We’ve tried hard to be car-light, and did one car for a long time. And, I bike commuted frequently. As our kids have gotten a little older (5 and 7 now), it’s just become impossible. So, we do two cars now, and simply can’t escape a lot more chauffeuring all over the city. I hope to get back to more biking but it’s just temporarily not feasible for us. On the good side, the second car gets very little use. It’s almost entirely for driving kids to school and to work. So, that expense is pretty manageable.
Your saga sounds like mine (when my kids were younger) and others. My hope is that people like us can persuade decision-makers to improve infrastructure enough that little trips are bikeable. Not worried about the commuting & "all our trips" for now. But there's something magical when parents realize "oh, this errand is totally bikeable after all. That felt food."
The e-bike phenomenon has made me more hopeful than anything in this regard. The bikes themselves are so fun they have a chance to be a popular mass-market product. And that will ultimately be what forces changes to infrastructure. Policymakers and engineers just aren’t going to listen long-term to niche bike advocacy groups.
Agree that e-bikes, especially e-cargo bikes, will change the dynamic. I’m seeing more users, especially families, older users on electric utility bikes. I’m encouraged that this can shift the course of the discussion.
It really is hard to overstate the power of e-bikes to change culture. Where I live, there's now a large enough group that they have a periodic meet-up. The smiles are electric.
We’ve tried hard to be car-light, and did one car for a long time. And, I bike commuted frequently. As our kids have gotten a little older (5 and 7 now), it’s just become impossible. So, we do two cars now, and simply can’t escape a lot more chauffeuring all over the city. I hope to get back to more biking but it’s just temporarily not feasible for us. On the good side, the second car gets very little use. It’s almost entirely for driving kids to school and to work. So, that expense is pretty manageable.
Your saga sounds like mine (when my kids were younger) and others. My hope is that people like us can persuade decision-makers to improve infrastructure enough that little trips are bikeable. Not worried about the commuting & "all our trips" for now. But there's something magical when parents realize "oh, this errand is totally bikeable after all. That felt food."
The e-bike phenomenon has made me more hopeful than anything in this regard. The bikes themselves are so fun they have a chance to be a popular mass-market product. And that will ultimately be what forces changes to infrastructure. Policymakers and engineers just aren’t going to listen long-term to niche bike advocacy groups.
Agree that e-bikes, especially e-cargo bikes, will change the dynamic. I’m seeing more users, especially families, older users on electric utility bikes. I’m encouraged that this can shift the course of the discussion.
It really is hard to overstate the power of e-bikes to change culture. Where I live, there's now a large enough group that they have a periodic meet-up. The smiles are electric.