Originally Posted by
bragi
I tend to agree with you. Most of the people I see bicycling belong to one of two categories:
1. College-age people, or
2. People in their 40's or 50's.
I've seen more scooters lately, but, overwhelmingly, these, too, are ridden by people in their early twenties.
Among teenagers, the car is still king. Just today, I did an informal poll among my students to see if they'd be willing to use scooters, public transportation or bicycles to get around instead of cars, and the overwhelming consensus was that, if you were old enough to have a car and didn't have one, you were a total loser. When I pressed them, suggesting that gas prices might make a car unaffordable in the near future, the list of transportation options, in order of attractiveness, was:
1. scooter/motorcycle
2. bus
3. walking
4. bicycle
Most were willing to concede that fuel prices could force them onto a scooter, which about 3/4 considered tolerable if necessary. Every single one of them, though, said they hated the idea of riding a bicycle. It wasn't so much the sweat and bother, but the "dork factor." In particular, they hated the idea of being seen wearing a bike helmet.
I believe you are correct. A lot of teens and even people in their twenties would rather get mooch rides -even from their parents instead of going by bicycle. When I was a teen and a young man, getting a ride from parents was the pinnacle of being uncool.
I know a young fellow in his early twenties. A little down on his luck, living with his pregnant girlfriend. HHe didn't have a car, so his girlfriend gave him rides everywhere including to/from work.
I gave him a bike that I personally tuned-up and made road worthy (lights, fenders, etc). I suggested that he might need it for when the car might break down or when the baby comes and his girlfriend can't drive him.
Guess what. His girlfriend left him. With no car, he didn't ride the bike to work - he just chose not to go to work. Just blew it off and never went back. He got himself a new girlfriend who has a car and then got a new job - where the new girlfriend drops him off and picks him up every day. The bicycle remains locked to the post in front of his apartment, slowly rusting.
Some folks right here in America have a way of thinking about transportation that is just far away from mine. That said, my neighbor kids who are now in their teens and twenties DO bicycle everywhere, so we have to be careful with stereotyping.