Bikes - privileged mode of conveyance?

I'm sure we all had a good laugh at Dorothy Rabinowitz's rant in the Wall Street Journal's video commentary about New York's CitiBike program.  There's a letter to the editor of the New York Times today in response to a recent article about the bike parking nightmare in Amsterdam, that, while more coherent than Ms. Rabinowitz, still comes down firmly on the anti-bike side of the debate.  The author, Gary Taustine, refers to bikes as a "privileged mode of conveyance":

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/opinion/invitation-to-a-dialogue-...

The Times tagged it as an "invitation to a dialogue," asking for responses by tomorrow for publication next Sunday.  Might be worth a letter or two from Chainlinkers.  Here are a couple ideas:

  • Replace "bike" with "car" in Taustine's letter (that is, cars already have privileged status).
  • Note that being early on the adoption curve, most American cities should be able to adapt before being overrun by bikes like Amsterdam.
  • Point out that useful above ground and underground storage options exist. (I suspect underground storage would be out in Amsterdam, and might be problematic in cities like Chicago and New York which already have well-developed underground infrastructure.)
  • New York, Chicago, and other large American cities could adopt a center city congestion charge like London's to free up more space to park and ride bikes.  That is, make cars less of a privileged conveyance.

The Times doesn't identify Mr. Taustine's connection to New York, but if you Google for "Gary Taustine site:nytimes.com", you'll see that he has been a lifelong New Yorker, and doesn't lack for opinions.

As Divvy gets going and Mayor Emmanuel and his minions continue working to improve the cycling infrastructure in Chicago, it also makes sense to keep an eye on what's happening in New York.  The reactions of people like Ms. Rabinowitz and Mr. Taustine are likely shared by many Chicagoans.

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Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on July 1, 2013 at 1:09am

All arguments about whether or not biking is a privileged mode of conveyance pale with a quick reality check: bikers are almost exclusively pale. The people riding bikes look like a netroots/occupy rally: almost exclusively affluent bourgeois white children, as over-educated as they are under-integrated, as intent on forcing people to conform to their norms as their parents ever dared to. Bikers are the children of privilege, engaged in an angry coming-of-age act of transitional defiance, testing their nascent social identities and political muscles like fledglings testing their wings before taking that leap of faith into adulthood. After a few years of self-righteous Critical Mass rides and kamikaze rides through car-infested (but otherwise safe) streets, the survivors will pair off and start to breed and then they will trade in their Surly bikes, if not their surly attitude, for the comfort and convenience of a Prius.

Of course there are outliers but they are so few as to constitute a proof instead of a rebuttal to the truth: biking may not be reserved for the privileged but it is a preserve of the privileged.

Permalink Reply by yai danche on July 1, 2013 at 1:34am

From the title, I was expecting to read another article about how most cyclists are middle to upper class white men.  

I would hardly call biking privileged when drivers who hit cyclists get a slap on the wrist.  Taustine's main concern seems to be that bikes will up too much sidewalk space in the city and for free to boot.  Unless, they can come up with some contraption that you can pay to lock up to, I don't see why I should pay to lock to existing street signs.  BTW, if there were parking docks that I could pay to secure my bike I totally would.  In Chicago, the Divvy docks I've seen are taking up street space, about two parking spaces, which I'm sure people are annoyed at losing a space.  I don't know that much about NYC, but here we have parking garages to combat parking congestion and I don't see why some of that space couldn't be used for bikes.  

Permalink Reply by yai danche on July 1, 2013 at 1:58am

There are lanes that semis can't use, but regular cars can.  LSD is closed to semis (not 100% sure about this so bear with me).  Are people going to say that's a privilege that cars enjoy but not semis?  How about those privileged hybrid and handicapped parking spots?

Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on July 1, 2013 at 2:53am

Though it may be inflammatory, a demonstrable fact is not a prejudice. The horror of stereotypes isn't that they are fundamentally wrong, it's that they almost always reveal at least a kernel of truth.

Evan said:

LOL! Funny and interesting take on the situation but certainly a bit prejudiced.

Permalink Reply by yai danche on July 1, 2013 at 2:57am

I wish cycling would appeal to the poorer communities as they have the most to benefit.  I live around a lot of low-income housing and I'm surprised at how many cars there are in the parking lot.  Cars that are old and probably require frequent costly repairs.  

 Jeez, I hope people don't view my bike commuting as some sort of political statement.  I'm not even an environmental hippie type.  I am just trying to get from point A to point B in a cheap and efficient way.  

Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on July 1, 2013 at 3:02am

I didn't say and didn't mean to imply that the sense of privilege is restricted to young white cyclists - it isn't. Indeed, I said that bikers are the children of privilege. Except for the spandex and other desiderata (the variable trappings of privilege) they are virtually indistinguishable from their parents.

Jeff Schneider said:

But it is sure isn't limited to (or primarily the characteristic of) young white cyclists.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on July 1, 2013 at 3:03am

The only fact (relevant to this discussion) demonstrated by that video is the demographics of a particular Critical Mass ride. Critical Mass is by no means representative of the cycling population as a whole.

If you are frightened by stereotypes perhaps you should avoid trafficking in them, especially if you are going to base them on faulty data.

Reboot Oxnard said:

Though it may be inflammatory, a demonstrable fact is not a prejudice. The horror of stereotypes isn't that they are fundamentally wrong, it's that they almost always reveal at least a kernel of truth.

Evan said:

LOL! Funny and interesting take on the situation but certainly a bit prejudiced.

Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on July 1, 2013 at 5:12am

Interestingly, this sentiment almost always reveals a load of bullshit.

Reboot Oxnard said:

The horror of stereotypes isn't that they are fundamentally wrong, it's that they almost always reveal at least a kernel of truth.

Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on July 1, 2013 at 6:34am

A Critical Mass video is a demonstrable fact of what, exactly? 

The bike-as-symbol-of-class-warfare concept is silly. 

Here is a "demonstrable fact":

Bikes are cheap, much cheaper and more accessible to a person of little means than a car is.  And the vast majority of all Chicagoans ride them at least as kids. 

The problem is getting people to stay on their bikes once they get a drivers license.

Reboot Oxnard said:

Though it may be inflammatory, a demonstrable fact is not a prejudice. The horror of stereotypes isn't that they are fundamentally wrong, it's that they almost always reveal at least a kernel of truth.

Evan said:

LOL! Funny and interesting take on the situation but certainly a bit prejudiced.

Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on July 1, 2013 at 7:22am

Getting back to what the actual topic is about, I should think if we had anything close to the ridership of Amsterdam or Copenhagen and the bike parking concerns they're facing, we'd be able to repurpose a tiny fraction of the space devoted to car parking presently, and have enough space left over to put the space dedicated to car storage to actual use by human beings. 

Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on July 1, 2013 at 7:33am

Just to throw a little more into the mix: today the price of gasoline in Amsterdam NL is: $6.48/gallon.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/ 

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 1, 2013 at 7:37am
In fact, some parking garages in the Loop do have bike parking. My building has parking in it's VIP garage (closed door, security guards, building access required). I don't even bother to lock my bike. Other garages have spaces as well. The garage across Franklin from the Sears Tower has some.

So it's not like we couldn't find places to tuck our bikes if ridership soars. I doubt we'll ever have the problem Amsterdam is having. Maybe New York will have a bit tougher time. My guess is that most whining regarding New York's bike share program is a combination of unfamiliarity and a healthy dose of FUD, or at least fear of the unknown.

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