tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post2396143821912415804..comments2024-02-24T06:21:30.987+01:00Comments on A view from the cycle path: Identifying true mass cycling and achieving true mass cyclingDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-650250671174872202014-03-17T06:17:31.125+01:002014-03-17T06:17:31.125+01:00David, I appreciate that positive campaigning is g...David, I appreciate that positive campaigning is generally the most effective way to approach infrastructure change, but even a well-executed positive campaign can fail in the face of the strong opposition we often face (USA in my case.)<br /><br />It's not just hostile attitudes that are a challenge, but in some cases organized obstruction and negative campaigns. Some people will steadfastlyChris Bonnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00928862715207098318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-89640731125788245742014-03-07T10:01:54.503+01:002014-03-07T10:01:54.503+01:00David: It's difficult to be one person fightin...David: It's difficult to be one person fighting against everyone and I understand your frustration.<br /><br />However, businesses being scare of losing revenue if cars are restricted is not something which is limited to Sunnyvale. As you might imagine, there were similar worries expressed <a href="http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/search/label/the%20second%20revolution" rel="nofollow">David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-48534492896435491152014-03-06T22:09:01.681+01:002014-03-06T22:09:01.681+01:00Just to prove I'm not complaining about nothin...Just to prove I'm not complaining about nothing, here's an example of a response from the City of Sunnyvale:<br /><br /><i>Dear David Moore,<br /><br />Thank you very much for contacting the City with your ideas regarding Murphy Street. By "pedestrianization", I assume you mean closure of the street to motor vehicles. The City Council formally considered the idea of partial orDavidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10978545932492449181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-65741492806216321422014-03-05T19:37:47.492+01:002014-03-05T19:37:47.492+01:00I alternate between hope and despair when reading ...I alternate between hope and despair when reading your blog! My hope comes from the possibility that building safe, enticing bicycle infrastructure will dramatically raise the bicycle modal share (and conincidentally decrease the automobile modal share). <br /><br />However, I do think you underestimate the interplay between culture and infrastructure, and the inertia that this creates. As a Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10978545932492449181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-68378649052631260892014-03-05T11:25:24.536+01:002014-03-05T11:25:24.536+01:00Easy: If you ask anyone of any nationality, includ...Easy: If you ask anyone of any nationality, including Dutch, whether they like the idea of "taking away lanes or parking or connectedness from automobiles" then you will find they offer you very little support. No-one wants to lose anything.<br /><br />On the other hand you can offer them town centres which are more pleasant places to visit, which are quiet and have clean air, in which David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-47854767896226774402014-03-05T09:13:47.639+01:002014-03-05T09:13:47.639+01:00David: Sorry if I'm missing the point, I am tr...David: Sorry if I'm missing the point, I am trying hard. :-) In a built-up city adding the infrastructure for subjectively safe cycling necessarily means taking away lanes or parking or connectedness from automobiles. What are the advantages that one presents to people who don't currently bike? That once the infrastructure goes in they will feel comfortable biking? Or that even if they Easyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16866492675957198702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-4104826930005865842014-03-04T23:54:31.167+01:002014-03-04T23:54:31.167+01:00Edas: Very clever finding the local government web...Edas: Very clever finding the local government website, though it's not hidden, you know. However, if you somehow think that telling me how few spaces for car parking there are proves I'm "wrong" then you've very much missed the point.<br /><br />I live here, I've seen what's going on, and I can tell you how it actually is.<br /><br />There are indeed not so many David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-14701171211465813622014-03-04T23:09:54.666+01:002014-03-04T23:09:54.666+01:00David, when talking about parking policy you are c...David, when talking about parking policy you are completely wrong. <br />Even in such a small town as Assen parking is either far away from entrance to the destination (means inconvenient), or it is restricted in maximum parking time, so it is not occupied by commuters, it is used only by shoppers.<br />Here everyone can look at official pricing and compare all the places at the garages with the Edashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02744206281185947840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-70919129885711966892014-03-03T22:09:46.657+01:002014-03-03T22:09:46.657+01:00It's that thing where the usual health and saf...It's that thing where the usual health and safety here that we can't question, when it comes to cars, has been questioned and overridden. At the expense of all the things we know to be wrong with transportation in most of the western world. It's like transportationally we have open sewers and live wires all around us.<br />The Dutch said, this is what we need to do and did it. People Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15114021090500627567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-74242017669593206742014-03-03T18:17:15.975+01:002014-03-03T18:17:15.975+01:00Easy: what makes you imagine that Dutch drivers wo...Easy: what makes you imagine that Dutch drivers wouldn't react in the same way ? Do you then there were no words spoken against <a href="http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/search/label/the%20second%20revolution" rel="nofollow">the huge second transformation made to Dutch streets during the 20th century</a> ?<br /><br />That's what this blog post is about and I'm afraid you've David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-12230235062872080432014-03-03T17:55:00.099+01:002014-03-03T17:55:00.099+01:00vvDrivers in the U.S. & Canada would consider ...vvDrivers in the U.S. & Canada would consider any unravelling of streets, where some are made non-through streets to make them better for biking, to be restricting their choice. They would protest the removal of car parking or a travel lane to add a cycletrack as harsh treatment against them.Easyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16866492675957198702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-53862622228566738862014-03-02T20:48:27.492+01:002014-03-02T20:48:27.492+01:00dr2chase: Streets in the centre of the city have b...dr2chase: Streets in the centre of the city have <a href="http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/search/label/the%20second%20revolution" rel="nofollow">been transformed to be far more useful for cycling</a>, but there is absolutely nothing at all which stops anyone from driving there if they want to.<br /><br />Similarly, the <a href="http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2011/05/David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-65649779444954276832014-03-02T20:32:14.138+01:002014-03-02T20:32:14.138+01:00I would suggest that parking is free because the D...I would suggest that parking is free because the Dutch have chosen their bottlenecks wisely. As I understand it, roads in cities are designed to deny (or perhaps, to not supply) the most direct routes to automobiles, reserving those instead for bicycles and pedestrians. It's sort of a rule that the capacity of a transport route is determined by its narrowest bottleneck; in quite a few dr2chasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16320828055999939449noreply@blogger.com