Bullock Texas State History Museum
The Time to Encourage Bicycling Is Now!
RECEIVED Wed., May 26, 2004
Dear Editor,
As I read Mike Clark-Madison's latest article ["Austin at Large," News, May 21], I am struck anew by the impracticality of Texas transportation planning. Oil supplies are down, air pollution and global warming are up, and Central Texas politicians and planners still want to move every single central Texan around by motor vehicle. No transportation system in the world moves everyone by motor vehicle. In cities whose transportation systems work, large numbers of people walk or cycle. This essential fact is ignored not only by politicians and planners but also by reporters in the United States generally.
For example, consider London's congestion pricing, one of the few such experiments mentioned in the U.S. newspapers. If you read the articles in The New York Times, you will get the impression that the entire scheme consists of charging motorists fees to drive into central London. This is far from true. Not only are there too many cars in central London, but the public transit system is also overburdened. So London is encouraging bicycling in a big way. (I read about this in the excellent British cycling magazine Velo Vision.)
There are miles and miles of new cycle paths and bike lanes in London. There is the London School of Cycling, where adults can learn to ride bicycles in city traffic. But somehow these details aren't reported in the United States. They're important. Congestion pricing doesn't work without big encouragement of walking and cycling.
Suppose that here in Central Texas we built even one cycle path linking Central Austin to Oak Hill or Round Rock. People would use it. Habits would begin to change. It's actually quite possible to enjoy cycling in Central Texas. And electric bicycles do exist.
Must we burn all the oil before we start thinking? I hope not.
As I read Mike Clark-Madison's latest article ["Austin at Large," News, May 21], I am struck anew by the impracticality of Texas transportation planning. Oil supplies are down, air pollution and global warming are up, and Central Texas politicians and planners still want to move every single central Texan around by motor vehicle. No transportation system in the world moves everyone by motor vehicle. In cities whose transportation systems work, large numbers of people walk or cycle. This essential fact is ignored not only by politicians and planners but also by reporters in the United States generally.
For example, consider London's congestion pricing, one of the few such experiments mentioned in the U.S. newspapers. If you read the articles in The New York Times, you will get the impression that the entire scheme consists of charging motorists fees to drive into central London. This is far from true. Not only are there too many cars in central London, but the public transit system is also overburdened. So London is encouraging bicycling in a big way. (I read about this in the excellent British cycling magazine Velo Vision.)
There are miles and miles of new cycle paths and bike lanes in London. There is the London School of Cycling, where adults can learn to ride bicycles in city traffic. But somehow these details aren't reported in the United States. They're important. Congestion pricing doesn't work without big encouragement of walking and cycling.
Suppose that here in Central Texas we built even one cycle path linking Central Austin to Oak Hill or Round Rock. People would use it. Habits would begin to change. It's actually quite possible to enjoy cycling in Central Texas. And electric bicycles do exist.
Must we burn all the oil before we start thinking? I hope not.
Yours truly,
Amy Babich
Amy Babich
