Curing Your Clown-like Car Habit

[non geordie beth]

So obvious now! Thanks jfer_rose.

[ritchie70]

Are people really that terrified of using a bicycle lane? Seriously?
I see those kinds of comments as just more complainypants whining (aka made up excuses)
Bicycling isn't that dangerous, and it's incredibly unlikely that you'll get clipped by a car coming up behind you- it's one of the rarest accidents.

Is it possible you have nicer bike lanes?

Here it's approximately 2 feet wide, is indistinguishable from the shoulder except for an occasional painted marking on the pavement and the slightly better maintenance, and has cars zooming by at a considerable speed differential.

Then when it gets close to an intersection, it goes away in favor of a "share the road" sign.

I ride on it, but it's scary when a SUV comes barreling up on you or you hit a busy intersection.

[SnackDog]

COLA is typically Cost of Living Adjustment or Cost of Living Allowance.  It was slightly misused by the poster who referred to high COLA cities - but there is no common abbreviation COL.

On the topic, cars are like anything else. Each of us needs to fully understand the cost of our vehicles and the trade-offs involved in spending on a car versus other forms of transportation which may be more (or less) efficient, entertaining, safe, healthy and environmentally friendly.  Do your homework and understand fully the total costs of owning and operating a vehicle.

The least financially offensive solution seems to be cars which "pay for themselves".  I had a high school teacher who liked to buy older cars, fix them up in his spare time, and sell them for a profit.  He drove some pretty fun cars: Jaguar, Lotus, Ferrari.  I have friends at work who get up to $50,000/yr car allowance because of the payroll they are on (it is customary in some countries to provide cash or a lease arrangement).  We didn't have a car for a year, but now have a company vehicle and an allowance to operate it which actually is enough to cover more than 100% of our in-country living expenses.  We are actually living on the car allowance and banking the surplus; I stopped moving cash here from home.  Wish I had that deal everywhere we lived. 

I lived in Europe for three years and my employer provided a rental car via Avis: usually a VW or Peugeot diesel wagon.  I didn't mind paying for gas at 42 mpg on the diesel engine but was not keen on paying for car washes at $15/trip.  So, when I could no longer stand the grime (especially in winter) I would show up at Avis and tell them car was making a noise (which was true!) and they would give me a new, clean one.

[grantmeaname]

high-cost of living area = high COLA

[cbgg]

I've lived in Copenhagen and the bike infrastructure there will blow your mind.  HOWEVER, you cannot expect every other city to become Copenhagen or Amsterdam.  They are a bikers paradise for sure, but it's not just the bike lanes (some other reasons: the country is completely flat, the cities are extremely dense, people live in walkable neighborhoods, the cost of car ownership is so exorbitantly high that it's assumed that no one under 30 could possibly afford it, bikes are so cheap that you can own multiples and leave them at various points around the city).  To build that level of infrastructure with an "if we build it they will come" mentality would be financially reckless.  In those cities the bike infrastructure and the biking have evolved symbiotically.

I live in Vancouver which I believe may  have one of the best bike infrastructures for a large city in North America and I agree that the bike infrastructure in many other NA locations is sad.  I think Vancouver could provide a much more realistic model for cities in North America.  It's too far a leap to jump straight to Amsterdam.  Our cities have different challenges to overcome. 

I will also say that painted bike lanes do help with safety just as painted yellow lines do.  Visual cues are an important part of guiding various road users to cooperate and show right of way.  However, I believe that the best option is to move bikers and drivers our of direct conflict as much as possible, by creating designated bike routes on residential streets that are "traffic calmed." Much more fun for both bikers and drivers.

As a biker I'll say that I typically dislike biking around pedestrians more than I dislike biking around traffic.  Some traffic does feel dangerous, but often those dang unpredictable pedestrians and their dog leashes freak me out more.

[alsoknownasDean]

I've found that if a main road isn't bike friendly, there's a good chance that there's smaller, quieter roads running parallel to the main roads that are more bike friendly. I'd much rather ride on the 50km/h quiet suburban street than the 70-80km/h dual carriageway. :)

The best route when driving isn't necessarily the best route when riding the bike. I quite like riding around the local streets, lets me see more of the neighbourhood than I would in a car. Where I used to live I'd ride past a bunch of restaurants and smell the food, you don't get that in a car either. :)

That said, I tend to use my bike for short trips of a few kilometres or less (especially to the shops). I take the train for the ~20km trip to work. I won't live anywhere that's not within walking distance of decent public transport, even when I did have a car :)