The case for bicycles' inevitable triumph over cars

[MustachianAccountant]

From CNN Money:

"Dediu argues that electric, connected bikes will arrive en masse before autonomous, electric cars. Riders will barely have to pedal as they whiz down streets once congested with cars."

http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/05/technology/bikes-disrupt-cars/

[bunchbikes]

In this recent TED interview with Elon Musk, he says that autonomous cars will almost certainly "make traffic more congested".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIwLWfaAg-8


His solution is digging tunnels underneath L.A. However, the time to implement this solution would be much greater than the time for autonomous cars to become standard. So there will definitely be a period of extreme congestion.


Who knows, maybe this will increase the e-bike popularity in dense urban areas.


My electric cargo bike can handle everything most people would use a mini-van for, and it's actually faster, more convenient, and cheaper, as the kids can load/unload themselves, I can park at the door of every establishment, take shortcuts not open to cars, and never waste time getting gas.

[KCM5]

Meh. I'm a year round biker in the Midwest. For people who claim to be a hardy bunch, we're sure wimps about weather.

Velomobiles would mitigate some of those concerns, but I can't get people to agree that warming up their car in the winter is unnecessary and wasteful. I'm not sure those other people would ever be convinced that pedaling/driving a velomobile to work is reasonable, let alone desirable.

[moof]

Velomobiles are a non-starter for me, and I bike everyday.

If we were sane in the country the right approach would be to steadily increase gas, GVW, and/or mileage taxes.  Driving is so darn cheap today that people don't think twice about driving monster SUV's for 20-40+ miles one-way to work (and still call it a "good" commute).  When gas spiked over $4 a while back people actually were downsizing cars and thinking twice about their long commutes, but after a few years of $2.50'ish gas SUV's are back with a vengeance.

As much as taxes suck, people don't change behaviors without strong incentives.

A lot could also be done on the education front to educate both drivers and bikers about the rules of the road and how to get along, and to assure new bikers feel safe and knowledgeable. 

We are right in the midst of the annual spring "fair weather rider" apocalypse around here, where the bike lanes, car lanes, and side walks get filled with hapless well meaning folks riding the wrong way, blowing through red lights, entering the bike lane from the side walk without warning/checking, stopping in the middle of the bike lane at random, etc.  I hate most cyclist almost as much as the drivers do right now.

[bunchbikes]

Meh. I'm a year round biker in the Midwest. For people who claim to be a hardy bunch, we're sure wimps about weather.

Velomobiles would mitigate some of those concerns, but I can't get people to agree that warming up their car in the winter is unnecessary and wasteful. I'm not sure those other people would ever be convinced that pedaling/driving a velomobile to work is reasonable, let alone desirable.

I don't see velomobiles ever catching on, ever.

There is definitely no "cool" factor there. It's more of just a "weird" factor.

[Freedomin5]

We are right in the midst of the annual spring "fair weather rider" apocalypse around here, where the bike lanes, car lanes, and side walks get filled with hapless well meaning folks riding the wrong way, blowing through red lights, entering the bike lane from the side walk without warning/checking, stopping in the middle of the bike lane at random, etc.  I hate most cyclist almost as much as the drivers do right now.

LOL. I read this and immediately thought of China. That's how it's like every day.