The Tennessee Department of Transportation has given $35,000 to a Chattanooga group that plans to place 14 bikes in various parts of downtown Chattanooga. The idea is that downtown workers can use the bikes to get around, thereby getting healthier rather than polluting the air.
Okay, my first question is: $35,000 for 14 bikes? That’s $2,500 per bike! Now, that’s about how much I paid for my road bike, but I wouldn’t leave it unattended around downtown Chattanooga (not to insult Chattanooga; I wouldn’t leave it unattended in downtown anywhere).
Free bikes in Austin
Flickr photo by faster panda kill kill
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Presumably, they aren’t buying $2,500 bikes. Instead, they must be spending some money on some sort of security system. Portland supported a non-profit yellow bike program patterned after one in Amsterdam in which they took hundreds of old bikes, painted them yellow, and left them lying around downtown. They hoped to have 1,000 bikes (not 14) available so people could find them anywhere they were.
Of course, they all quickly disappeared and the non-profit went broke. (A similar program in Austin survives, but has also suffered losses and vandalism.) Now Portland is thinking of a bicycle rental program, something like Flexcar. I don’t have much faith that will work either.
Bikes are inexpensive enough that pretty much everyone who wants to ride one can afford one. Not everybody needs a $2,500 bike. Bikes are also personal enough that I wouldn’t be comfortable riding a generic one.
I don’t see anything wrong with encouraging businesses to provide some bike lockers for their two-wheeling employees and customers. But anything beyond that is just ideological nonsense.
As a cyclist living in Oregon (Medford, so I get more good weather than most) I laugh at attempts to encourage bike commuting. Who wants to arrive anywhere cold, wet, and dirty with road grime? In the summer who wants to do business all sweaty with salt crusted on your face?
It is impractical to commute for many of us and it’s not about attitudes or availability of bicycles so why do people push both? Those who want to or need to will do it while those who don’t want to will not be convinced otherwise.
Of course those gentle souls know what’s good for us and with the convictions of a missionary they will work tirelessly to convert us to the ways of Gaia (maybe not Gaia, maybe just to the religion of the regional transportation plan). Kooks.
Where I live, Vancouver USA, bikes are free or almost free. Check the free stuff on Portland Craigslist if you don’t believe me. I have actually obtained free bikes from Craigslist and a garage sale. The garage sale bike was ready to ride, the Craigslist bike needed a new back wheel which I already had. I also have paid $10 for bikes at garage sales and second hand stores which needed only minor repairs such as a new tire.
$35,000 could probably buy enough old bikes, locks and maintenance for most of the poor people in Chatanooga who couldn’t afford to buy one.
As with the homeless problem it is not really the shortage of housing that is the problem as there are many unused bedrooms and vacant houses and apartments in the USA. It is an abundance of fear and shortage of compassion on the part of the haves and a shortage of morality, sanity and health on the part of the have-nots. Government hasn’t been very successful at dealing with these problems compared to religious and charitable organizations. There are organizations in the Portland/Vancouver area that give free bikes to poor children.
Having said all that, $35,000 is probably a good investment by the Tennessee government. The return on investment may include lower medical costs from diabetes and other obesity-related diseases, good publicity for the DOT and bicycling, time saved for parents not taxiing their children, and reduced need for bus service.
You are correct, though, on the fourteen number. Even for a good research project it would be better to start with 140 bikes instead. If they asked for donations people would probably give them that many in a short time.
I appreciate one’s argument having to rely on characterizing one’s opponent by inferring they worship Gaia or something else strawmanned. It’s a big clue for me.
Anyway, why someone would assume people are too stupid to figure out that riding a bike to a meeting may make them sweaty is beyond me, unless there is no other argument to be had. Nonetheless:
Huh. So rather than us assuming the worst to validate the assertions of a minority ideology, we can conveniently check for ourselves to see what’s up.
And what’s up is health promotion. Important stuff in this age of obesity and rising health costs.
Gosh. Not what we were told at all, is it, in this post full of presumptions and presumablys and no research on the program.
Wonder why?
DS
BTW, I’m a bike commuter. I’ve commuted in waaay worse wx than Medford, and lots of people know how to dress to ride to work. I encourage more bicyclists to learn how to properly dress to ride comfortably.
Dan,
Hold on a sec. My argument far from relied on any characterizations. My tongue in cheek reference to Gaia worshippers was meant to illustrate the emptiness of the gesture and the ignoring of realities. Those realities are the problems with commuting by bicycle, which I mentioned. No straw man there.
I actually assume people are smart enough to know that riding to a meeting would make them sweaty, that’s why we have few bike commuters! The assumption I am making is that bike commuting advocates are not recognizing why people drive cars instead of ride bikes. The story illustrates they think by putting more bikes out there it will increase commuting by bike. That ignores reality.
I hesitate to say it but it appears the strawmen crated here came from someone other than me. I appreciate your point of view on these issues (transportation, planning) but contrary opinions can and do carry weight as well. Rather than run me down it would be nice to hear a reasonable argument refuting the idea that bicycle commuting is DOA for most people because of the elements and physical nature of it. Anecdotal evidence of a few people doesn’t really do it either.
Lastly, without meaning to offend anyone, are there really people who worship Gaia?
DS,
Your argument that this was about health promotion would carry more weight if they were providing bikes for a lot of people to use in their day-to-day lives. But 14 bikes to be used only in the downtown area are not going to promote much health. I have to wonder how much of the $35,000 went into administrative overhead.
When you say “administrative overhead” I think “planning”…
Commuting by bike is very dangerous. Do the health benefits outweigh the physical harm that can come from being hit by a garbage truck at 7am? (actually happend to someone I know…he did not look or feel “healthy” ever again)
I have to wonder how much of the $35,000 went into administrative overhead.
Try actually reading something about the program. Thanks!
Steve:
apologies. I see this type of marginalization phrase often and thought you were using the template.
The main reason why bike commuting is a non-starter is due to the auto-centric focus of our roads. They are, literally, dangerous to bikes as they are designed for cars and our culture is such that cars think they own the road. Next, it is the lack of facilities at the work destination. Despite the lack of facilities in my last town, I still commuted 3x + a week to work. Navigate to places like ‘Bike to work week’ and you’ll see plenty of strategies to overcome these impediments.
Lastly, in the last 10 years I have easily ridden 25,000 miles. Bikes are not dangerous. Cars and their inattentive, agitated and aggressive drivers are dangerous. But the health benefits absolutely outweigh the risk of occasional accident. That’s why bikes are being dragged around Chattanooga on a trailer for folks to use.
DS
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