If I had to pick one recreational drug where the opinions of the user on their performance after taking it were likely to be wrong it would be ethanol.
Jonathan
If I had to pick one recreational drug where the opinions of the user on their performance after taking it were likely to be wrong it would be ethanol.
Evidence of this might be the popularity of internet shopping. It's not driven solely by the pandemic or even lower prices, many people just don't want to travel to and spend time in, the shopping centre environment. Equally, there are of course many who view it as an enjoyable recreational and social activity.mjr wrote: ↑3 Sep 2021, 8:11pmYeah, I'm almost certainly not faster but I'm pretty sure you don't live with me
I think that's more driven by town centre rents and rates being so much higher per square metre than the retail barn wastelands, meaning the barns are not paying full whack for maintaining the extra-wide roads to them or the damage done by their car parks, plus shops have to be a certain size to occupy one of the barns, as few people walk between shops because that means walking across vast car parks and crossing the 4/5/6/7/8/9-lane road between them.My car is faster than my bike almost all journeys. If parking was an issue I wouldn't go here. Others seem to have similar views hence the decline of city centre shopping and the growth of out of town shopping with free parking and good road access.
I doubt this is being driven by customer views more than shop and road/parking space supply. I've not heard anyone say they actually like visiting the megahypermart zone since the novelty of the first ones opening years ago. More often people say they have to go there because there are no longer enough shops in town to supply everything they need/want, plus the councils have failed to get a grip on congestion (still trying to build their way out of it) so it takes motorists longer to get to the town centre than the time saved by using smaller shops, plus there's then the perverse incentive of council-owned pay car parks.
Ironically, I ride through Lynn's main megahypermart zone to go shopping in town, unless I need one of the 3 things I've not found elsewhere recently. The 10 minutes from there into town plus the time spent walking around (OK, limping around!) is less than the time taken moving even a bike from road to shop to shop (...to shop...) to road. Moving a car (which has to stop at the lights and cannot use the crossings or more direct routes) would be even slower, but driving into town from there and parking and walking would probably be slower too, so drivers tolerate it.
Oh well, at least there's cycleways through it! Roll on business property tax reforms!
Well as I mentioned, safety (or discomfort if that works better, even for many of us who are confident at cycling in traffic, it's rarely a pleasant experience). There's a big difference between actual concrete measures and perceived utility, cycling suffers badly in the latter while cars tend to be oddly tempting, even when they're the dafter choice (I still succumb to this on occasion, I normally regret it), that that choice gets to externalise a bunch of its costs on to everyone else doesn't help.irc wrote: ↑3 Sep 2021, 1:30pmStrange that the vast majority of people don't choose the faster option that makes them happy.Stevek76 wrote: ↑1 Sep 2021, 1:14pm Also you're considering the car like it's the best option. It isn't, even now, cycling is objectively the best option in urban areas at most times of day, it's faster, much cheaper, makes you healthier & happier. The main barrier is the subjective lack of safety from having to share with motor vehicles. Hardly anyone actually likes driving in urban areas!
I was including most suburbs, the average speed across most cities is usually in the low teens across most times of the day. i.e. similar to a relatively relaxed cycle. Glasgow is unusually sprawly and undense for a UK city so may be a bit different here.Depends how you define urban. Congested city centres perhaps. Any further out and the car is king. Arrives when you want any time of day. I waited 40m for a bus last week. Buses are free for me but I still choose my car 99% of the time. AS I was going for a few beers it was bus or bike. Bus won as I didn't want to risk parking my bike in Glasgow city centre for a few hours at night. I currently only have good bikes, no pub bike.
A bike is no use for carrying dogs or large amounts of shopping.
Nor do cars between the car and the final destination, people tend to use coats for that, they work on bikes too.A bike doesn't keep you dry on wet days.
8 miles+ is a minority of commutes, 20miles is a tiny proportion, they're not really the sort of trips being looked at.As I don't work 9-5 my car is faster than my bike for any journey longer than 2 or 3 miles or so.
For work. I work at several locations. One is 20 miles away. By car 30 minutes. Bike 90 minutes (by the fastest route with some suicidal 70mph dual carriageway). Public transport can't be done because of my shift times. The closest place is 8 miles away. I have biked there. But as I have no locker and have to carry a change of clothes and towel etc the car wins most of the time. There is over 100 NHS employees. The bike rack is normally empty.
This, however, is the problem in a nutshell really, not helped by the presumably free parking at the destination despite the poor facilities for those using other modes. Subsidising car use but not public transport?One of my colleagues, a GP, lives closer than me. 3 miles perhaps. He jogs several times a week. Plays 5 a side. Cycles recreationally. He never cycles to work.
I think it's the key point actually, if the environment is as hostile as before then of course there won't be any change. also there is an element of hysteresis to behaviour change which is another reason carrots aren't enough and a few sticks are needed for car driving.I have no stats but my impression is that post lockdown there are no more commuter cyclists in Glasgow than before and the extra cycle lanes see little use. Not helped by their poor quality but that is another debate.
Whenever I go out on my bike it is rare to see anything but racing and fast day touring bikes. I really can’t remember the last time I saw a simple utility bike or cargo bike and likewise a bike plus trailer. I'm a convert to the SA AW hub and again they have become a rare sight too - I’m delighted with mine but you do have to customise the bike gearing to be just right for your own needs ...
Yes, I was sort of getting at that. It's one of the reasons I have quite strong opinions on the need to manage down car dependency. It's all too easy for those who own cars (i.e. almost all politicians) to think everyone has access to one. A significant minority have no, or highly limited access to one and in a car dependent society that is highly exclusionary. There are some around who show what can be done by bike but with the roads as is that's simply not an option for most.Carlton green wrote: ↑4 Sep 2021, 2:38pm How do “those that don’t own cars manage?” Sadly I’ve seen people, pedestrians in particular, really struggle and be ground down by their situation. My parents suffered through lack of transport and at times it really was horridly grinding and life limiting for them and for their children.
Varies massively across the UK. Largely localised to areas actually doing the kind of things I keep grumbling about!Carlton green wrote: ↑5 Sep 2021, 8:11pm Whenever I go out on my bike it is rare to see anything but racing and fast day touring bikes. I really can’t remember the last time I saw a simple utility bike or cargo bike and likewise a bike plus trailer.
I'd not bother with a limiting value - drop to 5% all round and then it's just not an issue.Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑5 Sep 2021, 8:32pm I like your VAT idea though I expect it would be hard to reach a legally acceptable definition (I think yours is too restrictive). Cargo bikes are expensive – I think a Tern GSD with e-assist costs at least £3k up to more than £5k – and a reduction in or exemption from VAT would make a big difference at those levels. Even at more modest utility bike prices, it's still worth doing. I'd apply the reduction to components and workshop labour while we're at it.