http://www.bikeology.ca/2009/05/22/george-will-is-just-plain-wrong/ Bike Month, Coming Again In June 2010: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:12:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.bikeology.ca/2009/05/22/george-will-is-just-plain-wrong/comment-page-1/#comment-3044 Allan Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:49:24 +0000 http://www.bikeology.ca/2009/05/22/george-will-is-just-plain-wrong/#comment-3044 A week and a half ago Dave Rutherford had a Toronto City Councillor (who's name escapes me) on his show. They were discussing the issue of dedicated bicycle lanes in downtown Toronto and the purportedly negative impact they've had on the rate of flow of automobile traffic. Neither person produced any statistical or observational evidence that automobile flow efficiency had been affected by the presence of bicycle lanes. It was simply assumed, much like George Will's assertion regarding the size of the American bicycle commuter body. Ideologically, many people feel alternative transportation is a minority interest and a symptom of 'the nanny state'. I've been told alternative transportation is a violation of the capitalist ethic. In a particularly heated exchange with particularly opinionated parties I was even told that bicycle commuters are part of the gay liberal agenda. As with so many issues, plenty of people believe that alternative transportation threatens the capitalist ethic and their political freedom. These may be the abundant opinions for some time to come. A week and a half ago Dave Rutherford had a Toronto City Councillor (who’s name escapes me) on his show. They were discussing the issue of dedicated bicycle lanes in downtown Toronto and the purportedly negative impact they’ve had on the rate of flow of automobile traffic. Neither person produced any statistical or observational evidence that automobile flow efficiency had been affected by the presence of bicycle lanes. It was simply assumed, much like George Will’s assertion regarding the size of the American bicycle commuter body. Ideologically, many people feel alternative transportation is a minority interest and a symptom of ‘the nanny state’. I’ve been told alternative transportation is a violation of the capitalist ethic. In a particularly heated exchange with particularly opinionated parties I was even told that bicycle commuters are part of the gay liberal agenda. As with so many issues, plenty of people believe that alternative transportation threatens the capitalist ethic and their political freedom. These may be the abundant opinions for some time to come.

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