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#31
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Before & after bike ghettos
On Oct 23, 2:30*pm, Doc O'Leary
wrote: I experience this a lot. *If you include the time it takes to walk to/from a transit stop and wait, the minimum trip time is about 30 minutes. *You can get pretty damn far on a bike in that amount of time! * And if a route has a lot of stops, you can easily match or exceed that by bike. Where the transit system really needs to improve, at least around here, is in offering "express" routes over long distances. *We have some, but it is mainly restricted to rush hour schedules, and the vast majority of service is the poorly-planned-but-standard block-by-block crawl. *There really needs to be a system that stops no more than once every mile or two, and expects every passenger to bring their own "last mile" vehicle, be it a bike, scooter, or just their feet. Very good post. At one time, I was hoping to not replace our second car. I reasoned that my suburb has LOTS of people going to the city-center university where I work, by way of the freeway. That's obvious, by the reduction in freeway traffic on school holidays. So I should be able to find someone to ride with, right? But no luck. Zero interest in car pooling, despite dozens of phone calls. So the bus? No, the bus takes nearly an hour to go seven miles. How about an express bus? Use the parking lots near the freeway for car (or bike) storage, and let the bus make the run down the freeway directly to the university? No such thing as an express bus. No such plans, either. sigh So I bought another used car. I don't use it much - maybe 4000 miles in a typical year, and most of that is driving to distant music gigs. (I've driven it to work only once this semester.) It's now 20 years old with 110,000 miles on it. - Frank Krygowski |
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#32
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Before & after bike ghettos
On 10/23/2010 6:18 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Oct 23, 2:30 pm, Doc wrote: I experience this a lot. If you include the time it takes to walk to/from a transit stop and wait, the minimum trip time is about 30 minutes. You can get pretty damn far on a bike in that amount of time! And if a route has a lot of stops, you can easily match or exceed that by bike. Where the transit system really needs to improve, at least around here, is in offering "express" routes over long distances. We have some, but it is mainly restricted to rush hour schedules, and the vast majority of service is the poorly-planned-but-standard block-by-block crawl. There really needs to be a system that stops no more than once every mile or two, and expects every passenger to bring their own "last mile" vehicle, be it a bike, scooter, or just their feet. Very good post. At one time, I was hoping to not replace our second car. I reasoned that my suburb has LOTS of people going to the city-center university where I work, by way of the freeway. That's obvious, by the reduction in freeway traffic on school holidays. So I should be able to find someone to ride with, right? But no luck. Zero interest in car pooling, despite dozens of phone calls. So the bus? No, the bus takes nearly an hour to go seven miles. How about an express bus? Use the parking lots near the freeway for car (or bike) storage, and let the bus make the run down the freeway directly to the university? No such thing as an express bus. No such plans, either. sigh So I bought another used car. I don't use it much - maybe 4000 miles in a typical year, and most of that is driving to distant music gigs. (I've driven it to work only once this semester.) It's now 20 years old with 110,000 miles on it. - Frank Krygowski Ditto. I telecommute, my wife mostly bike commutes (6 miles). We live at a mass transit hub, which is fine for commuter rail & express buses, but nobody happens to be going downtown (except the kids for fun), and I almost always ride by bike when I go. My wife's work bus trip is an hour, bike 1/2 hr. For me downtown is 45 leisurely minutes. We have 2, 16 year old cars (one was a gift). One used maybe 4K/yr, the other maybe 1K/yr, it's a challenge keeping the battery charged on the second. My cars age out tires before they wear out, typically. My wife has used zip car a couple of times to go on local business trips, there are a couple parked 2 blocks away. Bikes beat almost everything (even cars) for most trips. They really impress the doctors. My kids walk, they feel anything under a mile or so is too short to bother with a bike. |
#33
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Before & after bike ghettos
On 10/23/2010 8:09 AM, Duane Hebert wrote:
"Tom Sherman wrote in message ... On 10/21/2010 8:04 AM, Duane Hebert wrote: [...] Being backed up for a mile is probably not the norm here but 10-15 minutes to get through an intersection is not unusual.[...] That would be hell. I usually have to wait 10 to 15 *seconds* when I catch a red light. I have that also if I leave for work at 4am. At least it could happen then. Though it's not guaranteed. I have the short waits between 7:30 and 8:30 and 16:30 to 18:00 (and of course, at other times). -- Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007 I am a vehicular cyclist. |
#34
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Before & after bike ghettos
On 10/23/2010 9:51 AM, Peter Cole wrote:
On 10/22/2010 8:50 PM, Tom Sherman °_° wrote: On 10/21/2010 8:04 AM, Duane Hebert wrote: [...] Being backed up for a mile is probably not the norm here but 10-15 minutes to get through an intersection is not unusual.[...] That would be hell. I usually have to wait 10 to 15 *seconds* when I catch a red light. Don't leave hogtown. It is "corn town", not "hog town". Sheesh! -- Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007 I am a vehicular cyclist. |
#35
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Before & after bike ghettos
On 10/23/2010 9:56 AM, Peter Cole wrote:
On 10/22/2010 9:04 PM, Tom Sherman °_° wrote: Hey Frank, If Magic Foam Bicycle Hats™ can prevent 70% of leg injuries, why should not White Magic Bicycle Paint Stripes™ be able to add lane width? Why don't you guys get a room? Now there is a valuable contribution to the discussion. -- Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007 I am a vehicular cyclist. |
#36
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Before & after bike ghettos
On 10/23/2010 7:08 PM, Peter Cole wrote:
[...]My kids walk, they feel anything under a mile or so is too short to bother with a bike. For those distances, a push scooter that can be folded in a few seconds and carried into buildings is the fastest way to get point-to-point [1] (which is why I used one in graduate school). [1] If you consider the time to lock and unlock a bicycle. -- Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007 I am a vehicular cyclist. |
#37
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Before & after bike ghettos
On 10/24/2010 8:52 PM, Tom Sherman °_° wrote:
On 10/23/2010 7:08 PM, Peter Cole wrote: [...]My kids walk, they feel anything under a mile or so is too short to bother with a bike. For those distances, a push scooter that can be folded in a few seconds and carried into buildings is the fastest way to get point-to-point [1] (which is why I used one in graduate school). [1] If you consider the time to lock and unlock a bicycle. I think feet work better than scooters in an urban setting. |
#38
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Before & after bike ghettos
On 10/25/2010 9:28 AM, Peter Cole wrote:
On 10/24/2010 8:52 PM, Tom Sherman °_° wrote: On 10/23/2010 7:08 PM, Peter Cole wrote: [...]My kids walk, they feel anything under a mile or so is too short to bother with a bike. For those distances, a push scooter that can be folded in a few seconds and carried into buildings is the fastest way to get point-to-point [1] (which is why I used one in graduate school). [1] If you consider the time to lock and unlock a bicycle. I think feet work better than scooters in an urban setting. One can transition from scooterist to pedestrian almost instantly. -- Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007 I am a vehicular cyclist. |
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