Do we really want this to be more popular?
"More bikes less cars". It's the sort of phrase we hear often from cycling advocates. Indeed, Bicycle Victoria has been using the ol' "More people cycling more often" for a number of years as their slogan. After all, with so many benefits, getting people out of their cars and onto their bikes can only be a good thing, can't it? Or can it? Certainly, as a car-free transportational and recreational cyclist I know the benefits of cycling both in my own life and it's effect on the environment around me. However, I also worry about what else needs to happen to facilitate this, and what might follow.
Much of what you will read here may appear slightly selfish, but it's worth bearing in mind that most human desires of any kind are motivated by selfishness (or at least self-preservation) at least to some degree -- including many of those put forward as reasons for wanting "more people cycling more often". Bear in mind that I write this not as a new "convert" suddenly feeling guilty about what I've been doing to the world all this time, this is not a motorists whining about cyclists, this is coming from a car-free cyclist for my entire adult life (and indeed before that).
People talk about the environmental benefits of cycling and the reduction of resource consumption. A very notable aim. However, what is often forgotten is that cycling in and of itself, is not the sole solution to all of the world's environmental problems. Yes, it's part of the solution, but there are a whole range of other things that go into living sustainably which go along with it. I'm also a pragmatist. I realised some time ago that cycling was never going to have the mass appeal of driving simply because people generally are afraid of anything that requires any effort (or perceived effort) at all. Personally I think the development of cleaner fuels for cars is going to have a greater impact on saving the environment than any attempts to convert people to cycling.
People talk about cycling reducing traffic congestion, and this appears to be a valid point. After all, one person sitting on a bike takes up far less space than one person driving a big 4WD/SUV. Granted, I'd hate to be the poor bugger who suffered a heart attack and had to wait for an ambulance to get across the Sundale Bridge or anywhere along Bundall Road during the afternoon gridlock, so in that respect, perhaps I can't argue against reduced traffic congestion with any conviction. However, has anyone critically considered the alternative in this case?
Car gridlock may appear intimidating, but for a sprightly and moderately skilled cyclist, it really isn't a problem. Every day my current ride to work takes me along Bundall Road, passing gridlocked cars for several kilometres on end. At the squeeze point at the Sorrento Shops, I actually change lanes, passing between the lanes of traffic, simply because that's where I have more space to pass. Traffic doesn't get much heavier than this, yet the heavy, ponderous nature of the cars these people are driving makes them sitting ducks, easy to evade and pass. If all of these people were on bicycles, I fear that the traffic would be impregnable, even for a cyclist. Take a look at the early stages (i.e the first kilometre or so) of a mass ride like the Brisbane River Ride and you'll get some idea.
While we're on the subject of these mass rides, I've also noticed the skill level that many people have on bicycles and frankly, the thought of many of them taking up cycling without any training or even a clue in most cases is really frightening. Yes, they are also a problem when the get in cars, but that least there is a nominal training and licencing program to govern this to some degree. It's also worth noting that on these mass rides (or the rare occasions when I've used bike paths) I've seen plenty of instances of cycle rage, which bears a staggering resemblence to road rage.
The other thing that frightens me is the infrastructure that would be built to service this. Once there are a heap of unskilled and untrained cyclists on the roads, the government response is likely to be trying to build facilities to deal with it. Now this is all well and good, until a few people start making laws compelling cyclists to use these "facilities" that the government have spent big dollars putting there (this usually happens as soon as the opposition whines about "under-utilised facilities"). It becomes even more scary when one considers the extent to which a lot of these "new" cyclists are likely to support laws aimed at simply "getting cyclists off the road" (we've already had examples of this with the M1 debacle here in Queensland).
Frankly, I have no intention of being forced into using some dumbed-down infrastructure aimed at the above purpose. While The Netherlands is often spoken of as some kind of cycling nirvana by people who have never been there, I'm yet to hear any positive comments about it by people who have attempted to use those facilities for their day to day errands.
Additionally, has anyone considered the benefits of being a small minority, or the consequences of losing these? On slow news days, people in the media like to trot out the old "cyclists don't pay rego fees" as do a small minority of whining motorists. However, if there were ever enough cyclists on the road to make it economically viable, you can be sure such a tax would be implemented in a matter of days. As the only cyclist in my office, I get to use the undercover area to store my bike -- an area usually only reserved for people much higher up the corporate chain than myself. As the only one riding a bike to my local grocery store, I get to lock it up right near the door rather than have to trudge across a carpark, indeed, I've often deliberately "not seen" the bike rack just so I could maintain such a privilege.
So while everyone here seems to be running around trying to convert everyone else to cycling or more often trying to make the government do it for them, my advice is to be careful what you wish for. Make sure what you're asking for is what you really want.
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I am clinically insane. I am proud of it.
That is all.