🚀 go-pugleaf

"John Potter" <shadytree@beach.sea.nz> wrote in message
news:d6vfe0lop61djpt2eq59gm32uac46374j8@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 12:22:28 GMT, "George Conklin"
> <nilknoc@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >"Brian Sandle" <bsandle@ablatespam.snap.net.nz> wrote in message
> >news:1088902285.307312@kyle.snap.net.nz...
> >> In nz.reg.canterbury.general George Conklin <nilknoc@earthlink.net>
wrote:
> >>
> >> When you replied to me last year you pointed out how people love their
> >> cars. They did love their horses, too.
> >
> >   Great.  Then we can go back to horses.
> >
> >> With horses you would still have parking problems, and traffic jams if
you
> >> only had the same number of people per drawn carriage as cars often
have.
> >>
> >> Do many people carry bikes on public transport or in their cars in your
> >> area?
> >
> >    There are carriers on the front of each bus. About once or twice a
year
> >I see a bicycle on one of the racks.  I am sure the fuel used to haul
around
> >the extra weight adds to the pollution of the diesel engines in the
buses.
>
> A suburban bus gets about 7 mpg empty, about 3 mpg in most
> circumstances when full (70 passengers incl. standing).  The higher
> consumption partly reflects the weight but mostly reflects the more
> frequent stopping.  Consumption can be as high as 1 mpg for full short
> run frequent stopping shuttle buses.  Empty the bus weighs 8 tons,
> full 12 tons so most of the fuel is used moving bus, not payload.
> These are round figures for 1970s vintage Mercedes buses but I think
> modern buses wouldn't be much different.  A bicycle weighs a lot less
> than a person, I think it wouldn't make much difference to the fuel.
>
> More significant I think in this bycycle/horse/car debate is traffic
> volume and safety, and for many people how sweaty they are when they
> arrive at work and how wet they get on the way.  I own a bicycle but
> only use it recreationally on safe cycle tracks in Auckland.  I used
> to ride it to work but decided it wasn't worth the risk, in addition
> to working further from home than I used to.  I think in the modern
> urban context electric trains are the best solution by far, and buses
> second.  I rarely use either, they are too infrequent and don't go
> where I want to go.  The city fathers are working on this one, helped
> by asian immigrants who are happy living in high density housing and
> more used to public transport.
>
> John

  A big issue in NC is the fact that electricity is generated by coal in TN,
and the pollution then drifts east over the state.  The Smoky Mountains,
which were hazy due to tree pollution, are now even more smoky due to
additional pollution from power plants.  Please do not think that
electricity is pollution free.  But riding a bicycle in an urban setting is
dangerous too, as you point out.