The bicycle is a grand old piece of technology and is reputedly an extremely efficient method of transportation. It can provide pleasure or be used in a purely utilitarian fashion. As a one time bike commuter I can attest to the fact that utilitarian usage can at times also be pleasurable.
An increase in bicycle usage as a substitute for automobile and possibly even bus transport will bring many benefits. We can start with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum dependency. There is the reduced health care costs generated by the increase in the health of the portion of the popultaion riding. There will be a reduction in contaminated runoff from roads. Road maintenance costs should decrease. Electric bikes, bicycles with am electrical assist can reduce travel times and increase range, make difficult rides easier and facilitate cycling by the less fit among us.
The time, it seems, is ripe. The younger generations are seemingly disenchanted with driving and an automobile based society. Bikes are better than ever. Bicycle infrastructure is growing. Bicycle usage seems to be up, not just for recreation and commuting, but for shopping and deliveries. The growing trend in Europe and Asia toward plug-in e-bikes will, one hopes, eventually happen here too.
So What's the catch?
The latest issue of California Magazine contains a very well written article, online here: Pedaling to Tomorrow: Could an Electric Bike Kick-Start the Future of Transportation? | California Magazine explores the entire question. It notes that
The latest data from the Federal Highway Administration shows that vehicle miles traveled peaked in 2005 in the United States, and has declined 7.6 percent since then. A 2013 U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group report declared that a six-decade trend of rising per capita driving has screeched to a halt.
The article also notes the growing trend toward bikesharing programs:
"We are seeing in cities throughout the country that this is a change people want," said the Bike Coalition's Frisbee. In April, her Bike Coalition partners announced a big expansion of the Bay Area Bike Share (BABS) program. Launched in August 2013 with barely enough green-painted rentals to fill a couple of suburban garages, BABS will offer 7,000 more rentals (a tenfold expansion) within a couple of years. By today's reckoning, that's enough to give San Francisco the highest bike-share density of any American city.
Nonetheless, the tentative conclusion appears to be that expressed by Robert Cervero, a UC Berkeley professor of city and regional planning:
"As cycling infrastructure continues to improve ... so will the bicycle's market share of travel, though we're talking about from the 1 or 2 percent now recorded in America's most bike friendly cities, to 5 or 6 percent -- not the 30 to 40 percent found in Denmark and Holland."
Culture and terrain are two of the reasons cited. For a lot more information, please read the full article. Thanks.
Crossposted from caucus99percent