Originally Posted by
Ekdog
That may well be true in the States, but there is some excellent cycling infrastructure here in Europe. I don't think the answer for Americans is just to give in. You have to demand that things be done right if you ever want to see massive numbers of people cycling.
There's a populism culture right now in the US that is threatening cycling growth by pretending to support it via petitions, fundraising, etc. What they do is, instead of insisting on bike infrastructure as a fundamental need, they promote the idea that if enough people show enough support (via signatures, money contributions, etc.), then (and only then) will action be taken to expand the infrastructure. What this does is, by default, give power to those who fail to support cycling by counting their silence as it fails to contribute to the number of signatures or monetary contributions for these campaigns.
What is needed is an appeal to the constitutional spirit of the US. not popular sovereignty. Only once we accept that automotivism has impaired the freedom to use other modes of transportation will the ethic of freedom be invoked to require bike lanes on all roads, bike paths through motor-free areas, etc. Until then, automotivism is trying to be the default totalitarian culture by insisting that people are indeed free to choose other modes but they just don't want to.
The only reason people don't want to is because they've become conditioned to accept they only have one choice. As one friend told me, "driving is just something you do. It's not optional." I believe this is how most US residents view driving and why they view car-free reforms as futile. It's totalitarianism at the level of individual minds despite freedom and democracy at the level of governmental ideology.