More Bikes Than Cars

Twice in the last two weeks I have been a part of a lovely thing.  While riding to work I look around and see way…way more bikes than cars.   I think it is a product of the lovely riding weather we have been having, the increase in ridership, the infrastructure, and an overall shift in mode share.  It was Utopian, it felt good to outnumber the cars, it made me feel powerful, and safer.

There were perhaps 25 cyclists, and maybe 10 cars on the road, and yet the cars still monopolized most of the space, but the cyclists had carved out most of the right hand lane, and were in large enough numbers that we could hold it easily.  Traffic moved much better, and many more people were able to travel on the limited amount of streets available.

That is after all what streets are for, they are a public utility designed to move people around.  It just so happens that the most popular way to use them (one person in one car), is the worst way to use that public utility.  But that seems be changing.

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What Happens When You Take Away All The Cars

I grew up in Michigan, people used to talk about Mackinac Island (The locals pronounce it “Makinaw” )all the time. It always came up that “there are no cars” and people LOVED IT. Loved the excitement and thrill of riding your bike in the street WITH NO CARS!

Here is a great run down of what it is like, read the whole article here:

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Bike culture has recently been booming in the U.S.  But there’s a little place in the north that’s been in love with bikes for generations: Mackinac Island, Michigan, a historic tourist destination on the Straits of Mackinac, between Lakes Michigan and Huron. Because motor vehicles have been banned here since 1898 – more than 100 years – everyone has used bikes for everything a bike can be used for, and for more than you might imagine.  Along with multi-season commuting, it’s a place where everyone socializes on bikes, from teens to guys in sports coats.

[Bikes here] come in dozens of brands, spanning the eras…they’re built for comfort.  Nearly all have a big front basket, upright handlebars, full metal fenders, a kickstand, and a big seat.

Headlight use isn’t comon, but it’s making slow inroads along with handlebar bells.  Islanders enjoy their night sky and navigating by treeline and moonlight…Hardly anyone wears a helmet…Islanders just seem to realize that the safe, human scale of bikes outweighs the need for such extra gear.  If helmets worked for them they’d be hanging from every handlebar.

“Copenhagen Bicycle Chic became popular a few years ago, yet generations of Islanders have known that bikes are a part of fashion, part of looking good.  Sport coats and dresses – check.”

Photo credit: The Graphic

The air is cleaner and injuries are fewer.  Island residents are healthier due to the exercise. There’s a cherished egalitarianism: everyone gets around the same way.  They also save a tremendous amount of money that would normally go to commuting by cars.

You should really read the rest, its very good.

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