Originally Posted by
hagen2456
Well, if the aim of "advocacy" is to make cycling "normal", I think that stories like this, however fine a morale they may have, will never be what it takes to make schoolkids, elderly and most other people ride a bike. People want themselves and their kids to be (and feel) safe when they ride.
The Dutch didn't revitalize their cycling by telling pretty stories.
The 'Dutch' cycle for a variety of reason. Perhaps the most significant are that the country is geographically flat and relatively small. Population is dense. Therefore trips are easily made-physically. While there is no doubt that the infrastructure helps, simply translating that infrastructure would not provide the same sort of adoption in the US. People winning others over with stories like I posted will. With adoption, infrastructure will follow... The build it and they will come scenario only works for Hollywood...