Can the Best US Bike Cities Compete with Europe?
video description
Date: 2022-09-27
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 14
Capitaen_Proton
To be honest, as a German, I can only dream of the infrastructure you showed the best cities have. Here, planers still think a narrow bike lane at the side of a 4 lane road inside the dooring zone is a good idea. And as a cyclist, you are forced to use them. And if there are protected bike lanes installed, then also only inside the dooring zone. We also have an idiotic thing called Radschutzstreifen (can be translated as bike protecting lane) which is just a doted lane marking on the side of the road and makes everything even more dangerous because they are even thinner than bike lanes, driving there means you are in the dooring zone and most drivers think it allows them to overtake you with 1cm clearance and that you have to cylce there what is not the case. By the way, if you are caught in a dooring accident as a cyclist, the fault is seen to be partially yours. Two years ago, I read an article in a local newspaper where a member of the local city council bragged about making the situation for cyclists better by declaring some of the side streets bicycle boulevards and paint them purple, so everyone is confused. These idiots really thought this way it would be safer because everyone would pay more attention.
reply
To be honest, as a German, I can only dream of the infrastructure you showed the best cities have. Here, planers still think a narrow bike lane at the side of a 4 lane road inside the dooring zone is a good idea. And as a cyclist, you are forced to use them. And if there are protected bike lanes installed, then also only inside the dooring zone. We also have an idiotic thing called Radschutzstreifen (can be translated as bike protecting lane) which is just a doted lane marking on the side of the road and makes everything even more dangerous because they are even thinner than bike lanes, driving there means you are in the dooring zone and most drivers think it allows them to overtake you with 1cm clearance and that you have to cylce there what is not the case. By the way, if you are caught in a dooring accident as a cyclist, the fault is seen to be partially yours. Two years ago, I read an article in a local newspaper where a member of the local city council bragged about making the situation for cyclists better by declaring some of the side streets bicycle boulevards and paint them purple, so everyone is confused. These idiots really thought this way it would be safer because everyone would pay more attention.
reply
Unmannedperson
As someone with 3 degrees from Cal Poly and biked all over the city while acquiring them, it is incredible to see this transformation take place!
I think one other critical piece of the pie that is unfortunately harder to engineer, is general driver behavior towards vulnerable roadway users. When I was living and biking around SLO (before most of this infrastructure, drivers generally gave me space, were okay waiting behind me rather than aggressively passing, and yielded at crossings or to let me through. I think this probably also harkens back to the college town culture as this generally holds true for other college towns like Davis or Berkeley that have higher percentages of cyclists so drivers are expecting them and have learned to coexist. In other places, drivers see cyclists as an existential threat and try to run them off the road, roll coal them, or otherwise act more aggressively.
reply
As someone with 3 degrees from Cal Poly and biked all over the city while acquiring them, it is incredible to see this transformation take place!
I think one other critical piece of the pie that is unfortunately harder to engineer, is general driver behavior towards vulnerable roadway users. When I was living and biking around SLO (before most of this infrastructure, drivers generally gave me space, were okay waiting behind me rather than aggressively passing, and yielded at crossings or to let me through. I think this probably also harkens back to the college town culture as this generally holds true for other college towns like Davis or Berkeley that have higher percentages of cyclists so drivers are expecting them and have learned to coexist. In other places, drivers see cyclists as an existential threat and try to run them off the road, roll coal them, or otherwise act more aggressively.
reply
Sibei
I used to live in Davis, California and never thought of it as a very bicycle friendly town outside of the campus. I felt like I still needed to own a car for convenience. While Davis can be biked because it's small, there isn't much within the town and it isn't very walkable either. I have yet to see a US city that is both bike and pedestrian friendly. Big cities like San Francisco and New York are pedestrian friendly, but lack good bike paths in the cities. Rural college towns can be biked, but lack a lot of things for living and are not very walkable.
In China, I can live very well without owning a car firstly because most cities are high density with plenty of wide bicycle lanes, complemented by other forms of public transit, and most necessities are located near my commie block. In fact, owning a car would be an inconvenience without the parking space. I ride bicycle almost every day.
reply
I used to live in Davis, California and never thought of it as a very bicycle friendly town outside of the campus. I felt like I still needed to own a car for convenience. While Davis can be biked because it's small, there isn't much within the town and it isn't very walkable either. I have yet to see a US city that is both bike and pedestrian friendly. Big cities like San Francisco and New York are pedestrian friendly, but lack good bike paths in the cities. Rural college towns can be biked, but lack a lot of things for living and are not very walkable.
In China, I can live very well without owning a car firstly because most cities are high density with plenty of wide bicycle lanes, complemented by other forms of public transit, and most necessities are located near my commie block. In fact, owning a car would be an inconvenience without the parking space. I ride bicycle almost every day.
reply
Labyrinth6000
This is comparing apples to oranges. European cities are developed where everything is close by without the strict zoning laws. For instance, you can live in a home that s connected next door to a restaurant and a store. Not to mention a lot of European countries are very small compared to states with their own little collectivist cultures.
Americas cities are structure primarily for long distances with automobiles and the interstate. Also suburban homes outside the city are a thing and a majority of amenities are miles away. Unless you live in a major city, riding a bike for miles isn t a good idea unless you really work out a lot.
reply
This is comparing apples to oranges. European cities are developed where everything is close by without the strict zoning laws. For instance, you can live in a home that s connected next door to a restaurant and a store. Not to mention a lot of European countries are very small compared to states with their own little collectivist cultures.
Americas cities are structure primarily for long distances with automobiles and the interstate. Also suburban homes outside the city are a thing and a majority of amenities are miles away. Unless you live in a major city, riding a bike for miles isn t a good idea unless you really work out a lot.
reply
Отписан
You don't need dutch style bike extremism for a city to be pedestrian friendly, you literally just need more sidewalks and shops inside suburbs instead of being only outside them. All of east Europe is far poorer than Netherlands and can't afford such large bicycle paths, but there are sidewalks everywhere and bike paths on at least large streets, there are shops everywhere, buses go around suburbs and you aren't in any disadvantage if you don't have a car, or the opposite, if you have a car you also don't have to deal with a million cyclists. USA and Netherlands are just the extremes of each side, the sweet spot is in the middle.
reply
You don't need dutch style bike extremism for a city to be pedestrian friendly, you literally just need more sidewalks and shops inside suburbs instead of being only outside them. All of east Europe is far poorer than Netherlands and can't afford such large bicycle paths, but there are sidewalks everywhere and bike paths on at least large streets, there are shops everywhere, buses go around suburbs and you aren't in any disadvantage if you don't have a car, or the opposite, if you have a car you also don't have to deal with a million cyclists. USA and Netherlands are just the extremes of each side, the sweet spot is in the middle.
reply
The
Wait wait wait--I'm barely into the video and I know this is not the point of it, but Oak Park, IL is ranked right at the bottom below Gary and Hammond for bikeability? The Oak Park that was named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists in 2015?
I looked at some of the other rankings, and that group ranks Nashville higher than Chicago for bicycling--which, as someone who's lived in both places, is absolutely living-in-an-actual-alternate-universe levels of inaccurate.
Anyway, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think the People for Bikes ranking system might not be using the most robust methodology.
reply
Wait wait wait--I'm barely into the video and I know this is not the point of it, but Oak Park, IL is ranked right at the bottom below Gary and Hammond for bikeability? The Oak Park that was named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists in 2015?
I looked at some of the other rankings, and that group ranks Nashville higher than Chicago for bicycling--which, as someone who's lived in both places, is absolutely living-in-an-actual-alternate-universe levels of inaccurate.
Anyway, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think the People for Bikes ranking system might not be using the most robust methodology.
reply
microcolonel
I think, there's appetite for sensible infrastructure here in Cheyenne, WY. Continuous sidewalks and signals with independent control are on the brain in the planning office.
There is public concern over the deaths of pedestrian children on our roads, and a lot of money is spent on infrastructure that doesn't help; which means that it would appeal to the conservative political climate of the region to show that we could save money and protect children without meaningfully increasing travel time for car users.
reply
I think, there's appetite for sensible infrastructure here in Cheyenne, WY. Continuous sidewalks and signals with independent control are on the brain in the planning office.
There is public concern over the deaths of pedestrian children on our roads, and a lot of money is spent on infrastructure that doesn't help; which means that it would appeal to the conservative political climate of the region to show that we could save money and protect children without meaningfully increasing travel time for car users.
reply
travel
Most international videos on dutch bicycle infrastructure focus on Amsterdam, sometimes on Utrecht and Rotterdam. I think this undermines a big part of why the dutch design works; it is everywhere. Not just in Amsterdam (which most Dutch people think is actually one of the worst cities in the Netherlands regarding cycling, but in every city, town and in between. An excellent video, but I think telling not just about A'dam and showing the integrated, cross-country infrastructure shows a truer representation of reality.
reply
Most international videos on dutch bicycle infrastructure focus on Amsterdam, sometimes on Utrecht and Rotterdam. I think this undermines a big part of why the dutch design works; it is everywhere. Not just in Amsterdam (which most Dutch people think is actually one of the worst cities in the Netherlands regarding cycling, but in every city, town and in between. An excellent video, but I think telling not just about A'dam and showing the integrated, cross-country infrastructure shows a truer representation of reality.
reply
Alex
I think one of the other issue is planning of the cities in general due to American urban sprawl it's much harder to create good 10 - 15 minute neighbourhood. Espcially when you think of how all roads are designed for cars, no nice small picturesque streets with nice architecture. It's just bland and it must feel exhausting that you have to cycle so much just to get to the next shop rather than in a Dutch or any European city or town where there would be 10 shops in that distance, with varied interesting architecture.
reply
I think one of the other issue is planning of the cities in general due to American urban sprawl it's much harder to create good 10 - 15 minute neighbourhood. Espcially when you think of how all roads are designed for cars, no nice small picturesque streets with nice architecture. It's just bland and it must feel exhausting that you have to cycle so much just to get to the next shop rather than in a Dutch or any European city or town where there would be 10 shops in that distance, with varied interesting architecture.
reply
Jolyon
Growing up in San Luis Obispo in the 90's and 2000's didn't have all of that bike infrastructure. Now that I'm on a city council I find it nearly impossible to make any headway on improving bike infrastructure. It's very hard to convince the city to spend money on something that has little demand. It's like a chicken and an egg.
By the way, the story of Mission Plaza is pretty interesting. The citizens of SLO voted to get rid of a major section of street decades before the modern walkability movement.
reply
Growing up in San Luis Obispo in the 90's and 2000's didn't have all of that bike infrastructure. Now that I'm on a city council I find it nearly impossible to make any headway on improving bike infrastructure. It's very hard to convince the city to spend money on something that has little demand. It's like a chicken and an egg.
By the way, the story of Mission Plaza is pretty interesting. The citizens of SLO voted to get rid of a major section of street decades before the modern walkability movement.
reply
VivaHollandia32
Europe? There is the Netherlands which is number 1 in terms of bicycle infrastructure, with Denmark at a distant 2nd place. Copenhagen is good, but it's not as good as most Dutch cities, and outside of the major cities bicycle infrastructure in Denmark is not very great. Cycling is also prevalent in Flanders and somewhat in Germany and that's it. Yes you have a few cities with some okay bicycle infrastructure in some parts, but it's literally that and not connecting.
reply
Europe? There is the Netherlands which is number 1 in terms of bicycle infrastructure, with Denmark at a distant 2nd place. Copenhagen is good, but it's not as good as most Dutch cities, and outside of the major cities bicycle infrastructure in Denmark is not very great. Cycling is also prevalent in Flanders and somewhat in Germany and that's it. Yes you have a few cities with some okay bicycle infrastructure in some parts, but it's literally that and not connecting.
reply
Andres
I just recently moved to the town of mammoth lakes, it s interesting how they have made an effort to make the town more bike friendly than it was, but it seems the implementation lacks bike prominence and still focuses on the movement of cars. For the amount of bikers and businesses that rent bikes, the town should do more to support the infrastructure that pays the towns taxes.
Would love to see you do a video on mammoth lakes and towns in transition.
reply
I just recently moved to the town of mammoth lakes, it s interesting how they have made an effort to make the town more bike friendly than it was, but it seems the implementation lacks bike prominence and still focuses on the movement of cars. For the amount of bikers and businesses that rent bikes, the town should do more to support the infrastructure that pays the towns taxes.
Would love to see you do a video on mammoth lakes and towns in transition.
reply
Anna
As a Dutch person, that first bike lane along the big road would still frighten me, especially if the cars are driving fast. You re so close to the cars! If you fall off your bike for some reason, you end up on the road. In the Netherlands, there would be a strip of grassland with trees between the bike lane and the road, preventing you from falling into the road (or cars driving into the bike lane.
reply
As a Dutch person, that first bike lane along the big road would still frighten me, especially if the cars are driving fast. You re so close to the cars! If you fall off your bike for some reason, you end up on the road. In the Netherlands, there would be a strip of grassland with trees between the bike lane and the road, preventing you from falling into the road (or cars driving into the bike lane.
reply
Tom
As a Finn I can explain how Europe and the US vary what comes to pedestrian access, walkways and bikers: In Europe every single street has a walkway with room for bikes that extends to underpasses to ALL intersections in every road.
The European infrastructure for pedestrians/bikers has been built this way for 50+ years. In my time in Seattle, Salt Lake City and Chicago I have seen none of that.
reply
As a Finn I can explain how Europe and the US vary what comes to pedestrian access, walkways and bikers: In Europe every single street has a walkway with room for bikes that extends to underpasses to ALL intersections in every road.
The European infrastructure for pedestrians/bikers has been built this way for 50+ years. In my time in Seattle, Salt Lake City and Chicago I have seen none of that.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
