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April, 2005

Anti-Bicycle Banner Herald Editorial and Letters to the Editor in Response.

Scroll beyond the Editorial to read Letters to the Editor.


Over 150 cyclists gathered for Courteous Mass at the
Banner Herald building Friday April 29

 

Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting
Editorial
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, April 15, 2005


In the past 12 months in Athens-Clarke County, there have been 51 days when the temperature was, at some point during the day, 32 degrees or below. Also during the past 12 months, there have been 62 days when the temperature, at some point during the day, was 90 degrees or above. And there have been 13 days when an inch or more of rain fell.

Those are just three reasons why bicycles cannot - in fact, should not - be considered a viable form of alternative transportation. A primary measure of viability is reliability, and bicycles cannot be reliable transportation because they either cannot, or will not, be ridden on days when weather conditions make it impractical or dangerous to do so. And even with a charitable interpretation of weather data for the past 12 months - taking into account the time of day when the high or low temperature was reached, or when rain actually fell - it's probably fair to conclude that out of the past 12 months, there was a total of at least one month's worth of days when it would have been impossible, or impossibly uncomfortable, to use a bicycle to get to work or school and back or to run errands.

Imagine if Athens Transit buses operated at the same level of reliability. That would mean that somewhere just shy of 10 percent of the time in any given year, potential riders wouldn't know whether they'd be able to catch a bus. Would such an alternative transportation system inspire public confidence, and be worth any infusion of public money? Probably not.

Yet many in this community continue to insist bicycles, despite their demonstrable lack of reliability as a commuting tool, be taken seriously as an alternative form of transportation, to the point that cycling-related infrastructure - bike lanes and, to a lesser extent, "Share the Road" signs - has been allowed to claim a share of public dollars. The latest example of this insistence on seeing bicycles as viable alternative transportation came at Wednesday's meeting of the Madison/Athens-Clarke/Oconee Regional Transportation Study, a transportation authority comprising elected officials and other representatives of Madison, Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties.

At that session, Athens-Clarke Mayor Heidi Davison mounted an effort to get bicycle lanes added to a list of regional transportation projects, producing a stack of hundreds of letters from people she said wanted more bike lanes, and insisting bike-lane advocates are "not a fringe group of folks."

And that might be. The problem for Davison and other advocates of bicycles as alternative transportation is the scant evidence people are using bicycles for anything other than recreational purposes. If the hundreds of people who want more bike lanes were, in fact, routinely using their bicycles to get to work or school, they would be a far more noticeable presence on the community's roads. Advocates will doubtless argue bicyclists aren't on the roads because of the lack of bike lanes, and that existing bike lanes aren't located so as to be conducive for use as commuting pathways. Still, if those advocates were, in fact, truly committed to using their bicycles as alternatives to motor vehicles, they would, or should, be willing to use them with or without an accommodating infrastructure. In fact, that willingness, if it was there, would be a powerful argument for bike lane advocates.

Still, even without evidence of significant use of bicycles as alternative transportation, discussion of bike lanes should have some place in public discourse. It's not unreasonable for bicycle advocates to expect a discussion of bike lanes to accompany any discussion of road improvements in the community. Whenever a road is slated for restriping or resurfacing, or whenever a new road is built, the feasibility of adding bike lanes to a given project should get some serious consideration. With this approach, it's certainly possible that after several years, there will be enough infrastructure in place to prompt a considerable number of people to use bicycles as commuting vehicles. At that point, it might be wise to add bicycle infrastructure to the list of projects deserving some public funding.

But for now, it's time to stop thinking bicycle infrastructure ought to have any significant claim on public dollars.



 

Letters to the Editor in Response

 

 

Bicycles are used widely in Athens

The Athens Banner Herald's April 15 editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting") states, in part, "If the hundreds of people who want more bike lanes were, in fact, routinely using their bicycles to get to work or school, they would be a far more noticeable presence on the community's roads."

I notice people riding bicycles all the time. Where have you been?

I've seen plenty of people out riding their bicycles during commute hours, and given that many people in the community either teach or attend school at the University of Georgia, you can't even assume that what you see between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. commuting hours represents all of those using bicycles to commute.

And what is that statement in the editorial based on? An actual poll of bicycle lane usage, or something a little less scientific, like somebody's memory of what they personally see when riding to work?

The editorial's other argument - that bicycles aren't reliable because of the weather - is equally specious. I've ridden my bicycle in nearly all kinds of weather, including when it's very cold. And even if people ride their bikes 90 percent of the time and can't ride the other 10 percent, that's still 90 percent less pollution from individual automobiles. It's worth it, monetarily, just to help us meet clean air standards.

Sara Amis
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 17, 2005



Bicycle is viable commuting option


In light of the April 15 Athens Banner-Herald editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting") I just have to share my own experience as a bicycle commuter. I really do ride my bike to and from work on most days of the year. You'll see me on my bike on really cold days, really hot days, and even when it's raining. Do I ride my bike to work every single workday? No, sometimes it's raining so hard I drive my car, park on the perimeter of campus, and wade to work on foot, with an assist from a very large umbrella, or I use one of the 12 free parking passes per year the University of Georgia gives to people who join the Alternative Transportation Program. But most workdays I ride my bike.

I'm no spry jock and no spring chicken. I'm just an ordinary citizen who figured out riding my bike to work is the best form of transportation for me. I don't have to tolerate traffic delays, I get to work in the same amount of time it takes me to drive, I don't have to pay for campus parking, plus I benefit from the great exercise. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only bike commuter who falls into this category.

Mary Whitehead
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 17, 2005



Bicycle as good as car for commuting

I commute by bicycle year-round for work, play and daily errands. When it's too rainy or cold, I ride Athens Transit. When I can't make the bus, I drive or carpool. That, in order, is my transportation chain-of-command, and overwhelmingly, I use my bicycle because it's easy, cheap and just as quick as a car. I always get a prime parking spot with my bike, too.

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In light of my experience, and that of many, many others in Athens, your editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting," April 15) was misinformed and plainly hostile to your neighbors. I sincerely hope the editorial staff at the Athens Banner-Herald doesn't throw fast-food trash and insults at cyclists on their way to the office.

Brent Buice
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 17, 2005



Local media need to be progressive

Progressive college towns don't just happen.

Local leadership pushes for student-friendly changes and finds a sympathetic ear in like-minded, locally owned media outlets.

But here in Athens, we have basically no local television or radio stations. What we do have is a chain newspaper with a thinly veiled attitude of contempt for students.

(For proof of this, look no further than a December editorial in the Athens Banner-Herald that characterized an entire University fraternity as being populated by "idiots.")

Ultimately, the problem with our hometown media outlet is that it is wedded to the past and to preconceptions.

It lacks the progressive spirit to explore new options that could benefit the campus, the city and ultimately the state.

Partly as a result, in nearly every area except music, Athens lags decades behind other college towns such as Madison, Wisc., where I lived during the late 1980s and 1990s.

Alternative transportation, in particular, has fallen behind many other college towns.

Athens is a relatively compact city. Most students live within a few miles of campus, the climate is good, gas is expensive, on-campus parking is tight and our air is polluted by CertainTeed and Atlanta traffic.

Sounds like a nearly perfect location for bicycling, right?

It works in Madison, Ann Arbor, Mich. and Boulder, Colo.

Why not here?

Of all reasons, it is Athens' allegedly bad weather, if you were to buy into the reasoning of the Banner-Herald's April 15 editorial.

The newspaper determined it was "probably fair to conclude" that there are "at least one month's worth of days" each year that are completely unfit for bike-riding: either too hot (above 90 degrees), too cold (below freezing), or too wet (an inch or more of rain).

Funny, I don't think of most cyclists as being as persnickety as Goldilocks when it comes to the weather.

My wife Pam, who is the Assistant State Climatologist for the state of Georgia, quickly did some calculations.

Two-thirds of all heavy rains don't occur during normal working hours and most don't last more than an hour or two.

Only 12 percent of below-freezing days in Athens have temperatures below 40 degrees for the whole day and are unusually chilly. Only 25 percent of warm days in Athens have a high above 92 degrees and are unusually hot.

Add it all up, and at most 21 days a year fit the spirit of the Banner-Herald's own stringent, invented rules for impossible-to-bike weather.

Furthermore, assuming a random distribution of such days across the week, only 15 weekdays -- three working weeks a year -- would be too inclement for bicycling.

That's less than 6 percent of the work year.

For students on an August-to-May schedule, it'd be even less, because students would miss out on the Christmas chill, the spring break storms, the July heat and the summer thunderstorms.

At most, University students have to contend with a handful of truly bad-biking days each academic year.

Truth is, you'd be hard-pressed to find a much better climate for bicycling than Athens.

But don't tell our local newspaper.

Where, I wonder, is the progressive spirit in our community media?

Until it is found, other cities and regions will continue to move forward while Athens sits in neutral.

In a car. In gridlock.

John Knox
Published , April 18, 2005, Red & Black



Bikes provide benefits without full-time use

Nobody claims bicycles are perfect for transportation - just that they are viable alternatives. Buses are not perfect - you cannot go door to door. Cars are not perfect either - the litany of pollution, consumption, cost and trade issues goes here - and remember, they break down.

But your editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting," April 15) is even further off in trying to decry objective reasons why bicycles are not worthy alternatives at least some of the time. I just moved from the Sacramento area, which receives as many rainy and hot days as Athens, and yet there are at least 10 times as many bike commuters. Why? Because resources have been put toward making sure citizens can all participate in what the town has to offer without driving.

Moreover, just because some days, or some errands, call for a gas-powered engine, doesn't mean there aren't great benefits - health, less consumption, lower cost, etc. - from having even a small additional portion of trips taken by bicycle. Even if we each only used our bikes one time in 10 for trips of less than a few miles, the benefits are tremendous, and many studies have shown this incremental effect time and time again. I am a faculty member at the University of Georgia, and have not bothered to apply for a parking permit. I ride every day, and yes - rain is an issue. That is why I own a $25 pair of rain pants and a $40 rain jacket, and my bicycle has fenders. I'd love to ride into work with your editorial staff some day - You might be surprised. It works.

John Wares
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, April 19, 2005


Accommodate bicycles to encourage more use

The April 15 editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting") raised a false issue to support a prejudiced stance against equal access to transportation by cyclists. I'm a middle-aged guy with bad knees and high cholesterol who for the last three years has used a bicycle for the nine-mile commute to my professional job in Athens. Weather conditions are usually the least of my concerns in deciding how to get to work. I routinely ride in the conditions the editorial describes as "impossible, or impossibly uncomfortable" for bike commuting, with little additional equipment and preparation.

But so what if I didn't? So what if the region's weather scares off cyclists for 30 days out of the year? Does this justify the status quo of denying safe transportation options to bike commuters 365 days of the year? The editorial's claim most people really wanting to commute by bike would do so even without bike infrastructure is utterly false. To most, our transportation system simply provides no choice between the bicycle and the automobile, so biking is never an option. Every day, the Athens Banner-Herald reports threats to our community all linked to dependence on the automobile - rising gas prices, declining air quality, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, the unstoppable creep of sprawl development, etc.

Without meaningful transportation options, it's no wonder many feel powerless to act. But if roadways were designed to safely accommodate would-be cyclists, automobile trips would be substantially reduced, even if all cycling occurred only on fair days.

Clint Moore
Watkinsville
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, April 19, 2005


Appropriate clothes make bike commuting possible


I ride my bike to work, rain or shine, heat or cold, every day. I work at the University of Georgia, and the only days in the past year I have not ridden to work are those days when the administration has closed the entire university due to threat of snow or ice. When it comes to riding a bike, there is no such thing as bad weather - only inappropriate clothing.

Daniel Promislow
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, April 19, 2005


With proper gear, bikes can be used year-round

It's disappointing to see the Athens Banner-Herald rule out bicycles as a "viable form of alternative transportation" (Editorial, April 15) based only on the average annual number of rainy, cold or hot days.

True, it's nicer to ride on a sunny spring day than in a downpour, but unpleasant weather only challenges cyclists, as well as motorists, to use more care on the road. A dedicated bicycle commuter will invest in good rain gear, cold-weather cycling clothes, waterproof saddlebags for cargo, a headlight and blinkers. There's no need to get soaked, even in a downpour, or to go numb even in the coldest weather. Athens-Clarke County's weather is exceptionally moderate and cyclists can and do commute year-round. Many of us don't own cars.

Bicycles are among the most reliable forms of transportation. A child can fix a flat tire. Commute times are highly predictable, and cyclists don't have to spend time finding a parking spot.

It's sad to see bicycle commuting dismissed as "unreliable" simply because an editor can't imagine riding to work in the rain. I can't imagine taking a job that requires me to risk my life, but I wouldn't therefore conclude our military can't sustain itself.

If you can't imagine riding a bicycle to work in rainy, cold or hot weather, then by all means stay in your car. But please don't suppose your inability to conceive of year-round bicycle commuting is a reason for the rest of us to leave our bikes at home.

Kris Boudreau
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, April 19, 2005



Bike lanes should be part of transportation planning

I was disappointed with the April 15 editorial ("Bicycles not a viable option for commuting") which claimed bicycles shouldn't be considered viable alternative transportation because they aren't reliable.

There are many levels of bike commuters. Some ride to work occasionally. Some, like myself, ride regularly in fair weather, thus using a mix of transportation options depending on conditions. And some are daily commuters, riding in all conditions. Bike lanes accommodate all types of commuters, as well as recreational users. With better bike facilities, more people would see bikes as a reasonable transportation alternative. And those who continue to drive would enjoy reduced traffic congestion as a consequence.

Our current infrastructure promotes automobiles above all other modes of transportation, and has many negative consequences for the environment and for society. We need a balanced infrastructure that provides adequate facilities for multiple commuting options. Bike lanes, sidewalks and a good transit system are all part of this balance. Just because bikes are not the transportation mode of choice for all people, all the time, does not mean bike lanes aren't worthy of public funding. If we use that type of argument, we will never spend public money on anything at all.

Kirsten R. Hazler
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, April 19, 2005


Weather doesn't keep cyclists off their bikes

Moving to the Athens area from Raleigh, N.C. in 1997 caused bicycling culture shock. Raleigh wasn't a great place to cycle, but at least I didn't feel there was open hostility, and roads were pretty well shared. I rode in rain, and even when the temperature fell into the 20s, because I had the proper gear.

Now I'm older, my health isn't what it was, and I commute on a motorcycle essentially every day. The bad weather argument against bicycling made in the April 15 editorial ( "Bicycles not a viable option for commuting") is, by extension, an argument against motorcycles and any other mode of transportation that can require an extended period of time outside. I'm afraid that would include buses for many commuters.

The argument is flawed and demonstrably false, unless a person only has one set of clothes and no rain gear. The editorial implies a car is required to be a part of the community. I'm still surprised to find the animus toward cycling so strong the local paper of a "college town" would oppose facilitating an activity that can have positive health, traffic and environmental benefits.

Dwight Fisher
Bogart
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, April 19, 2005


Local cyclists are brave visionaries

In reply to the April 15 editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable for commuting") I'd like to note that for most of my 25 years of marriage I have watched my husband go off to work and school on his bike - rain or shine. Only when it's raining horribly - as in sleeting - does he drive.

He views his bike as not only a means of transportation, but a means of keeping his heart and spirit together. His heart, literally, because of a family history of heart disease.

I fear the problem for cyclists in Athens-Clarke County is not the weather, but an uncaring government - excluding Mayor Heidi Davison - and rude people, the same root for a lot of Athens-Clarke's woes.

Athens-Clarke needs good bicycle paths, not the death traps we've provided. I believe more people would ride if it were safe. Athens-Clarke needs a vision for the future and the people to implement it. We need people looking out for Athens-Clarke County, not just looking to make a buck off the community.

We all have heard the reasons for changing our lifestyles and behavior. Our air is filled with pollution. Our customary fuel is costly and diminishing.

We'll come to these changes one day. Not voluntarily, but we'll be forced into it, unprepared. If not us, our grandchildren then, and what will they think of our selfishness?

Rather than demean bicyclists as weekend dilettantes, we should hail them as visionaries, and brave ones at that, to attempt to ride the streets we give them.

Becky Striggow
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, April 20, 2005



Editorial overestimated weather's effect on cycling

With regard to the Athens Banner-Herald's April 15 editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting"), if you analyze Athens weather data carefully, some things jump out.

Your broadest criteria for "bad weather," in which you contend bicycles wouldn't likely be used, would include 113 days in the past year. However, when you consider the time of day at which rainfall occurs and the quick showers that comprise much of the heavy rainfall, the number of rainy commuting days is much smaller, and four of them this year were due to tropical storms, which don't occur each year. If you look at days that are cold all day long, with a maximum temperature at or less than 40, or are quite hot, with a maximum temperature over 92, and consider some of this weather occurs on weekends, only about 15 work days would be affected each year, not the 30 days estimated in the editorial.

But even 15 days is probably an overestimate. In Wisconsin, I frequently saw bicyclists commuting in temperatures of 20 and lower in calm winds. Most bicyclists know how to dress for the weather and can adjust to a wide range of temperatures. They plan their travel to avoid adverse weather conditions.

If some Athens-Clarke County residents want to reduce their gasoline consumption by 90 percent or more by taking their bikes, I am in favor of doing everything we can to support them. The alternative is worse pollution, higher gas prices, more obesity and parking problems for all of us.

Pam Knox
Assistant state climatologist
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, April 20, 2005

 


Biking in bad weather easy with right gear

While commonly believed, the premise of the April 15 Athens Banner-Herald editorial questioning the viability of bicycles as alternative transportation is mistaken. Serious bicyclists long ago figured out how to commute in lousy weather.

Rain - even heavy rain - requires mainly fenders and a $17 poncho specifically designed for bicyclists. Mine packs small, so I always have it with me. Of course, there are a few other things serious cyclists may want for rainy commutes - shoe covers, a visor, and good lights - but outfitting a bicyclist for rain is no more of a hassle than replacing windshield wipers is for motorists.

Cold weather is also easily manageable on a bicycle. When the temperature drops below 40 degrees I put on my hat and gloves, but together with my usual winter coat these are all that are necessary.

As long as people are habituated to their motor vehicles and even many bicycle advocates restrict their ambitions to an agenda that goes no further than seeing cycling as occasional "alternative," it is to be expected few will ever learn how easy and convenient it is to bicycle in bad weather. But this is just another instance in which misunderstandings masquerade as facts.

Ken Morris
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, April 21, 2005


Alternative transportation could be cheaper and faster

Curt Stevens, CFO of Louisiana-Pacific, recently told investors "the transportation system in North America is broken. We are all having a hell of time getting product to market." Nobody who drives in Atlanta has to wonder what he meant - the system shuts down twice a day. The reason it does is that automobiles - while sensible for out-of-town trips - simply take up too much road space and use too much energy to be practical in cities. That's why many of the world's cities, including some of the most successful in the United State, use trains, streetcars, and, yes, bicycles.

In Athens-Clarke County, we long ago eliminated the streetcars and "put all our eggs in one basket" - that of the automobile. That was before $3 a gallon gas, but supply and demand will continue to drive gas prices higher and make non-auto options more attractive. True, most people still drive. But what choice do they have? Here's an experiment: Run buses - every 30 minutes, in both directions - along every numbered highway in Georgia, for their entire length. You could, for instance, ride a bus down Highway 316 and catch another at I-85.

Expensive? In fact, it would be far cheaper than individual car costs rolled together - not to mention hours wasted and sheer frustration - and it would give us a shot at having a future transportation system that actually works. As for trains, modern ones like those in Germany and Japan run on specially built tracks and travel routinely at speeds in excess of 150 miles an hour. That would put Atlanta a half-hour away from Athens.

John Huie
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, April 22, 2005


Local topography can be problematic for bike lanes

Athens-Clarke County is located in the state's hilly piedmont region, and streets and roads have evolved depending upon the topography. Some are narrow and not suitable for enlarging to add bike lanes, because of the potential for intruding on residential and business properties.

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I have lived in Copenhagen and traveled to Amsterdam and even Sacramento. All of those places are flat with wide avenues, making them safe for both cyclists and motorists.

As far as safety is concerned, I fail to understand why I can be cited and fined if every passenger in my car isn't wearing a seatbelt, but a totally unprotected cyclist is out there competing with multi-thousand-pound vehicles that are in the majority. Sometimes I feel local bike enthusiasts are a problem equal to that of deer in the road.

Aldies Edwards
Winterville
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, April 23, 2005


Bikes not in evidence on Hawthorne Avenue

I have traveled the section of Hawthorne Avenue where bike lanes were added some time ago, and I have seen only one bicycle in the lanes during that time. I travel Hawthorne at least eight times a week, and have sometimes been down it as often as four times a day. Bike lanes are a waste of money and tie up traffic. If they are added to the rest of Hawthorne, it is going to be mess.

Also, I have never seen a bike on Epps Bridge Parkway, which I travel even more often than Hawthorne.

Phil Bridges
Winterville
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 24, 2005



Cycling editorial shows laziness and ignorance

In response to the Athens Banner-Herald's April 15 editorial about bicycles not being a viable transportation alternative, I'd like to say your position shows just how lazy and ignorant you are, as well as many in this town who probably agree with you.

If we are to use your line of reasoning for not adding bike lanes, then we should probably stop all funding for parks, downtown public areas, jogging/walking trails and similar areas that "require" perfect weather, or at least temperatures warmer than 32 and cooler than 90. What a joke the editorial is. Next time, take a more intelligent stance when trying to argue something, otherwise you'll lose the respect of your readers as you have with me.

I am a recreational as well as commuter cyclist, and there were maybe five days last year I didn't ride outside. Get tougher.

Marc Anderson
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 24, 2005


Weather no reason to dismiss bike lanes

The Athens Banner-Herald's April 15 editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting") asked who Athens-Clarke County's bike commuters are. I'm one of them. I ride to my Prince Avenue office nearly every day. The fact I can live within cycling distance of work and shopping is one of the main things that keeps me in Athens-Clarke. Now that $2.50 gas is the norm, I'm all the happier to jump onto my bike instead of into my truck.

I only hope our town's leaders look beyond the Banner-Herald's nay-saying weather report in planning for the future. In recent years, I have visited and ridden in towns much hotter (Gainesville, Fla.), colder (Missoula, Mont.) and wetter (Portland, Ore.) than Athens-Clarke, where forward-thinking politicians and planners have included bicycling in transportation planning, with great results. That kind of real-world evidence is what should guide transportation planning here, not whether a newspaper editor can imagine himself riding in a little rain.

Kes Roberts
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 24, 2005


Cycling's benefits can include love, marriage

Not minding the poor use of data and rhetoric to support a dim view of cycling, the Athens Banner-Herald's April 15 editorial on bicycles not being a viable form of alternative transportation notes that for the bulk of the year - 11 months - the weather permits commuting by bicycle. By that logic, then, all one needs is a safe route, a bike and a place to park it. This is perhaps especially true for the roughly 33,000 University of Georgia students who are young, healthy and have more flexible schedules.

Of course, you don't have to want to bicycle to work to be in favor of bike lanes. Athens-Clarke County's air quality is such that the cost of motoring is increasing. Indeed, some of the best days for cycling are coincident with the days in which ozone in the air exceeds federal limits. It is the number and severity of these days that drives how much time and money it costs us to register our cars. So if cycling lanes can get some people out of their cars on only the nicest days, the whole community can experience tangible year-long benefits.

I am pretty much a fair-weather commuter. I ride to work maybe one-third of the time, but I think both I and my community are better for it. I suggest everyone try riding to work - weather and schedule permitting - if only to develop your own opinion. You never know what you will find; One glorious day I met a beautiful, smart and outgoing woman riding her bike to work, We started chatting, and love and marriage followed from there.

Jason Seligman
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, April 24, 2005


Banner-Herald unaware of bicycle commuters


The April 15 editorial ("Bicycles aren't viable option for commuting") demonstrates the ignorance and assumptions of many who oppose inclusion of bike infrastructure in community planning.

The editorial makes several false assumptions, the first of which is that those who use their bicycles for transportation don't do so on days when it's below freezing, above 90 degrees, or raining. Rain and 95-degree days are common here, and it has been a long time since either kept me off a bike.

The editorial also claims a lack of bicycles on the streets illustrates a lack of need for bicycle infrastructure. But between my house on Nantahala Avenue and the Classic Center in downtown Athens on the afternoon of April 15, I counted 13 people on bikes. The bikes were not being used recreationally, but were quite clearly methods of transportation.

The editorial proves, among other things, the Banner-Herald is unaware of the many bicyclists frequenting our roads. This, of course, is exactly the problem. If nothing else, we need bike lanes to protect us from the apparent blindness of those who believe an automobile will keep them safely sealed off from weather, other people and social responsibility.

In the future, arguments against bike lanes shouldn't rely on the following logic - "I don't ride bikes to work, and neither do my friends, so obviously we don't need them. Plus, it's hot sometimes and cold sometimes, and it rains, too. Bicycles, therefore, do not exist, and those who rely on them for transportation are apparently imaginary, too, since I can't see them as I miss them by mere inches while barreling down Prince Avenue in my airtight 3,500 pounds of steel."

Pretty shaky logic. Thankfully not all our citizens jump to such conclusions, and here's hoping our mayor and commission don't, either.

Charlie Maffitt
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, April 25, 2005

 

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