it. A lot of people in the Netherlands have cars. And obviously a lot have both and use which ever is the most convenient for their needs for a specific purpose.

Netherlands have higher per capita car ownership than France, UK or Ireland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

People in th US do to, but not with 4 kids and all their hockey equipment, or the child's expensive double bass, or lugging thier child's wheelchair which they'll need at their destination, etc etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

Something tells me that they are not dropping their kids at soccer practice, picking up dry cleaning and then making a Costco run on their bicycles

It doesn’t just have to be bicycles. Walking is pretty great! So are buses and metros and trams. And yes, people in Neth ride bikes to soccer

Yes, I'll walk from Silver Spring to Oakton for that 6 a.m. swim meet.

[Anonymous]

And here I was thinking we needed to make cities more pedestrian-friendly: as in, no shootings or muggings, low-cost efficient public transport, etc...

But sure, go with the pollution option. History will not be on your side.

[Anonymous]

Move to Detroit. It is the most amazing city for driving. So so so easy to drive anywhere and what defroiters call traffic, I call “Saturday on the beltway.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's weird how much time and energy the city puts into bike lanes that hardly anyone uses, but no one cares that the subway has become basically unusable.

More people used to use the subway in a single day than people who use bike lanes in a year. The subway got far more cars off the streets than all this wishful thinking about bike lanes.

If we cared about the environment, we would focus on fixing the subway.

I agree with this, even though I ride a bike with some frequency and appreciate protected bike lanes. I think it's an example of how policy often flows to the noisiest constituency. Cyclists in DC are very noisy in terms of agitating for bike infrastructure. That's partly due to a safety issue -- people have died cycling in this city, and it's often due to infrastructure that does nothing to slow or deter dangerous driving. So drivers in this city do absolutely insane things, with impunity, and it's very dangerous to pedestrians and people on bikes. When you fear for your life, you tend to get really loud.

But another reason cyclists are noisy is privilege. The cyclists in DC skew male, white, and well-educated. I happen to agree with a lot of their policy proposals so it's hard to criticize this, but I can't ignore the fact that most of the cycling advocates I know in DC are speaking from a place of privilege. Whereas metro serves a broader constituency, and the people who benefit most from a reliable, affordable, convenient metro network are much poorer and browner than the average DC cyclist.

I wish cyclists in DC would practice more self-awareness about this fact. I'm all for protected bike lanes and street scoping that slows down drivers and protects both pedestrians and cyclists. But I also wish that cycling advocates in the city would speak more about multi-modal infrastructure instead of just focusing on bikes. It's better for cyclists in the end anyway. If you can get more people out of cars and not metro cars or buses, the streets will be safer for cyclists and pedestrians. It's a win-win. You do not need to convince everyone to do a bike commute in order to make cyclists safer, and making cycling safer will also make it more appealing to more people.

I don’t really understand this view- if someone wants to advocate for bike lanes because that is what they would
Use, what is wrong with that? Not everyone has to bike for bike infrastructure to benefit people. If ten people bike then that is ten fewer cars on the road. It’s basic geometry that that is a better use of space.

For the record, I would love more bike infrastructure and I am a female who has three kids that I would absolutely bike more places if it was safer to do so. I also think we need to be much bolder on things like bus lanes. I don’t have time to advocate for any of this but appreciate the (yes, mostly white and male) constituencies that do. Doesn’t mean I won’t benefit just because I am a different demographic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

People in th US do to, but not with 4 kids and all their hockey equipment, or the child's expensive double bass, or lugging thier child's wheelchair which they'll need at their destination, etc etc. etc.

Ah good point. If everyone can’t use alternative transport in every single situation then we should not offer any alternative transportation at all. I can walk my kids the theee blocks to school but because their teacher lives in the suburbs and drives there shouldn’t be any sidewalks at all. And I can bike my kid in a cargo bike five miles away but I shouldn’t buy a cargo bike because he might have hockey practice at soem point in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we should do the opposite. Discourage car use. I am serious.

100% agree
-- bike commuter

As if everyone can ride a bike, lol.

Most people can

Sure, most people can ride a bike, but that doesn't mean a bike is the preferred means of transportation for most people, especially those with families who often have to make multi-stop errands.

Most of the bicycle people don’t have young kids, know people with disabilities, etc. They don’t envisage that there are people that have very different transportation needs than they do.

People in the Netherlands bike with young kids all the time.

People in th US do to, but not with 4 kids and all their hockey equipment, or the child's expensive double bass, or lugging thier child's wheelchair which they'll need at their destination, etc etc. etc.

Ah good point. If everyone can’t use alternative transport in every single situation then we should not offer any alternative transportation at all. I can walk my kids the theee blocks to school but because their teacher lives in the suburbs and drives there shouldn’t be any sidewalks at all. And I can bike my kid in a cargo bike five miles away but I shouldn’t buy a cargo bike because he might have hockey practice at soem point in the future.

Do you understand that you are proposing exactly the opposite for which you are criticizing? Have some self-awareness.