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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
It looks like a stupid question. But we already know how many
hamburgers we gulp down every year and how many hours we spend watching the Idiot’s Box. Then the issue of what people ride bikes where starts to make sense. Why do 99% of Americans do NOT commute by bike? Are they afraid of the road or what? Of course, everybody rides on the sidewalk where I live. And yet these things must be done according to scientific methods and sample populations. If the samples are taken where the poor live, no doubt the sidewalk wins. But if you go to the green areas and gated communities, people enjoy bike paths and then the picture is reversed, like black and white. So while all the data is collected and everything, what’s your best gut feeling? BIKE FOR PEACE htttp://webspawner.com/users/bikeforpeace |
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#2
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
The answer is VERY specific as to how you ask the question, so the
first thing you want to decide is exactly what it is you want to know. For example, if you want to know how many "commute" by bike on a sidewalk/road, that's a VERY different question than how many "ride" on a bike/road. I would guess that "ride" has a MUCH higher percentage of people riding on sidewalks because it would include children, who are the largest group of riders. You'll also get very different results for rural/suburban/urban. For example, cul-de-sac suburban might ALL ride on roads (including children) because they cul-de-sacs don't have much traffic and there are no sidewalks. Rural will also have more road riders because of the lack of sidewalks. You would also need to define "commute" to figure out if that included children going to school. The other obvious challenge to a question like this is how do you define "riding". It is likely that most people do a little of each. |
#3
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
ComandanteBanana writes:
It looks like a stupid question. It's definitely an offtopic question. The "uk" in uk.rec.cycling is for "United Kingdom" (as in "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"), not for the University of Kentucky. You might have heard of our country in history lessons at school, if not more recently. There probably aren't enough Americans living here to make a statistically meaningful survey of whether they ride bike on the road or sidewalk (or "pavement" as we like to call it) Hope this helps. Be grateful if you could amend the newsgroups line on further posts. Thanks. -dan |
#4
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
On Aug 28, 8:53*pm, ComandanteBanana
wrote: It looks like a stupid question. Yes it does. - Frank Krygowski |
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
"ComandanteBanana" wrote in message ... ...Th en the issue of what peopl e ride bikes where starts to make sense. .Why do 99% of Americans do NOT commute by bike? Are they afraid of the ..road or what? (I put in some because you make your response difficult to read because you use crap softeware) People decide on the mode of their commute by the perceived cost. They typically choose the lowest cost transportation mode. The perceived cost has been found to = wage rate * waiting time + half wage rate * travel time + dollar cost for the trip A bike has a very high cost of time for most people. They can not afford the cost of time for a bike compared to the cost of driving. Bikes and transit are far more expensive than cars for most people so they don't use bikes or transit for their commute. This is one of the results of Professor at UC Berkely who won a Nobel Prize for determing how people make decision in real life including selecting which commute mode they use. |
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
"ComandanteBanana" wrote in message ... It looks like a stupid question. But we already know how many hamburgers we gulp down every year and how many hours we spend watching the Idiot’s Box. Then the issue of what people ride bikes where starts to make sense. Why do 99% of Americans do NOT commute by bike? Are they afraid of the road or what? Of course, everybody rides on the sidewalk where I live. And yet these things must be done according to scientific methods and sample populations. If the samples are taken where the poor live, no doubt the sidewalk wins. But if you go to the green areas and gated communities, people enjoy bike paths and then the picture is reversed, like black and white. So while all the data is collected and everything, what’s your best gut feeling? BIKE FOR PEACE htttp://webspawner.com/users/bikeforpeace On my visits to the USA I am often surprised by the number of cyclists who ride into oncoming traffic. There I am, trying to remember to drive on the right only to be confronted by a cyclist coming towards me on my side of the road. Why? |
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
In ,
Frank Krygowski tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell us: On Aug 28, 8:53 pm, ComandanteBanana wrote: It looks like a stupid question. Yes it does. It IS a stupid question, Frank, coz it comes from a muppet with absolutely NO clue as to what "uk" stands for. -- Dave Larrington http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk I am now returned from both the seventeenth century and the Post Office. |
#8
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
ComandanteBanana wrote:
My recollections from various parts of America is that there are no sidewalks in vast swathes of housing. Sidewalks are for walking, and Americans don't (sweeping generalisation) walk. Hence the issue of riding bicycles on them is ... tenuous. I once walked (3 blocks) from a hotel to a business in Palo Alto. Given the time difference, I'd woken early, and had plenty of time. And the weather was good. There were no pavements, sorry sidewalks. A police car drew up and asked me what I was doing. So walking is considered "unusual", at least by the police. BugBear |
#9
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
On Aug 28, 7:53*pm, ComandanteBanana
wrote: It looks like a stupid question. But we already know how many hamburgers we gulp down every year and how many hours we spend watching the Idiot’s Box. Then the issue of what people ride bikes where starts to make sense. Why do 99% of Americans do NOT commute by bike? Are they afraid of the road or what? Of course, everybody rides on the sidewalk where I live. And yet these things must be done according to scientific methods and sample populations. If the samples are taken where the poor live, no doubt the sidewalk wins. But if you go to the green areas and gated communities, people enjoy bike paths and then the picture is reversed, like black and white. So while all the data is collected and everything, what’s your best gut feeling? BIKE FOR PEACE htttp://webspawner.com/users/bikeforpeace In my area there are no sidewalks so more folks ride in the street. As for commuting, my location is not bike commute friendly, I'd like to ride to work but getting past the highway interchange is a bit scary. Eric |
#10
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Do more Americans ride bike on the road or sidewalk?
On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:53:04 -0700 (PDT), ComandanteBanana wrote:
It looks like a stupid question. But we already know how many hamburgers we gulp down every year and how many hours we spend watching the Idiot¢s Box. Then the issue of what people ride bikes where starts to make sense. Why do 99% of Americans do NOT commute by bike? Are they afraid of the road or what? Possibly - due to (or as an alternative explanation for "or what") the prevalence of laws requiring the wearing of Magic Foam Hats. |
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