Too time consuming, and definitely too pink hippie granola.Can you imagine if we did things like this here? It would be great. Where i live we recently got bicycle lanes on some of the roads through town. It's very sporadic though and it was like a huge deal. Long Island is very SUV-friendly and very bicycle-unfriendly.
Commuters Pedal to Work on Their Very Own Superhighway
By SALLY McGRANE
COPENHAGEN — Picture 11 miles of smoothly paved bike path meandering through the countryside. Largely uninterrupted by roads or intersections, it passes fields, backyards, chirping birds, a lake, some ducks and, at every mile, an air pump.
For some Danes, this is the morning commute.
Susan Nielsen, a 59-year-old schoolteacher, was one of a handful of people taking advantage of Denmark’s first “superhighway” for bicycles on a recent morning, about halfway between Copenhagen and Albertslund, a suburb, which is the highway’s endpoint. “I’m very glad because of the better pavement,” said Ms. Nielsen, who wore a rain jacket and carried a pair of pants in a backpack to put on after her 40-minute commute.
The cycle superhighway, which opened in April, is the first of 26 routes scheduled to be built to encourage more people to commute to and from Copenhagen by bicycle. More bike path than the Interstate its name suggests, it is the brainchild of city planners who were looking for ways to increase bicycle use in a place where half of the residents already bike to work or to school every day.
“We are very good, but we want to be better,” said Brian Hansen, the head of Copenhagen’s traffic planning section.
He and his team saw potential in suburban commuters, most of whom use cars or public transportation to reach the city. “A typical cyclist uses the bicycle within five kilometers,” or about three miles, said Mr. Hansen, whose office keeps a coat rack of ponchos that bicycling employees can borrow in case of rain. “We thought: How do we get people to take longer bicycle rides?”
They decided to make cycle paths look more like automobile freeways. While there is a good existing network of bicycle pathways around Copenhagen, standards across municipalities can be inconsistent, with some stretches having inadequate pavement, lighting or winter maintenance, as well as unsafe intersections and gaps.
“It doesn’t work if you have a good route, then a section in the middle is covered in snow,” said Lise Borgstrom Henriksen, spokeswoman for the cycle superhighway secretariat. “People won’t ride to work then.”
For the superhighway project, Copenhagen and 21 local governments teamed up to ensure that there were contiguous, standardized bike routes into the capital across distances of up to 14 miles. “We want people to perceive these routes as a serious alternative,” Mr. Hansen said, “like taking the bus, car or train.”
The plan has received widespread support in a country whose left- and right-leaning lawmakers both regularly bike to work (albeit on slightly different models of bicycle).
Riding on the first superhighway, which grew more crowded as it neared the city, Marianne Bagge-Petersen said she was heading to a support group for job seekers. “I think it’s very cool,” she said, noting that the path allowed her to avoid roads with more car traffic. “Taking the bike makes me feel good about myself. I’m looking for a job, and if I don’t get out, it’s going to be a very long day.”
The Capital Region of Denmark, a political body responsible for public hospitals as well as regional development, has provided $1.6 million for the superhighway project.
“When we look at public hospitals, we look very much at how to reduce cost,” said a regional councilor, Lars Gaardhoj, who had just picked up his three small children in a cargo bike decorated with elephants. “It’s a common saying among doctors that the best patient is the patient you never see. Anything we can do to get less pollution and less traffic is going to mean healthier, maybe happier, people.”
In Denmark, thanks to measures like the superhighway, commuters choose bicycles because they are the fastest and most convenient transportation option. “It’s not because the Danes are more environmentally friendly,” said Gil Penalosa, executive director of 8-80 Cities, a Canadian organization that works to make cities healthier. “It’s not because they eat something different at breakfast.”
Lars Gemzo, a partner at Gehl Architects, said that within Copenhagen, biking was already the best option for many kinds of trips. “If you want to drive a car for a medium distance, you know you are a fool,” he said. “You are going to waste time.”
Danish statistics show that every 6 miles biked instead of driven saves 3 1/2 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and 9 cents in health care costs. But many cite happiness among the chief benefits of bicycle commuting.
Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/w...k-on-a-superhighway.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
Why Doesn't America Have This Mindset?
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Too time consuming, and definitely too pink hippie granola.
Cancel 2016.11
Darla
Awesome. Someone should have made a "week in the life of" video about you Cawacko.
cawacko
Well-known member
Alright, that actually made me laugh out loud. If anyone tried to steal my bike I would have gone Oakland on them and if that didn't scare or deter them I probably would have given it to them.
cawacko
Well-known member
You sound like all my friends at the bachelor party. Once everyone had told all their stories I think there was a collective pause and then people asking me A) how the fvck are you still alive and B) WTF!?!?!?!?!?
Is that anything like "going western" on someone? I had a friend who always said that. My wife has "come to Jesus" meetings with people. I can't help but picture Sheldon's mom when my wife says this.
cawacko
Well-known member
Is that anything like "going western" on someone? I had a friend who always said that. My wife has "come to Jesus" meetings with people. I can't help but picture Sheldon's mom when my wife says this.
Yeah basically it would be going gangster or ghetto on them. My gf one went "Texas" on someone. Funniest thing I had seen because while she was pissed she was still real nice. You can live in California but can't take the southern out of the girl.
And Greece's is the size of Dallas-Ft Worth, but that doesn't stop y'all from comparing our economy to theirs, does it?
Canceled.2014.1
New member
That's true, that does happen here. In this one particular park by me, the one with the longest and best bike path on LI, there are fewer walkers/joggers by far than I have seen on other paths...but there are still some. I can deal with them a lot more than I can with the cars around here. There are just too many around here who are not at all respectful of cyclists and some who seem to take it as a personal insult if you are riding a bike. You know, assholes.
I have a friend who is involved in several projects to convert unused railroad lines into bike trails. It isn't of the same mindset as the article, because they are not useful for commutes to work, but its still good to see.
Airstrip One
Completely Effed
Where I grew up, we have a really awesome bike trail called the Burke-Gillman Trail (it recently went through major renovations). Damn thing actually runs from Kenmore (possibly as far north as SE Bothell) down into Northern Seattle. I think it travels far enough that you can easily find your way over to the UW Campus once it ends. I believe they plan to extend it far south and north, meaning you could pretty much ride from the UW-Bothell campus to the UW campus.
Some people can actually rely on it for commuting to work, although mostly it's just students. However, even something like the BG Trail is not all that practical. It's great for leisure, though, and runs right in-between Bothell/Lake City Way and Lake Washington.
Some people can actually rely on it for commuting to work, although mostly it's just students. However, even something like the BG Trail is not all that practical. It's great for leisure, though, and runs right in-between Bothell/Lake City Way and Lake Washington.
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
It would be awesome if they left the crossing guards in place that cyclists could activate. It would be hilarious watching the faces of drivers as the bikers road past.
Airstrip One
Completely Effed
Also, growing up, we always called them "bikers" rather than "cyclists," so this is annoying to me. Can't we just call the motorcyclists "mikers," since there's no letter "b" to be found anywhere in the word motorcycle?
Canceled.2014.1
New member
Watching a southern girl go off on someone is a blast. My Mom was a master at it. More than a few people have told me that they must have modeled the character of Julia Sugarbaker on my Mom. Tear you apart but never be rude. lol
Canceled.2014.1
New member
It would be awesome if they left the crossing guards in place that cyclists could activate. It would be hilarious watching the faces of drivers as the bikers road past.
Hell, we can't get the idiots to stop when there is a train coming, you think they would stop for bikes? You'd get run over or shot.
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Darla
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
why don't you test it out. Locate the nearest biker bar, head on in and make the suggestion. Then come back here and report to us how it went.
Canceled.2014.1
New member
I have a friend who rides with the Pistoleros (subset of the Banditos?). He and his friends call themselves "Scooter Trash". But he warned me to never call them that or refer to their bikes as "scooters". I took him at his word. Fun bunch of guys, but I wouldn't want them pissed at me.
cawacko
Well-known member
I don't have a bike and it has absolutely nothing to do with fear.
Airstrip One
Completely Effed
I'd rather just walk-in and shoot the place up.
Canceled.2014.1
New member
I think the end result would be the same for you, except for the addition of jail time if you survived.