car to bike or ped to bike

[User]

 

[dondare]

The cost of petrol is getting more motorists cycling: hence the decline in cycling standards. But the general trend is for there to be more traffic on the roads, both the number of cars and the number of bikes has gone up. I haven't noticed the pavements becoming less crowded either, or fewer using public transport. Perhaps it's peoples homes that are emptier.

 

[domd1979]

Its quite difficult to disaggregate it all, but there could be an element of that going on. I'd also say that the continued rise in bus fares will push more passengers off the bus for shorter journeys - and the most likely alternative is cycling (on the assumption that for the shortest journeys its quicker to walk than wait for a bus so people are already walking for those journeys).

There is a long term trend towards increased travel generally - for instance increased rail travel hasn't been accompanied by decreased road traffic or air passengers.

According to the CTC a French organisation claims that cycle use is increasing because people are moving from walking to bike and not car to bike.

Discuss...

 

[hackbike 6]

hence the decline in cycling standards.

Yeah I noticed that.

 

[domd1979]

If that's the case, and it's good, it's probably because people who will catch a bus don't have to get over the "getting out of the comfy cocoon" obstacle, and/or couldn't afford to the car alternative anyway.

Pushing fare paying passengers off the bus is a double-edged sword... on one hand its good if levels of walking/cycling increases, but on the other hand there is likely to be a negative impact on the viability of services.

How are more of the cocoon drivers going to be persuaded out of their birthright, wheeled living room? raised petrol prices?

Combination of pricing e.g. petrol prices, car park charges and restraint measures - reduce parking availability, stop building ridiculous bypasses, more restrictions on cars in town centres.

Interestingly, it appears that the massive increase in concessionary travel since the launch of free national passes for the over-60s is leading to a drop in car park revenues since more over-60s are ditching the car in favour of the bus (though that doesn't necessarily help the viability of bus services because of how operators are paid)

 

[Oddjob62]

"getting out of the comfy cocoon" obstacle,

Cutting out my London Underground commute was more like "getting out of the stuffy crowded sweaty cocoon" so it was hardly an obstacle. Once i realised how easy it was to walk to and from work, the move was a no brainer, and not much longer, 40min by tube 55min walking, and now by bike it's 20min

 

[beanzontoast]

Cutting out my London Underground commute was more like "getting out of the stuffy crowded sweaty cocoon" so it was hardly an obstacle. Once i realised how easy it was to walk to and from work, the move was a no brainer, and not much longer, 40min by tube 55min walking, and now by bike it's 20min

If people rank travelling by car (or public transport) as an 'I'm prepared to pay whatever for it and economise elsewhere' item, I don't see rising petrol prices are going to encourage huge number of them to walk or cycle instead, especially given the cold, wet months.

 

[Oddjob62]

If people rank travelling by car (or public transport) as an 'I'm prepared to pay whatever for it and economise elsewhere' item, I don't see rising petrol prices are going to encourage huge number of them to walk or cycle instead, especially given the cold, wet months.

Agreed. Lots of people walking around at the moment, but i remember walking during Jan/Feb (only taken public transport 3-4 times this year) and the streets were a LOT quieter.

 

[helsbells]

No idea if I'm any indicator, but I have been primarily motivated to start cycling because owning and running a car is cripplingly expensive. Petrol, Insurance, MOT, tyres, general maintenance....
And I only have a micra!
Am hoping that when I move down to the south-east I can sell it and for the first time since I passed my test at 18 I won't own a car!

Also, I get fit, so can ditch my gym membership, too

 

[Bodhbh]

I recently went from walking to cycling in. My walk was 4-6 miles each way, depending whether the scenic route or not, and took 1hr to 1hr30min.

I had no problem with it - MP3 audiobooks are great - but that's a big chunk out your day. Cycling in takes 15-25mins depending on the route, so it's a no brainer. If need the exercise can always do a VERY scenic route home.

I think people just default to whatevers easiest. Cycling will be much faster than walking in in most cases, and once you try it there's no going back. For drivers, there's probably no similar big incentive to pick cycling up out the blue unless expense etc forces their hand.

 

[GrahamG]

If people rank travelling by car (or public transport) as an 'I'm prepared to pay whatever for it and economise elsewhere' item, I don't see rising petrol prices are going to encourage huge number of them to walk or cycle instead, especially given the cold, wet months.

Whilst that is true for many people, there are also huge numbers of people who are more open to changing habits. I've overheard quite a few conversations about people finally ditching the car, a couple of them in bike shops when the customer just said right off "I want a bike for commuting".

I moved from bus to bike when I started cycling as the atrocious traffic meant that the only advantage of bus over car was cost - there was no time saving at all thanks to a local authority which sees no value in bus priority.

The French example is in reference to the Velib scheme right? Very different thing IMO as people can just use them on a whim instead of walking, just in the same way people hop on a bus for just a couple of stops when the weather is bad.