I find it amusing that my liberal city puts so much tax money into amenities that serve, overwhelmingly, its white male population.Thus ends Law Professor Ann Althouse's blog post, "Madison, where the powerful bike lobby pushes for policies that will get 20% of workers commuting by bike...". She then goes on to note that "... bicycle commuting dropped to only 4.69% in 2011. The previous year it was 6.03%." The post can be found here.
Frankly, I am dubious about statistics on bicycle use that go to the second decimal point. The Wall Street Journal article upon which the blog post is based just adds to my sense that the numbers are given with an accuracy unwarranted.
The bicycle is being pushed in Lowell and we even now have Sharrows♠ and bike lanes. I hope that we are not going to expend a lot of taxpayer money to benefit solely white Caucasian males and those who emulate them. On the other hand, it might help that population group grow healthier and at the same time it might reduce carbon emissions into our collective atmosphere, so isn't it helping everybody, and might it not be a good investment?
That said, is 20% using bicycles a reasonable goal for commuters in Madison, Wisconsin? Would it be here in Lowell, even if we considered that riding to the train by bike counted?
Regards — Cliff
♠ Sharrows is a compression of two words, Share Arrows, and says that auto and truck and motorcycle drivers are legally bound to share the rode with bicycle riders.
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White males? Have you looked closely at those careening bikes around the city these days? Biking in Lowell may be a male dominated sport, but I would say it's hardly racially divided. Bicycle culture thrives from whence much of Lowell has emigrated, though hardly for environmental reasons. Our Winters are a strong deterrent, but I'd say we're missing a trick if we're not trying to better leverage the coincidence.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget every time you contribute to one transportation mode, other transportation modes are affected. If you add a mass transit station somewhere, it's not just a mass transit project and it doesn't just benefit mass transit users. I can also be there for reasons of relieving congestion in other modes of transit as well as be part of economic development.
ReplyDeleteI used to consume Althouse a little. I've moved on because she tends to color the evidence she sees in skewed glasses.
I don't think she is trying to skew things. I think she is just disappointed at how things turned out.
ReplyDeleteRegards — Cliff