Hi all. How easy is it to be car free in Austin? I'm car free regrdless as I don't own a car but can anyone compare the bikeing in Austin to say Minneapolis (lived in Mpls for many years)? Currently living in Colorado planning on getting out in the spring and plan on checking out other cities as time/money allows this winter. thanks!

Austin is the most bike friendly city in Texas. Lots of bikes on the roads.

http://eastaustinite.com/2008/07/03/is-austin-really-bike-friendly/

I thought austin would be a better cycling city but it really isnt. Unless you are mainly in the downtown area, i wouldnt bet on it. There are a lot of cyclist on the roads i think but they are training on the rural roads. And in downtown....cars arent going very fast and there are a lot of bikes and scooters so they are always aware..for the most part

If you live downtown you won't have too many problems being car free. I live in North Austin and it isn't very bike friendly to travel to the downtown area.

This fall the light rail is going to start running with bike racks and it has a stop a block from me so there will soon be car free options for other parts of the city as well. Also most of the buses are equiped with bike racks but its first come first serve.

I bet Lance hates riding in Austin

I bet Lance hates riding in Austin

He said in an interview that there are alot of times when he is afraid to ride because of the crazy drivers here.

What Lance said is this:

"There are times I ride in Austin, and I'm afraid of cars," Armstrong said. "Imagine what the beginner cyclist must feel like? I think (Mayor) Will Wynn's dream was this whole revitalization of downtown, which we're getting, but it's going to make it a lot easier if people can get around on bikes."

Doesn't seem he was saying Austin drivers and traffic is any more crazy than elsewhere.

Thanks for he replies. It's appreciated, I've always been under the impression that Austin was pretty bike friendly, haven't been there since the arly 90's tho and then I was a total walker and bus rider and didn't pay much attention to bikes.

Austin has an excellent bus system. All city buses have racks on front. If you are patient enough to ride the bus then you will be just fine. For biking, use this map from the City of Austin.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle/downloads/bicycle%20map_07.pdf

The bike racks on the buses that drive the popular routes can often be full. They only carry 2 bikes.

Anyone know how many bike racks are going to be on the MetroRail?

I have noticed a turn for the worse in Austin. I hate to say it, but L.A. types abound these days and most of my run ins are with the BMW/Mercedes crowd. Bright side, the weather is great, if a bit hot, and I rarely get rained on. And where is Lance when we need a bike advocate? Hell, I went to Milwaukee a while back, bike paths everywhere...

more ppl from texas move to austin than californians. and i believe austin is the car crash capital of america. add to that zero bike lanes on important streets. austin is a horrible place to ride compared to some other non "bicycle" cities.

I guess I am pretty well confined to urban riding only in the UT Campus, Hyde Park, and downtown areas, where the roads are small enough and speed limits low enough that not having a bike lane isn't a huge deal, but I understand why that would suck if you lived up north, or on riverside or something.

Bad side about UT campus area is we got all those damn Drag-rat hipsters riding around on their old school fixies. What a bunch of tools. Counter-culture my ass.

If you can find a place near central Austin UT (can be tough to do), you might be able to go car free - I did 25 years ago in grad school. If you end up anywhere else, I suspect it will prove difficult.

Car free in Austin ranges from easy to impossible, depending on the exact locations of your residence, your job, and all the places you have to run errands.

The biggest problem for many would-be car free people in Austin is that every few years a job change or an employer relocation moves your job to the other side of town or to an inaccessible suburban area. If you don't have a strategy for dealing with that, any attempt to be car free will likely be short lived.

Oh, you'll also have to deal with long, hot, humid summers.