Bikes - privileged mode of conveyance?

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 2, 2013 at 2:28pm

I'm the OP on this thread. I judge that while it's strayed a bit, it hasn't completely lost its head. I disagree with Evan's characterization of what the important questions are.  The only question I posed (implied, but didn't explicitly state) was:

• Is Mr. Taustine's characterization of New York's CitiBike program as a "privileged conveyance" for the cycling community?

My answer is, "no."

Let's perform a thought experiment. Presume that the entire city of New York uses nothing but cars to get around. People don't ride bikes. They don't ride the subway or buses. They don't even walk or carpool. Now, let's further propose that Mayor Bloomberg wants to run a single bus up Broadway, from one end to the other, once in the morning, once in the evening. Just one bus. What fraction of the overall population can possibly benefit from that one change? Obviously very few. Yet, it still might be a worthwhile change. A few people will decide to get out of their cars and ride the bus, perhaps because it runs right by their apartment and their office, at just the right times. If running that bus frees up a little space on the crowded streets for the cars which remain (remember, those few people who choose to ride the bus would have driven before), then the people who remain in their cars will have a little bit easier time getting to and from work.

Using Evan's argument, since the obviously largest segment of the population (in fact, the only segment in my crazy example) drives cars, the only worthwhile change is something which directly affects them. Too much congestion? Don't add a bus or provide reasons for people to ride bikes. Widen Broadway! Put in a second deck! Invent teleporters which only teleport cars!

The same is true as you move away from this extreme hypothetical example. Clearly, installing a Divvy/CitiBike system benefits the people who use it.  If you work near the Sears Tower and need to get over the the Chase Bank building, Divvy might be more convenient and less expensive than a cab, and faster than walking. There is some benefit to the people who remain in their cars when you encourage other people to get out of their cars to ride bikes, take public transit, car pool, or walk. Mr. Taustine ignores the obvious fact that drivers of cars are and have been privileged for a long while, and assumes that cyclists are privileged if anything is done to make riding a bike more convenient or safer.

Furthermore, Reboot Oxnard errs when he/she states that because most cyclists appear to him/her to be white that the privileged group is actually the upper middle class. Evan makes the same error. It may very well be true that fostering more cycling by improving the infrastructure initially benefits a largely white, middle class segment of the population. That is beside the point. The infrastructure is accessible to all, and provides an incentive to all. In the early stages of an infrastructure roll-out it makes sense to put it where it will offer the most bang for the buck. That suggests you put that infrastructure (bike lanes, Divvy/CitiBike, bike racks, etc) where cyclists actually are (or want to be) today. You then extend its reach to areas where cost/benefit analysis suggests the payoff won't be as great.  I don't know what use the city will make of the subscription fees from Divvy, but I assume that some fraction of those fees will be rolled back into extending the service.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 2, 2013 at 2:36pm

The Amsterdam city center was probably at full density before the invention of the automobile.  In fact, most large European cities were.  There was little or no space for parking garages without destroying existing buildings.  American cities developed much later, and except for a few Eastern cities (Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, etc) probably had plenty of more-or-less open space in which to put parking lots, and later, multi-level parking garages.  We thus have plenty of fractionally used space we can redirect to bike parking.  It might cost a few bucks for a monthly parking pass, but I doubt we will ever see the Amsterdam example in the US.

Haddon said:

Anyway, there are multiple parking spaces for every car in America. (Church lots are full occasionally, business at certain times, malls at others) so if it comes down to it I think we'll find a place to put some bikes.

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Permalink Reply by Haddon on July 2, 2013 at 3:37pm

More focus,

What is the cost structure of Divy vs. a Metra Pass ? 

One will be more expensive than another.  If one doesn't have a credit card can they still use Divy?  What are the comparable costs of each? If measuring the program on finances it may indeed be privileged.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 2, 2013 at 3:56pm

Annual membership is $75, daily is $7. Each allows you unlimited 30-minute trips during the duration of the subscription. I pay $42.50 for a Metra 10-ride between Evanston and the Loop.

http://divvybikes.com/pricing

Comparing Divvy to Metra (or even CTA) is not really a fair comparison, since the coverage areas are currently so different.  Here's the Divvy map:

http://divvybikes.com/stations

As you can see from the blue pins, it currently only extends north to Fullerton and south to McCormick Place.  The yellow pins are "coming soon."

Here's Metra:

http://metrarail.com/content/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/metra_sys...

Here's the CTA "L" map:

http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/maps/Rail_System_Map_-_P19Ma...

Still, if Divvy covers your home and work locations, it seems the price is hard to beat.  If your bike commute is more than 30 minutes, you will pay extra.

I don't know all the answers to your questions.  (Before responding, I didn't know any.) Instead, I will nudge you to do your own searching:

http://bit.ly/15eiiAv

Please report your findings back here. :-)

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Permalink Reply by yai danche on July 2, 2013 at 5:54pm

back on topic, amsterdam's congestion problem is that people are leaving a bike at work, a bike at home, and anywhere in between to have one just in case (flat, stolen).  resulting in more bikes than people!  we have a long way to go for that to happen.  i wonder what they do there for bike parking.  do they pay to park?  btw, i already have this problem for cars in my neighborhood.  each house has more than one car and while people will park one in the garage and one in front of the house.  there are also a few apartment buildings and coach houses (therefore eliminating the garage) and those people have cars.  there are more cars than there are parking spaces on the street!  people have resorted to saving their spots and it's aggravating when people visit and have to park crazy far away.  

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