The one who pedals is better than the one who drives! :-)

[pagheca]

I have been reading a lot about sustainable mobility, also for some volunteer work I do in my job. And I found this interesting article about how urban mobility behaviour (cycling and car use) is related to orientation towards the common good:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494423001731

The authors analysed 4 parameters: political participation, social participation in organisations, neighbourhood solidarity and neighbourly helpfulness. The sample of the population used was quite limited, but the conclusion of the study is interesting: cycling rather than driving seems to be positively associated with the orientation towards the common good much more than all the other considered predictors, that were: homeownership, personal income, education and sex.

In fact, one of my very first motivations for using a bicycle, and then an e-bike, here on this island where pedalling is hard, was exactly this: to be a better citizen, to care for the common good and the future of the new generation.

The results of the study, as is always the case, are questionable and someway predictable, but they are encouraging, don't you think?

 

[Pinhead]

"this: to be a better citizen, to care for the common good and the future of the new generation."

All very laudable unless you have to ride 30 miles to a town, or are elderly or disabled, or limited to small amounts of shopping at any time or are happy to cycle in dangerous traffic or on major roads, or and the list goes on.

I cycle whenever I can, and I love it but it is not for the majority

 

[pagheca]

@Pinhead: What you say is certainly true, but there is a huge potential to develop sustainable mobility everywhere. My best guess is that 1 in 8 people who could - all things considered - actually use a bike (the other 2 cannot for the reasons you mention or others). And large and long-term investments are needed to enable those 7 to cycle. But if we don't start, it will never happen...

p.s. Camarthen! I have lived in Cardiff for a number of years and have many fond memories of cycling in the Valleys in Wales...

 

[biknut]

Most people are not capable of riding a bike. Bike riding is and always has been an endeavor of misfits, and individualists. That excludes the majority of the population, which prefer the presumed safety of traveling in a cage.

 

[Pinhead]

@Pinhead: What you say is certainly true, but there is a huge potential to develop sustainable mobility everywhere. My best guess is that 1 in 8 people who could - all things considered - actually use a bike (the other 2 cannot for the reasons you mention or others). And large and long-term investments are needed to enable those 7 to cycle. But if we don't start, it will never happen...

p.s. Camarthen! I have lived in Cardiff for a number of years and have many fond memories of cycling in the Valleys in Wales...

100% agree, but many forget the main benefit for many, autistic like me or similar, mental health and well being when cycling I even like the rain LOL

 

[pagheca]

Most people are not capable of riding a bike. Bike riding is and always has been an endeavor of misfits, and individualists. That excludes the majority of the population, which prefer the presumed safety of traveling in a cage.

maybe because I am an incurable optimist, but I disagree. And countries like Holland show that it is primarily a cultural and political issue.

 

[biknut]

maybe because I am an incurable optimist, but I disagree. And countries like Holland show that it is primarily a cultural and political issue.

The way I would describe that is, well you take away every other choice, and everyone loves bicycles.

 

[m@Robertson]

I'll take up the example of the Netherlands as well. Everybody rides. Go to the Scandinavian countries and they ride in ass-freezing weather all winter, too. Cycling is not for the majority or whatever only if you tell yourself that, and you decide to believe it. The world has places in it where nobody buys into that and everybody rides, everywhere.

Here's a picture taken in Amsterdam when I was there last. Its a typical street view: Bicycles freaking everywhere. Parked. Riding by the hundreds. Look at the top right of the pic. See they yellow sign? That sign means the road from that point forward is bicycles-only. No cars.

And this shot is in Leuven, Belgium. Just across from the opera house. This street has had its auto traffic shut down since COVID lockdowns and is now bicycle-only. Look off in the distance and you see bikes parked everywhere just as you do on the sidewalk close up at left.

So, an entire society bicycling is not just fine for people... its how it already works in some parts of the world, and its been like that for a lonnnnng time. They just aren't wearing spandex... or going over 5 mph or wearing helmets or gloves or any of the trappings we affect here in North America. Bikes are integrated into normal life to a level it is hard to understand unless you see it and live it a little bit yourself.

 

[pagheca]

Thank you Mr. @m@Robertson...

Once again, I suggest you guys check out https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustBikes, where a guy from Toronto - not Lieden or Groeningen - has moved to Amsterdam and is talking about the problem of what he calls "stroads" in North America.

Just to be clear, I am not blaming "the Americans". No, the problem is different! I have lived half my life in Rome, Italy, which suffers from a different problem: a road network so old that it is literally incapable of supporting cars and heavy vehicles, especially parking, because it was designed - literally - for... chariots, not cars. Even parking a car in the city is literally a nightmare, requiring micrometric manoeuvring skills, precise planning, a lot of... "creativity" and a good 30-60 minutes of your time. That's why Romans are known for not caring at all if you arrive 30-60 mins late at a meeting! Believe it or not, this was one of the main reasons I decided to move to another country...

Nevertheless, nobody really cares about the impact of traffic in my amazing hometown, in a place where a move to sustainable mobility, especially now that ebikes are available (it's a hilly town - 7 to be precise) and combined with a good public transport network, would be the perfect solution. That's how I came to the conclusion, shared by thousands of papers in scientific journals, that the problem is not "us" (the rest of the world) versus "them" (the Dutch), but only the lack of initiative and creativity of politicians, driven by the power of car manufacturers and road builders.

just to say... And notice how fit they all are!