Originally Posted by
CrankyOne
Agree about shadowing another bicycle rider. Advocacy can have a major impact though. In NYC, Minneapolis, Portland, Indianapolis, Chicago, London, and Barcelona it is advocacy that has led to increasing numbers of protected bikeways which has led to significant increases in the number of people who ride bicycles and to decreases in crashes, injuries, and deaths.
In 1971, Amsterdam and much of The Netherlands was much like other countries - very car centric. It was advocacy that began in 1972 that changed things and that led to their becoming the safest place to ride bicycles and to having the highest number of people who ride. Similar advocacy led to results in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Sweden, Finland, and Germany.
I'm all for advocacy. I plan to be vocal and active regarding this issue.
But joining an advocacy group or shadowing other cyclists (which I've done) did not bring any new ideas to the table for me. They basically agreed with everything I've said here, and were frankly amazed I bike commuted where I did, and full time at that.