
How to get a city cycling - CapitalistCartr
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150324-how-to-get-a-city-cycling
======
dreamdu5t
> The number of cyclist deaths per 100 million kilometres cycled is 5.8 in the
> United States and 3.6 in the UK. In contrast, a cycling-happy country like
> Germany has a rate of just 1.7 deaths; and in Denmark it's 1.5 – four times
> safer than in the US and twice as safe as in the UK. And cycling is even
> safer in the Netherlands, with just 1.1 deaths per 100 million kilometres on
> the road. It appears that the more cycling is encouraged and taken up, the
> safer it becomes[2]

This conclusion is specious and these statistics are misleading as they do not
account for vehicle exposure. If you travel 1,000 kilometers on a bike and
never pass a car, obviously you can't get killed by one. I'm aware of no
studies that account for vehicle exposure. Anyone who has been to the
countries with low cycle death rates will know that vehicle exposure is far
less than is typical in any American city.

EDIT: I don't understand why I'm receiving so many downvotes for this
comment... HN has gotten bad lately.

~~~
kd5bjo
I would expect causation to flow the other way, actually: make cycling safer
and more people will be willing to do it.

~~~
npsimons
Also, the implications of GP, if true, seem to be obvious to me: reduce the
number of cars on the road to make cycling safer. Seems like a win-win to me.

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maurits
Glaring omission in the article: Traffic laws that protect the weaker
participants in traffic.

I do 7000k a year commuting alone, but there will be certain places I will
never cycle.

Contrast this onboard video from New Zealand showing a car hitting a cyclist
and the police response [1], with a car right hooking 4 cyclists and causing a
"bruised knee" in the Netherlands [2].

[1]:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEgXQIAyGF8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEgXQIAyGF8)

[2]:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeJ-d86pKsw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeJ-d86pKsw)

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hongquan
More cities will have to consider cycling infrastructure if they want to have
happy and healthy residents. We're finally seeing changes in major American
cities and it's great!

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chrismealy
I've learned a lot from these two bike blogs:

[https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/](https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/)

[http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/](http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/)

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Runcowboy
I used to cycle in Dublin until I got knocked off my bike and constantly
aggressed/verbally abused by taxis and busses. There just isn't space on the
road for cyclists and motorists to go safely. Pity.

~~~
borgia
When I lived in Dublin I cycled to commute. Never had any issues real issues
except for oblivious people pulling out in front of me or similar. YMMV I
suppose.

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the-dude
Here is my beautiful city :
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlIBLQkxrbA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlIBLQkxrbA)

And this video isn't even crowded yet : during rush hour we have cross
sections with 100+ cyclists per red-green-cycle.

Everybody just watches each other : pedestrians, cyclist and vehicles.

~~~
TillE
At least in my experience, the Netherlands is by far the best country for
cyclists.

Other European cities have inconsistent and often partially blocked bike lanes
with people frequently riding on the sidewalk, but in Amsterdam you have
clearly defined, reliable bike lanes everywhere. It reduces the amount of
stress for everyone, including pedestrians.

~~~
the-dude
Sometimes it is clearly defined, but Shared Space (
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space)
) is used a lot as well.

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imperialdrive
I'm warming up to the SF cycle scene -
[http://butterlap.com/](http://butterlap.com/) was a lot of fun last night!

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biehl
This guy works full time on getting cities cycling
[http://www.copenhagenize.com/](http://www.copenhagenize.com/)

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jkot
I would not put nordic countries as an example. They taxed cars to oblivion
without providing much alternative. Its freezing cold in there.

~~~
MBlume
Is that a bad thing? In the US, cars take up enormous amounts of space which
their users don't pay anything for.

~~~
jkot
Parking in NY is pretty expensive.

~~~
MBlume
Yes, NY is one of the only places in the US where you're likely to
consistently pay for the space your car takes up when it's at rest, which is
awesome, and which other cities should emulate. Unfortunately, you still don't
have congestion taxes to pay for the space you take up in motion.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congestion_pricing_in_New_York...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congestion_pricing_in_New_York_City)

~~~
jkot
_Each state requires an annual registration fee which varies from state to
state._

 _The state of New York, on the other hand, charges a tax based on the vehicle
's weight, rather than on its value, which is charged at the time of
registration renewal._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_tax#United_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_tax#United_States)

~~~
MBlume
Sure, but if you drive your vehicle down the highway, you're taking up cheap
real estate; if you drive your vehicle into Manhattan, you're using _really
freaking expensive_ real estate, and you should pay more for it.

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guard-of-terra
That's nice if you live in temperature optimum, but many places are too hot or
too cold to cycle year round.

(Some are also too large)

~~~
masklinn
> That's nice if you live in temperature optimum, but many places are too hot
> or too cold to cycle year round.

You'd probably be surprised. It does certainly take a bigger amount of
dedication than I have, but David Beazley's been cycling through Chicago
winters (until he cracked a rib earlier this month:
[https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/570348015401050112](https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/570348015401050112)
kept him off for almost a week:
[https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/574891782498041857](https://twitter.com/dabeaz/status/574891782498041857))
as for too hot to ride, it's really a matter of good hydration (and
physiology, some people can't handle heat at all, but that's cycling or not so
they probably know themselves)

~~~
pavel_lishin
I'd say that it's also very much a matter of whether you have a shower near
your place of work.

I would have to ride eight miles, about 45 minutes - which is pretty close to
my current commute - but I'd arrive sweaty and in need of a change of clothes
at minimum.

Gonna have to join a nearby gym this spring.

~~~
BorgHunter
I have a commute of about the same length which I do by bike. You do have to
change clothes, yes, but provided you wear deodorant, odor isn't likely to be
an issue.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Jokingly: check your sweat privilege.

Seriously: I sweat _a lot_. I might have to apply deodorant all over after
riding, and that's definitely not healthy.

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darklajid
For me the first step is easy:

\- Stealing a bike is a capital crime

\- Capital crimes are .. punished as such

(Naa.. I'm not seriously suggesting to hang bike thieves, although I have
commented about that in the past and certainly wished that this would happen
to the persons who stole all my bikes so far. Maybe "Twice as much as for
copyright infringements" would be okay? German cinemas try hard to educate the
paying customers that you might get up to 5 years in prison for these
offenses. So .. what about 'up to 10 years for stealing a bike'?)

