DISQUS

tali42 · 2 months ago

Lovely pictures.

Seeing the pictures of youngish children being carried on a bicycle reminds the that in the last year I've seen only one cyclist carrying a child on the city (Gloucester, England) streets.

I guess child passengers are another barometre of the perceived level of bicycle safety in a city.

Adrienne · 2 months ago

Riding with children is one of those things that has to be modeled. When I first started riding around San Francisco with my three kids on a serious basis, people would ogle and point. Just a year ago I would hear people making disparaging remarks from the side of the road about how I was just asking to have my kids hit by a car. Now, no one thinks twice about the kids riding with me, and that is because more and more people are riding with kids as they see more and more kids out riding with their parents.

amsterdamize · 2 months ago

Thanks for that, Adrienne, no matter the nay-sayers, this process is universal, but the public discourse is often too irrational to get that through. I couldn't emphasize this enough. It's also the main rational for the 'safety by numbers' approach by Dutch authorities regarding legislating helmets.

Steven Vance · 2 months ago

Has there been legislation? Or, an attempt to make legislation mandating wearing helmets (for any age group)?

I was researching the Dutch relationship to bicycle helmets and I found from the Making Cycling Irresistible report that only 1% of Dutch wear them.

amsterdamize · 2 months ago

I have a very short answer: no. And there won't be. It's been established (from all sides) that helmet legislation is counter-productive. All focus is on providing safe infrastructure, traffic regulation (pro-cyclist), positive promotion. It has proven to be the solution, why change a winning concept.

I've read John Pucher's papers and it's far less than 1%, but I understand why that number gets published.

amsterdamize · 2 months ago

I think you're absolutely right, tali42, and it was recently mentioned in NYC during the NY400 event: "You'll have succeeded when you see women, the elderly and children cycling in the city."

Brent · 2 months ago

I'm spending a few days in Taipei and marveling at the (subtle yet distinct) differences in bicycles here:

*One common piece of equipment is twin foot posts mounted to the back wheel at the hub. Passengers use these to stand on when being ferried about.

*Folding and other non-folding, fully featured, but small-wheeled bicycles are everywhere, and I think generally preferred to "normal" wheeled bicycles. Their prevalence may be an issue of storage space in homes.

*Bicycles aren't generally locked to anything but themselves, which seems to be an indication of few theft issues.

*Bike paths don't go everywhere, but almost every road or sidewalk is used as a path, if you want.

*YouBike, new city-sponsored bike sharing program has been in place since the spring. It only has a few stations so far, but seems to be popular. I used the bicycles yesterday. They're fine for getting around; my only criticism is that they only don't accommodate taller riders very well.

*Helmeted riders are rare.

Frits · 2 months ago

Twin foot posts on the rear wheel at the hub were rather common in Holland some 50 years ago. Very practical if you took children between 10 and 15 years on the rack - no dangling legs etc. They disappeared as people could afford to give those kids their own bikes. And, you know, cars were the next step up in people transport.

amsterdamize · 2 months ago

You got pics, Brent? Would love to see those!

Steven Vance · 2 months ago

In the United States, these twin posts are usually called pegs. If you see them they are most likely attached to BMX bicycles. Riders use them to carry friends and to perform tricks.

DottieLGRAB · 2 months ago

No matter how many of your pictures I look at, I'm always surprised how different the cycling culture is there compared to the US.

amsterdamize · 2 months ago

Of course we're different, we're Old Europe! :)

Steven Vance · 2 months ago

I wish it was safe enough for me to text and ride. I used to do it on the way to school, but that route was much less dominated by motorists.

Now my main route is the Halsted Street bike lane, Chicago's "backbone" to the bikeway network.

In my research about Dutch bicycling policy, safety levels, and bikeway innovation, I find that a bicyclist riding in the United States is five times more likely to perish than a bicyclist riding in the Netherlands. And the same bicyclist in the United States is 35-350 times more likely to be injured (35x from a study of police reports, 350x from a study of hospital visits).

amsterdamize · 2 months ago

Your research looks to be right, seen similar figures.

If your route looks anything like this, you're a lucky man :).

meligrosa · 2 months ago

This is a great set. I agree with Adrienne, ridership has increased and riding with her has widen my points of view, as a city cyclist, riding with kids. I think there are parents out there, but the more we ride, the more we notice them and viceversa. Also the internet connects all riders that (are online) in a very beautiful way.

Cheers /from SF :D meli