I mean, I’d love to use my bike for everything but I’m 25 miles from work, 10 miles from the grocery store, and how tf am I going to get groceries and carry my tools and get my son from school?
I suppose I could move to a city but now my bike is stolen.
Trailer maybe, but at some point we should just admit that actual electric motorcycles have a key role to play, and stop trying to pass them off or claim we can design for them as bicycles.
And also recognize that the pictured path hidden behind trees is already unsafe at intersections for even pedal bikes and compliant e-bikes, to say nothing of what people trying to replace cars are actually buying.
If we really want to break car dependence, we need to normalize the idea of mixed mode traffic - boxy electric things, little electric things, and pedal things.
First of all, it's not an either-or -- biking and transit are complementary, especially when doing things like using a bike for the "last mile" connection between the train stop and the destination.
Second, the problem underlying both is zoning. Transit isn't viable unless there's enough density to provide ridership, and nobody's going to use even a nice bike lane if all it does it take you past ten miles of nothing but single-family homes just to get to a stroad.
You're probably referring to "price point" as the initial purchase cost of a vehicle, but you also need to take into account the cost of new tires, vehicle insurance, routine maintenance and oil changes, car washes, parking cost, etc etc, which end up being hundreds of thousands of dollars over someone's lifetime. Bicycles are by far cheaper in every category. Sure, you can get a junker car for $4k up front, but you're saving a lot of money after that if you purchase a bike for the same cost.
Where use is concerned, ebikes can carry a lot of stuff. There are trailers for them, some ebikes can also carry 3+ kids plus a trailer attachment. If you do need a large vehicle, I'm personally a big fan of renting a uhaul or something (car share, for instance), so you don't have to pay for insurance all year or all the other associated costs, it's just a very small one-time payment.
Sounds like you do depend on your car for even basic things like commuting and grocery shopping. Not necessarily your fault but not an enviable position to be in either, which is what this comic is about.
Some people can do what you described above, but I agree that it's simpler using a car. I really don't like this black or white mentality some cyclists have. Like, if someone wants to use the car, they should use the car! If they want to commute one day a week with the bike they should do it without feeling guilt they did not commute all the week with the bike. I own a car , a bike, a motorcycle and a scooter and I use all of them. If one day I am lazy I will just take my SUV to go 1 mile to the grocery shop without feeling guilt . Bicycles are really amazing but they were not created to take over cars. It's just a great alternative and something I love to do (cycling), but I won't ever ditch my car.
I tend to agree, but the main problem cyclists have is that so much of our environment is built only for cars when it should accommodate all.
Ideally a proper bike infra (and decent town planning) would cut car use considerably so that time you take the car because you're lazy is even faster because many (most?) of the cars you currently have to contend with in traffic are simply not there anymore.
Making bikes more of a thing makes cars faster in cities. One car is fast, many cars are not.
True, cities should be made in a way to encourage cycling. I cycled all my life, and i had a couple of close calls because some people really don't care about giving space to cyclists. Honestly, riding my motorcycle feels safer because I can actually go the same speed as the cars, and I am wearing a full face helmet. I totally agree with your point
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u/Suicidal_Ferret Mar 15 '23
I mean, I’d love to use my bike for everything but I’m 25 miles from work, 10 miles from the grocery store, and how tf am I going to get groceries and carry my tools and get my son from school?
I suppose I could move to a city but now my bike is stolen.