| This is not the place for anecdotal arguments, they aren't productive. Anyone can cite stories of bad behavior on all sides: sidewalk cycling, oblivious jaywalking, and aggressive driving. It's what every cycling article on Gothamist, Streetsblog, and the NY Post stirs up, and I could write out the comments myself and be pretty close to accurate. Nobody wins, and everyone leaves feeling angry - not useful. The article here is refuting a heavily biased New Yorker piece article by specifically refuting assertions based on fallacious assumptions. We are where we are - everyone is behaving badly, and all sides are so deeply entrenched in their beliefs the arguments just cause people to dig in further and the ad homs and strawmen appear. HN is better than this. The situation obviously can't continue, but it's time for a rational discussion of what's most effective, in terms of cost, and transportation efficiency, and safety for the largest number of people. I'm prepared to have this discussion, and while I'll admit bias in a certain direction on this issue I'm open-minded enough to hear all sides. I'd like others to do the same, and we can all get onto having a fruitful and interesting discussion around solutions. Some suggestions for potential discussion topics: - Education/awareness - Infrastructure costs and benefits (street parking, bike lanes, bus lanes, raised crosswalks, etc) - Discussion of network effects - Legislation to punish offenders (relative to cost/potential danger of the offense?) - Maximum efficiency of moving the largest number of people (measure in average trip time) - Externalities (pollution, business impact, etc) - Psychology + behavior understanding and modification |
There are quite a lot of externalities in the quality of living. Compare living in the bike-friendly Netherlands to car-friendly US cities. I know where I'd rather hang out.