sammer

Great topic and interesting conversation. How to create better environments for cyclists has been a longstanding debate here in Saskatoon, and unfortunately a quiet one. We're smaller than most major urban centres, but the city is quickly growing, meaning that we have a lot of opportunities to learn from mistakes and build a good city. Unfortunately, politicians (and much of the public) still regard cycling as an alternative to cars, when it should be treated simply as a mode of transportation in and of itself. When you frame cycling as an alternative, it somehow feels less important in the transportation conversation (imagine what the conversation would be like if we viewed driving as an alternative to cycling?). The benefits of biking have already been discussed, so I won't mention them here, but there are a fair number of advantages. It is not only about building a city based on a tier of transportation options, prioritized by current levels of use; it's about building a city that encourages people to use some forms of transportation over another. I love urban design because of the way subtle design can encourage how you see and use the city, based on human psychology. The effects of building a city not based on cars is both apparent and unimaginable; overall, exciting. The cycling issue is composed of a lack of political will and creativity, car culture, illusions of convenience and entitlement, a hatred for taxes, and poor urban development. I am not an aggressive or fast biker, so cycling on the road with other cars is terrifying for me. The rules of the road/sidewalk for bikers is confusing at best, and this seems apparent in most other cities, too, based on some of your conversations. I liked at one point in the conversation where it seemed to take a positive turn, thanks to Mighty AC, who believed the future would be less dependent on cars, and I hope this to be true. Building cities based on cars has not resulted in attractive and practical urban design. I am curious -- has there been any studies on what it would take to get someone out of their car and onto a bike? (Ex. "What would convince you to bike as your main source of transportation?"). In other words, a survey or poll on the potential number of bikers, and their reasons for not biking? Perhaps those of you from cities with relatively larger biking communities have had a similar survey done where you live?