$1.2 Billion for bike paths...

[Wezil]

Nope-- Look at any bike rack in Calgary in Jan or Feb. ONly on the coldest or most blizzardy days do cycle commuters abandon their ride. My threshold weas around minus 20 but many go colder.

The main bike path north of the river is snowcleared and a lot of the diehards switch to studded snow tires on their bikes

Well they actually studied it in TO (they love to encourage bikes) and found that just wasn't the case. Yes, a few fanatics would ride year round, but most wouldn't.

[MOBIUS]

But mainly taxes do. Lets not go down that road of who pays for things that do or do not use.

This is what pisses me off about motorists: the fact that they think they literally own the road!

Seriously, some motorists (I am a motorist too) seem to think that every cyclist out there is deliberately trying to piss them off - when in actual fact all we're trying to do is also get from place to place as quickly as possible just like the motorist. Without getting killed in the process!

Dodging heavy traffic is a major pain in the ass and also very dangerous for us, if I can possibly avoid busy roads I do. It's just that while motorists get tons of money spent on them to the extent that the car is king, cyclists get **** all - I'd love to ride on my exclusive cycling expressway all the way from my house to work!

So, until our governments start spending a decent amount of money on decent and safe cycling routes that are properly joined up instead of abruptly ending in the middle of a busy road - we are going to ****ing use the roads and the motorists are going to have to put up with it!

Besides, cyclists are doing motorists a favour: for every extra bike journey, chances are that's one less car journey clogging up the roads - motorists should be on OUR side!

[Flubber]

b) If you are claiming a bike traveling at 20km/h+ is only going to cause less than a rock chip (like that's okay ) then you are the one being disingenuous.

If a bike hits a car on the front or back a tire will contact a bumper with minimal damage. If a bike 't-bones" you there could be a substantial dent and if somehow ther side of my bike contacts the vehicle there can be a lot of scratches.


Oh and I didn't know the insurance thing-- so in every collision regardless of fault you own insurance pays? But for what? Assume cyclist is at fault

- isn't there a claim over against the cyclist
-why would the cyclists damages and injuries be covered?

[C0ckney]

i've been looking for a bike in rio, but it's hard to find a decent one. anything new with a reasonable price tag is horrid (heavy, badly made, uncomfortable, usually all 3) and every second hand one i've looked at has been either too heavy, or too worn out.

[Wezil]

Besides, cyclists are doing motorists a favour: for every extra bike journey, chances are that's one less car journey clogging up the roads - motorists should be on OUR side!

Yes, traffic flows so much better when a stream of traffic approaches a slower moving cyclist.

[Kitschum]

Uppsala

Borlänge

oh lol, Borlänge is a miserable little town mostly known for it's surprisingly high crime rate and ironic name (Bor länge = stays long). Indeed,

[MOBIUS]

I taught my own boy the rules and he is gettin a week at a bike safety camp as a refreshed.

So Mob, Dan-- what types of bikes do you ride??

I just have a crappy Raleigh 21 speed Mountain Bike that's in need of a bit of TLC, which I mainly only use for cycling to work, around town or sometimes a bit further afield for off road stuff. Bike theft is a scourge here in the UK and I don't cycle enough to have a really good one. I do have a top of the range bike lock though...

[Wezil]

If a bike hits a car on the front or back a tire will contact a bumper with minimal damage. If a bike 't-bones" you there could be a substantial dent and if somehow ther side of my bike contacts the vehicle there can be a lot of scratches.

So we're up to "minimal damage" now? Oh wait, up to "can be a lot of scratches"? What is your tolerance for incidental damage?

Oh and I didn't know the insurance thing-- so in every collision regardless of fault you own insurance pays? But for what? Assume cyclist is at fault

Ontario is a "no fault" jurisdiction. The policy owner for the respective drivers covers their damages.

- isn't there a claim over against the cyclist

Unless you were physically injured, no.

-why would the cyclists damages and injuries be covered?

I wouldn't have to cover them (thankfully) unless they were to injured and successfully sued my insurance.

[MOBIUS]

Yes, traffic flows so much better when a stream of traffic approaches a slower moving cyclist.

The only places I tend to ride where I can't keep out of the way of traffic, I can easily keep up with it because it is congested - in fact I am massively faster than the cars.

If a road is too dangerous, I don't even bother cycling on it, full stop! Thankfully, those in the centre of Cardiff you can count on one hand, not to mention there are much better alternatives.

You seem to think that cyclists are on a deathwish, intent on hurling themselves at your car and deliberately damaging it with their fragile skulls and expensive bikes!

[KrazyHorse]

If ONLY that were the largest expenditure for which you perceived no value.

But its called a transportation system. You complain about bike paths, the cyclist may not want to pay for sidewalks or roads-- After all he doesn't use THEM

IN Calgary almost all the bike paths are also used by walkers, runners, rollerbladers too

I don't drive either.

[Wezil]

Moby -

Again, I drive in Toronto. They do have a death wish (look up Michael Bryant and his encounter to see an example).


Btw, on a separate issue related to traffic flow - Fake London (pop 350K) had a transit strike recently, which for us meant no city buses for a couple months. Traffic flow was never better. Apparently carpooling (which is presumably what was occurring) was better for traffic than bus mass transit.

[MOBIUS]

Carpooling.

[MOBIUS]

Incidentally, World Naked Bike Ride was last weekend. Even here in little old Cardiff!

[rah]

Near us they've built a lot of bike paths along railroad right of ways so they don't have to compete with Cars. They try to hook up all the different paths into a decent network. On one hooked up section by us you can commute 30 miles from the suburbs into the city.

[Wezil]

Older cities have a harder time fitting in proper bike lanes (see Speer's pictures).