The dutch created the cargo bike for this very reason. But they have the climate and biking infrastructure to support that kind of lifestyle. We (Americans) don't, I wish we did.
The climate isn't a big deal, finland has the climate for biking too, it's mostly about having the infrastructure and maintaining it.
If cold was a problem, cars wouldn't work either because they'd be unable to handle snow. However, we maintain our car infrastructure and plow the roads
Cars have heaters. Bikes don’t. Transporting a baby in freezing rain on a bike is a non-starter. I’m sure it could be done, but why? Cars represent progress. Bikes as a primary form of transportation is a regression.
A car is progress for the car's driver, but it is a regression for everybody else: cars are loud, dangerous and they take insane amounts of space. In sparsely populated regions, sure, that is not a big deal compared to the upsides, but in dense cities, cars are basically a public nuisance.
> Transporting a baby in freezing rain on a bike is a non-starter.
My reaction is the opposite. You’d stick a baby in a car to go a distance you could travel by bike?
If you’re going to the next town over, by all mean, go with the car. But I wouldn’t drive to the store with the car when the bike would do (or I’m particularly lazy that day)
Of course I would. My trip would be 2 minutes each way instead of 20, I wouldn’t be considered about weather, and I’m far less limited in what I can purchase on this trip.
Now sure if I want to spend a nice leisurely Saturday afternoon riding a back then maybe I’d take a bike but that would make my intent the bike ride rather than shopping.
Until everybody insists like you on driving. Because of the increased traffic, it now takes longer. Not to mention trying to find parking. And with the extra traffic, it's dangerous to bike now. Oh well.
It depends on the density. If it is a desirable place to live, that will definitely happen. If it isn't, you can still drive and more people won't necessarily join you in driving. The secret is to just live in a so-so place.
Since we're talking about e-bikes, more and more of them can maintain 20 mph with or without pedal assist and some can get up to 27 mph with pedal assist. But either way, you'd have to be a snail-pace rider for a 2-minute car ride to take you 20 on a bike, unless you are like 1 block from a freeway that doesn't get backed up routinely and has an exit near your destination.
Nothing wrong with snail paced riding of course. But going fast is pretty damn fun in a city with decent infrastructure that makes it reasonably safe. I routinely keep pace or beat traffic on shorter trips on my road bike. It's not really that hard to maintain 18mph if you do a lot of riding and have a moderately well-maintained bike (mine isn't even nice lol, it was like $400 used and is almost 50 years old, with a few choice part upgrades). And a lot of city traffic is stuck at that speed or lower during congestion hours in many areas. Granted, I'm closer to 12 mph on the trip home if I'm hauling several days worth of groceries.
For reference, my commute within SF used to take me 45 minutes due to traffic by car. On my bike it was 50. Include finding parking and it was a wash. By bus+wall it took about the same. I didn't drive. If the bus was faster (because it didn't get stuck on traffic), I would have used it exclusively.
Consumerism sounds like progress to me. It’s the reason I don’t wake up and farm my land or sew my own clothes. Sure, there is a lot of shit products nowadays but that seems caused by corporate profit seeking and globalism.
The metaphor doesn't work all well for tailpipe emissions, but the reality that cars externalise their impact is obviously true for things like congestion, the cost of road maintenance & so on.
> A bike lane is a street you don’t let cars drive on.
This is the reason why motorists lose their minds over bike lanes. It takes up space on THEIR roads and they hate when they can't use roads they personally paid for with THEIR taxes.
I personally find it hilarious they think their taxes cover the maintenance of even 1/10th of a km of a road let alone all of them they drive on all year.
Most motorists I know love bike lines because it means they won't have to deal with bikes behaving badly in the street. If the amount of space the bike lane takes up really does narrow the road enough to be a problem that road should be expanded, redesigned, or moved so that there's plenty of room for both. We do pay taxes so that we can have nice infrastructure and that makes us entitled to it. We should be upset when it's substandard. Cities just need to do their jobs and put our tax money to work for us.
I love My car. Glad I don’t have to wait in the boiling hot weather for a streetcar going to wherever the streetcar goes. Especially these days when many US cities are cesspools of crime, addiction, and homelessness.
> Especially these days when many US cities are cesspools of crime, addiction, and homelessness.
So are many rural areas, but since you don't have to get out of your car, you don't see it. Also, cities with mild climates (not boiling hot) where people are biking, walking, and taking public transit, are going to necessarily have larger homelessness problems than cities with crappy weather (I'll leave it to the reader to reason about why).
I love my car, to the point of it being a little weird, but driving it in stop and go traffic, for hours on end, every single day sucks. Or endless highways, like on the drive from Boston to San Francisco. I bet a couple of readers have a route immediately in their minds when I said that. Glad I don't have to do that and can ride a train/bus/subway/trolly/scooter/ebike/bike/onewheel, especially when many US highways are a cesspool of highways and mcmansions.
My family has a single car (paid for 2016 4Runner). When school is in my wife drives it to work since she’s a school teacher and I’m a wfh engineer. When she has the car I’m on foot or bike with plenty of coffee shops and lunch spots within walking distance. It’s ok until it’s not. Hot, cold, or wet weather screws up everything.
I love my car too, for all the same reasons. Plus, I can get 4 people and luggage very far pretty cheap. Two tanks of gas can put me in the desert, mountains, or beach from where I live. I enjoy a walkable neighborhood but I won’t be giving up a vehicle in my lifetime for sure.
Most Americans buy insanely large SUVs or pickup trucks as their family car though, for that 1 time a year they need to tow something or possibly carry something big.
I'd rather not spend all my money on a rapidly depreciating asset that harms the environment around me, is hard to park, and runs the risk of running over children because I can't see them over the hood... but what do I know. Apparently supporting car alternatives is being "opposed to progress" in this country.
> Most Americans buy insanely large SUVs or pickup trucks as their family car though, for that 1 time a year they need to tow something or possibly carry something big.
Myth that SUVs have big baggage space is a just that, a myth. Most of them have essentially less space than normal cars with similar usage pattern. Station wagons, vans and many other are better in this regards and also are safer for users and pedestrians alike.
We are talking about crossovers here, which are all almost universally modeled after the Outback, the only station wagon brand that is still actually producing cars.
Slightly raised car like vehicles with a full fold down back row, I can and have moved regular sheet ply in one.
That's regional. The most popular SUVs are slightly raised sub-compacts (cross overs), where I live most people still have sedans (mostly sub-compact or compact).
You can get really popular as the one guy/girl with a pickup who people can call on to help them move that one time a year. I know someone who met his wife that way.
When I haul lumber—small homeowner amounts, not construction crew amounts—I always use my bike because with my bike trailer I can haul lumber of any length, while it's not safe to use my car for anything longer than 8 feet.
Believe it or not I've seen it done with a burly e-bike and custom made bike trailer. I've even seen someone hauling a 12" tall potted tree on a trailer, and that was back before e-bikes were a thing.
Not that I'm arguing it's super practical, but it's kind of neat that there are open possibilities for those who are determined and creative.
The dutch created the cargo bike for this very reason. But they have the climate and biking infrastructure to support that kind of lifestyle. We (Americans) don't, I wish we did.