Friday, March 11, 2011

Bikelanes Blog Bonanza!

Here is a summary of a fresh round of discussion about bike lanes that has taken place online this week. I guess this would be targeted to anyone who is reading this particular blog about bikes and stuff, who does not read any other blogs about bikes and stuff, which, based on the 3 visitors so far, is a very limited target group (no one).

John Cassidy posted Battle of the Bike Lanes on the New Yorker's site.
        Ezra Klein responded with Love Driving? Buy Your Neighbor a Bike, in the Washington 
        Post
        R.A. also responded with The World is His Parking Spot, on The Economist site
        Felix Salmon also responded with John Cassidey vs Bipeds, on the Reuters, "A
        Slice of Lime in theSoda",
                 Paul Krugman responded to that with Four Wheels Good, Two Legs Bad, in the
                 Opinion Pages of The New York Times
       And, of course, on his blog the Bike Snob responded with, Generation Gap: An Alleycat
        Down Memory Lane

John Cassidy then tried to save himself, Bike Lanes II: The Condemned Motorist Speaks
       But was shot down again by the Bike Snob and others


I am thrilled that the discussion has been elevated to the national discourse, although, in this case the "national" audience is admittedly still mostly very narrow, mostly white, and mostly affluent. I would love to see graduate-level policy and economics research thrown at this issue. I think that some serious research will help to show how increased bicycle trips can cut energy costs, reduce Co2 emissions, reduce traffic congestion, improve health standards, reduce health care costs, and even help spur economic development.   

And now a video of the Gold Standard, the Holy Grail, the Cat's Meow, and the Bad Asserest example of municipal planning and the promotion of bicycle lanes: Copenhagen, Denmark.  Everyone who has ever written an article or penned a blog post about bicycle transport has linked this, or some similar STREETFILMS video, so I'll get my turn early on in this process.  

Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Here's to another weekend of doing fun stuff outside (in the rain, argh)!

1 comment:

  1. I agree on the conservation of energy and toxic emissions through biking.

    ReplyDelete