🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 15:29:22 GMT, "George Conklin"
<nilknoc@earthlink.net> wrote:

>"John Potter" <shadytree@beach.sea.nz> wrote in message
>news:d6vfe0lop61djpt2eq59gm32uac46374j8@4ax.com...
>>
>> 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.

That does put it in a different light, most generation here is hydro.
I think though that any solution must take into account what people
will likely use.  We have combined bus/cycle lanes here in Auckland
which are less than ideal but it's difficult to know what else could
be done in busy urban areas.  There is very little use of the lanes by
cyclists but I think the system would quickly become unworkable if
there was.  There are no bicycle racks on buses in Auckland.  We did
trial bicycle lockers at one Auckland bus depot for a while, the
lockers are still there but I don't think they were ever used.  

There is one innovation here that I really like.  It's called the
walking bus.  It's for school children, parents organise a roster to
'drive' the bus.  They walk a fixed route with known intermediate
times, children join as the bus goes past their gate.  This solves the
stranger danger problem and both parents and children get exercise.
It also reduces the car congestion problem now common around schools
at start and finish times.  I don't know whether this is original to
New Zealand or whether we've copied someone else but it works well.

John