For me, every day bicycling is a multifaceted solution for some of the toughest and enduring challenges in society and in the City of Concord. This has become my "we can pickle it" mantra. Here's a smattering :
- Need basic transportation? Less than a few miles, a quick trip downtown or to pick up milk? ... Bicycle instead.
- Gas, insurance and a fender bender costing time and money and eating up your earnings? ... Bicycle instead.
- Car payments eating up your earnings? ... Consider life sans auto.
- Kids not ready to learn at school when they arrive? ... They're more prepared to learn when they bicycle to school.
- Congested streets at rush hour? ... Commute by bicycle instead.
- ParKING, parKING, parKING! ... BiKING, walKING.
- Need to get more exercise? ... Replace a drive with a bicycle ride; Repeat often.
- Increasing obesity and related diseases from sedentary lifestyle? ... Bicycle.
- Need more affordable housing stock? ... Un-bundle parking from housing, and allow tenants with cars to pay the extra cost of parking infrastructure. ... Bicycle for transportation and use RelayRides or other car sharing for longer trips.
- One more - it's a big one - war for oil!
Perhaps this is a rosy spectacles issue - cycling is the elixir. Pedalling a bicycle for every day trips and errands I continue to imagine how biking is the answer to our problems. Wouldn't you agree?!
I often wonder - are my observations correct about the bike as the solution? Then it occurred to me:
I often wonder - are my observations correct about the bike as the solution? Then it occurred to me:
Perhaps the way we have integrated our car culture so firmly into our lives creates many of the challenges we face. The bicycle is not the solution; The automobile, as we have adopted it in society - is the problem!
Having so fully adopted car culture - owning a car is the price of admission into our society. To fully participate in our culture you need access to a car. It is the common denominator. We dedicate considerable space for our roads and storage of our cars. Soon I93 will be expanded to solve the traffic congestion.
The adoption of our car for all transportation needs is the "we can pickle that."
And it has us in a pickle!
And it has us in a pickle!
Consider our post office in Concord. The beautiful legislative office building was the central post office until the postal service moved across the river. If you don't have a car to make the quick trip it can become a daunting ordeal to get there. Walking or bicycling under the I93 bridge at Loudon Road is awful.
Costs associated with providing parking for affordable housing can add $20,000 to more than $40,000 per parking space. This additional expense as well as the costs of car ownership can be especially difficult for the most vulnerable populations in our society. For those trying to bootstrap themselves or recover from homelessness, these demands can put that home-ful-ness out of reach.
We have adopted the least efficient transportation mode [check your mpg],
especially when we are alone in a single occupancy vehicle (SOV)
driving. In our cars people become impatient, perhaps filled with road rage and/or distracted by social technology. In our car centric lifestyles people drive to go exercise when adopting the bicycle for every day transportation would provide frequent exercise.
One of the most profound developments in bicycle technology for every day transportation is the cargo bicycle [mpg = miles/zero] . The dutch are ahead of most of the world in creating bicycles for every day transportation. In the US and around the world there are a number of cargo bicycle and trailer designs which facilitate the transportation of people as well as goods. Emily Finch replaced her SUV with a six passenger bicycle. The xtracycle has transformed my life and cemented the bicycle as my preferred transportation mode. In the last month I have replaced all in town trips with my cargo bike including taking my kid to school, shopping for groceries, hauling book bags and whatever else I need to transport. I still have my car and used it once in the last three weeks for a 16 mile round trip to a music lesson for my child.
The bicycle provides a better solution simply because this is the most efficient human powered transportation mode ever invented. As a society we can shift back from the least efficient (sutomobile) vehicle to most efficient (bicycle) vehicle. For trips less than a few miles the bicycle is the most overlooked, yet practical transportation mode available. People can choose to pedal a bicycle instead of pushing the gas and brake pedals while transforming their lives and the planet we share.
Our nation fights wars to secure our national interests. The most profound national interest is our thirst for energy for our car centric culture. Incorporating every day bicycling into our personal transportation tool kit can begin to reduce our dependance on the automobile and the energy to transport it around with us every where we go (in addition to the energy to produce and recycle the vehicle).
Adopting a line from the Motorcycle song by Arlo Guthrie: