Paris has a smog problem. And the
SMOG brand of bike is not the solution.
"Paris has unveiled a bold, $164 million plan to make itself "the cycling capital
of the world" by 2020. The goal of the plan, which goes to the city council
for approval April 13, is to triple the share of all trips made by bike from
5 to 15 percent. To get there, in the next five years, it wants to double its
network of bike lanes to 870 miles (partly by making many lanes two-way)
and drop speed limits on many streets to 18 mph. It would create 10,000
secure bike parking spaces and offer financial incentives for those buying
electric and conventional bikes. Read more
here and
here.
"We think that there are people ready to cycle but don't do it due to a sense
of not being safe," said Christophe Najdovski, Green deputy mayor in charge
of transport. "This plan will create a new form of tourism in Paris which is
booming elsewhere," he said.
From "Wonkblog" at the Washington Post - a collection of bleak maps:
"Washington's 'bike route network' is disjointed and incomplete. We'd never
build a street grid that looks like this and expect drivers to navigate the city
through it. But this is the reality for cyclists, and it may help explain to other
people why cyclists have such a hard time staying out of the way — off the
shoulder, off the sidewalk, out of traffic or car lanes. It's quite literally not
possible to travel between many points in the city using only cycling infrastructure.
a nice photo of a cyclist riding off into the sunset ... but on a non-hip ten-speed!
It rates
Hoboken as the top hipster place. What would Frank Sinatra say ?
who published
an essay about the insomniac Romanian philosopher Cioran