(...and some days you'd rather not arrive to work sweaty... or you have an off-site meeting... or you have to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home...)
Vincent Carroll is flabbergasted at our new Secretary of Transportation's assertion that bicycles are a means of reducing traffic congestion:
Bike paths are a wonderful amenity. I
ride on them all the time. We should build more of them. But they will
have almost no discernible effect in reducing congestion here or in
most U.S. cities in years to come. Weather, commuting distances, short
winter days, tight schedules and an aging population — among other
factors — make that forecast an absolute lock. According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey,
bicycles' share of work trips in 2007 was one-half of a single percent.
You could double the use of bikes and it wouldn't nick congestion.
I wrote about my own "Bike to Work Day" experiences here.
