London's Calling.......bicyclists

[marmar]

from Grist:


Those lucky jerks in London are getting a frickin’ bicycle highway
By Sarah Laskow


London may be the world’s newest best cycling city. Mayor Boris Johnson has announced that the city will be spending a whopping $1.51 billion on better bike infrastructure — including a 15-mile bicycle highway that will connect the west and east sections of the city.

There are, oh, a gabillion reasons why this is a great idea. But here are the reasons Johnson gave for spending all this money on cycling:

The reason I am spending almost £1 billion on this is my belief that helping cycling will not just help cyclists. It will create better places for everyone. It means less traffic, more trees, more places to sit and eat a sandwich. It means more seats on the Tube, less competition for a parking place and fewer cars in front of yours at the lights. Above all, it will fulfill my aim of making London’s air cleaner.

Besides the highway, there will be more fully- and semi-segregated bike lanes pretty much everywhere in the city. Johnson says he’s not promising that London “will become Amsterdam any time soon.” But no one needs London to be Amsterdam. It just needs to be its big, old, messy self — with more bicycles.




http://grist.org/list/those-lucky-jerks-in-london-are-getting-a-frickin-bicycle-highway/

[onehandle]

1. I rode on some segregated bike lanes in Paris.

But not a 'highway' like that.

Meanwhile, Republicans cut bike lane funding and want to levy taxes on bike riders in 'merica.

[edhopper]

2. New York and Seattle have been doing this for years.

Probably more American cities I am not aware of.
The majority of Americans, who live in urban centers, want this type of thing (Public trans and HS Rail as well)
It's only the conservative minority who still think we live in Andy Hardy's rural America.

[marmar]

3. None of them have a bike highway like London is building.

nt

[edhopper]

5. Some of our local parkways have bike lanes

ans there is a bike path now along the entire west side of Manhattan, as well as many streets throughout the buroughs.
What London is doing is great, but we are doing something similar, that's all.

[OriginalGeek]

4. Are those jesus bikes?

why are they riding on water?




We have some good bike trails in central Florida but none of them go anywhere. you drive your bike to the trail, ride around a bit and drive home. It's a shame.

I dig that curb between the traffic and the bikes in the OP pic.

[Nika]

6. My city, Eugene, Oregon has excellent bicycle infrastructure, and an incredible number of people ...

... use it. We have more bicycle shops than many cities larger than us, and I realize how living here has spoiled me when I travel and ride my bike in the average hell hole of is U.S. city with poor amenities.