Dave Cutter

I wouldn't accept the idea that bike-only is "losing". That references present tense. I'd say history shows that the bike-only chance was blow (past tense) about a hundred years ago. Bicycles are more than a mature technology... bicycles are old stuff. Solutions for tomorrows problems will be found in tomorrows technology. Historically.... that is always how it works.

katsrevenge

Well, going by the local crowds... I noticed a heck of a lot more bikes on the roads that did not look like just recreational riders when gas was pricey. I still see a lot of bikes. I'm in PA and I saw bikes ALL winter, too. And no, not just the DUI crowd.

Energy is going to get more pricey. Gas in the US is already artificially inexpensive thanks to subsidies and whatnot. I don't see it getting any cheaper and really expect it to rise again. That's just a given.

But yes. You are right about the rest. Cheap bikes are fine for most riders for short rides though. Street clothes work for most of the world..they will be fine. How sweaty do you get on a 5 mile ride? I don't get sweaty... Even in jeans.

Explain the biking culture in Minnesota.

I-Like-To-Bike

Biking Culture? Don't make me laff. What percentage of Minnesota's commuters are riding a bike every day to their job (or anywhere else) in the winter regardless of the weather conditions? How many more Minnesota citizens do you think are ready to embrace any "culture" that allegedly includes riding a bike to commute in their winter conditions?

kickstart

But will the typical vehicle be the same 10, 20, 50 years from now? Obviously not, and will likely evolve to eliminate or minimize their current liabilities.

Flat lander?
I embrace the lessons the dutch teach us about using a bicycle as a vehicle, but long and/or steep hills equal sweat. There's no way around it for many folks. That said, there's practical, and IMO, better options than road or even cycling specific gear in most instances.

Blue Belly

im not talking about the natural rises in fuel costs. I'm talking about people saying we should raise fuel costs as an incentive for poeple to ride bicycles. How is that any better than oil companies gouging us because they can?
if you can do my 7 mile commute w/o sweating. Maybe I can get you in touch with a manager at SKY. They are always looking for superhuman climbers.

genec

With regard to the weather in various locations in the world... including San Diego and Minnesota... Oulu, Finland is near the arctic circle, and has a cycling modal share of some 22% in the winter... and 27% in the warmer months.

Oulu, Finland: Winter cycling capital of the world | Winter Cycling Blog

Denmark and Amsterdam are also at much higher latitudes than San Diego and Minnesota. Yeah, winter is no doubt the reason so many people don't bike in those well known cycling areas.

Northwestrider

Provide several centrally located places to keep a bike that is fairly safe during a trip to a city

dynodonn 

It will take more than a 10 to 15 minute difference to pull people out of their cars and onto a bicycle. I would say that a 45 to 60 minute difference in favor of the bicycle would be more of an enticement, but even then, only to a small percentage of US drivers.

SalsaShark

To the OP, my answer is to keep riding my bike and hope a jealous onlooker decides to start doing the same.

JoeyBike

Ever seen "The Road Warrior" with Mel Gibson? Notice any bicycles in that movie?

After the last drop of gas is burned up someone who is in love with cars MIGHT ride a bicycle to work.

njkayaker

22% in 2009.
​44% in 1962.



You aren't being honest here.

Latitude isn't the issue.

B. Carfree

[QUOTE=njkayaker;17730253]
​I believe they started putting in all their "bikey" infrastructure in the '70s. I guess we can add this to the growing list of places that have seen substantial declines in cycling modal share after adding segregated bikey infrastructure.

njkayaker

Maybe, there would have been a greater decline without the infrastructure.
Maybe, infrastructure increases riding if riding is at a low rate.

dynodonn 

It could be due in part of following a national trend, with cars of today becoming more like rolling living rooms than their more spartan counterparts of 50+ years ago, along with roads being more designed to accommodate motor vehicle travel.

genec

We all know "the car is king..." people are generally lazy, dumb, panicky animals... if offered a way to overcome the burden of work, most people go that route. Individual people can be smart and forward thinking, and seek to excel at things they enjoy. Which why we don't have a whole population of runners/cyclists/athletes... folks enjoy their rolling couches and watching others do work.

That said, we don't have to limit our environment to just that lazy majority... again, just 10% of folks out there not driving cars would be a vast improvement in space on the roadways and parking lots. Right now, places with little cycling infrastructure can't even get a 2% modal share of cyclists. Places with decent cycling infrastructure get double, triple and even 5X the cyclists.

I see a few posters here that say to do nothing... and a few others that just criticize anything put forward. They are avoiding the title of the thread and just want to be negative.

Once more, what would you do to to increase bicycle ridership in the US? That is all this thread is about.

wphamilton

The problem with that is what exactly would be causing that 45 to 60 minute difference. I have a coworker from an area in India that he says takes an hour or longer to drive into town, over a distance I could cover biking in 15 minutes. But there are few if any bicycles. It's too much a madhouse.

Time isn't really the controlling factor. Convenience is, and the time it takes is a part of that, but just part.

I-Like-To-Bike

Some posters are reading and responding to the content of your OP and subsequent posts rather than just the title of the OP.
Ya know, like your disparaging gross generalizations and assumptions about all those people who are not runners/cyclists/athletes like yourself and "are generally lazy, dumb, panicky animals...folks enjoy their rolling couches and watching others do work."

Other than preaching to the choir of people who share your attitude about people who do not match your cycling profile who do you expect to respond positively to your bicycling advocacy message?

I-Like-To-Bike

You are not going to convince a single person in the U.S. to ride a bike anywhere by quoting stats of cycling modal share in cycling capitals in other hemispheres of the globe.

dynodonn 

I agree, since I stated that the time factor would only entice a small percentage of drivers....... having minimal or no interactions with automobile traffic would entice another small percentage.

wphamilton

It may not convince motorists to switch to bicycles, but it does prove that it is feasible in those conditions and removes one of the objections standing in the way of measures that might work.

genec

Exactly... It is quite amazing that really every negative situation that is put forth for why we cannot increase cycling in America is countered in some other location quite well... In some cases, those situations are overcome by a few cities right here in the US.

I-Like-To-Bike

Which city successfully overcame a bicycling advocacy based on sanctimonious/smug proselytizers trying to convince people, whom they openly held in contempt, to change their commuting behavior or their attitudes towards funding enhancements for bicycle commuting?

PaulH

The last time there was a major increase in cycling was the 1970s bike boom. It's important to realize that the perception of cycling was different back then, First of all, cycling was not considered to be, or promoted as, exercise. That was a good thing, because nobody was interested in exercise back then. (They still are not, but today, they lie about it.) Most of the bikes sold were much more convenient to use than most of today's models. However, driving a car in a city was much more practical back then, so there were limits on mode share. Still the lessons of the 1970s are, i think, valid. I think most bicycle advocacy is counterproductive. I also think cycling culture and tradition are toxic. Several things, in particular are harmful:

1 The fitness/health angle. Nobody cares about that. It comes across as a ceaseless nagging to "eat your vegetables." People hate that.
2 The green thing. People assume that "green" products are inconvenient and inferior.
3 The "boy mechanic" bit. People don't want to learn to fix flats or adjust brakes. They want bikes that are as durable and low maintenance as modern cars.The are fine with taking it to the shop once or twice a year, but they don't want to tinker.
4 Pushing for showers at work sends a message that cycling inherently requires more exertion than walking and puts it in the same category as high school gym class. Fail.
5 The "save money" bit. You can save lots of money if parking is a few hundred dollars a month, or if the environment is destructive to cars (the salt-filled NE winters.) Otherwise, for many people, savings are modest.

On the other hand, not having to circle the block for twenty minutes to find a parking spot is a cycling benefit. So is being able to keep your car longer because it is not driven in snow and salt (I've had the same car for nearly thirty years). If properly set up, bikes are far more practical than cars in the winter for trips of up to 5-10 miles.

People want something more convenient and practical than driving. If cycling can't provide this, even with the best equipment, as is true in many rural, suburban, or low-density urban areas, any advocacy is a waste of time. On the other hand, wasted advocacy is better than counterproductive advocacy.

Rollfast

12, 93...not happening anyway. I live in a small town in the first place.

Rollfast

Facts of life...no place to tie up your hoss.

Fact two: If bikes were just a little more 'neat-o' and in greater numbers...

but then again, I'm a cruiser nut. Either that or you find more good looking road bikes from Europe and Asia and convince kids not to cut all the good stuff off.

Oh well, the people who pay the most attention to my bikes are usually older and not up to it and skateboarders. When you don't mind using all your energy to push a big board with tiny wheels all day I guess you appreciate the old stuff.