- There is something about owning a car that all too often leads to sociopathic behaviour.
- On that topic, could we maybe give cyclists even 1/20th of the space to park that we devote to cars?
- This list makes me think I am officially an adult, and thus sad.
- The oil industry continues to be evil.
- On a related note, methane continues to seep from the arctic. In brief, we're boned.
- In another five years, the Russian army could suck considerably less.
- Finally, Roger Ebert shares his thoughts on AA after 30 years of sobriety.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Quick shots
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3 comments:
#1 - Though being around Montreal drivers makes me definitely agree, the particular examples there (especially the second one) make me think the sociopathy was well in place before getting behind the wheel.
#2 - Oh my Science, please yes. I don't know if there's been an explosion in the number of bikes in this town recently, or if I'm only just noticing, but there are a huge number of them around. They're locked to everything you can possibly loop a chain around, because there's such a tiny amount of official bike parking. The parking meter / bike lock combinations are a brilliant idea, but not neary enough.
Recently in some limited places, they've been removing one or two curbside (car) parking spots, and putting bike racks there instead. Seems more than fair to me, since you can fit probably about 8 or so bikes in the space for one car. But again the deployment has been too limited to work, especially downtown where the density is high, but with a lower number of potential spots to part, since the building facades don't offer the potential that people's fencing at least does (when it doesn't have a "Pas des Vélos" sign on it, that is).
#2 - This is a great point that's become a real sort point for me. The last venue I went to had over a hundred bikes locked to every scrap of metal bolted to the ground within two blocks. It was insane. While bike parking is just one of many issues around making a bike a viable part of daily transportation, it will be an increasingly large one as more people move to pedaling two wheels.
Also, don't bother read the user comments on the Slate article (advice that could be taken for public comment forums on all major websites, I suppose). The reactionary assholes seem to flock to any thread that addresses a public issue with anything other than more money thrown at car transit or suburban growth.
Re: #2, I quote my second favorite blogger (after you of course), bikesnobnyc:
"While I agree that more and better bike parking would be nice, I'd argue that general cluelessness is also an important factor. If more people would ride in the first place instead of waiting around for things like parking then perhaps our "culture" would grow more accepting of cycling as a viable means of transportation and the amenities would follow."
Plenty of people ride to concerts and to the bar, but more need to start riding to their offices in Mississauga for things to really catch on.
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