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Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save The Economy
Making the case for adopting more sustainable modes of transportation, this engaging reference explores the economic benefits of bicycling. It starts with an analysis of the real costs incurred by individuals and families in existing transportation systems and goes on to examine the current civic expenses of these systems. With critiques of modern society’s deep-rooted attachment to car culture, this book tells the stories of people, businesses, organizations, and cities who are investing in two-wheeled transportation. Offering a fresh and compelling perspective on how people get from place to place, this book reveals the multifaceted North American bicycle movement with its contradictions, challenges, successes, and visions for the future.
Please note: This paperback book is a different title with different content from the previously published zine, "Bikenomics: How Bicycling Will Save the Economy (If We Let It)." The zine is about 40 pages long, pocket-sized, and the binding is stapled.
Please note: This paperback book is a different title with different content from the previously published zine, "Bikenomics: How Bicycling Will Save the Economy (If We Let It)." The zine is about 40 pages long, pocket-sized, and the binding is stapled.
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
December 9, 2013
A book like this has the tendency to go boring real fast. Economy, city planning, and healthcare? Yawn. Thankfully, Elly Blue knows how to keep your attention riveted. For starters, it's a pleasure to walk around with this book, with the stylized bike on the smooth cover, the blue chapter headers, and bikes on the inside. Say what you will, but it's very pleasant reading statistics when they're beautiful.
Aesthetics aside, Elly's strength is in making a seamless case using both statistics and anecdotes. Every chapter tackles some new point that bicycle naysayers like to point out: parking measures, road upkeep, even race and class divides. No topic is too big or too small for Elly to touch on. And since she walks the walk (rides the ride?), she's all the more credible when she cites her facts, like:
"The federal transportation department estimates the economic impact of each life lost on the roads at $7 million... When a road or intersection is deemed unsafe, investment is determined in part by looking at the value of the number of fatalities, multiplied by $7 million -- and comparing that with the amount it could cost to fix it. All too often, even when we have the right ideas about safe infrastructure, they just don't pencil out."
You hear that? One human is worth $7 million to the federal government. Sigh.
Ms. Blue takes great care to be inclusive in her writing style, and doesn't come across as preachy. She succeeds on a topic where most of us wouldn't know how to find the information, let alone put it together into something coherent. And this book is coherent. I originally knocked a star off because I found my attention wandering at some points -- mainly because I was trying to assimilate massive amounts of data in a short period of time -- and then I realized that wasn't a good enough reason to give this book less than 5 stars..
I can see how this book would work as an oft-consulted reference for the bicyclist's home library. Because like it or not, anyone who bikes becomes an ambassador for biking, especially if you ride for transportation instead of sport. Might as well be well informed. And here's where the book really soars: it's part encyclopaedic reference, part how-to manual, and part manifesto. I came away from Bikenomics with ideas on how to approach local business to get them to support biking -- and the solid belief that this is what I want to do and should be doing, for the sake of myself and my community. Talk about a strong book!
I'd recommend this for anyone who has a passing interest in bicycling as a way of getting around, for government officials staring down a pile of requests for new bike lanes, and for those of us who sometimes feel like we're all going down the tubes and we can't do anything about it. Elly Blue says we can, and I believe her.
Aesthetics aside, Elly's strength is in making a seamless case using both statistics and anecdotes. Every chapter tackles some new point that bicycle naysayers like to point out: parking measures, road upkeep, even race and class divides. No topic is too big or too small for Elly to touch on. And since she walks the walk (rides the ride?), she's all the more credible when she cites her facts, like:
"The federal transportation department estimates the economic impact of each life lost on the roads at $7 million... When a road or intersection is deemed unsafe, investment is determined in part by looking at the value of the number of fatalities, multiplied by $7 million -- and comparing that with the amount it could cost to fix it. All too often, even when we have the right ideas about safe infrastructure, they just don't pencil out."
You hear that? One human is worth $7 million to the federal government. Sigh.
Ms. Blue takes great care to be inclusive in her writing style, and doesn't come across as preachy. She succeeds on a topic where most of us wouldn't know how to find the information, let alone put it together into something coherent. And this book is coherent. I originally knocked a star off because I found my attention wandering at some points -- mainly because I was trying to assimilate massive amounts of data in a short period of time -- and then I realized that wasn't a good enough reason to give this book less than 5 stars..
I can see how this book would work as an oft-consulted reference for the bicyclist's home library. Because like it or not, anyone who bikes becomes an ambassador for biking, especially if you ride for transportation instead of sport. Might as well be well informed. And here's where the book really soars: it's part encyclopaedic reference, part how-to manual, and part manifesto. I came away from Bikenomics with ideas on how to approach local business to get them to support biking -- and the solid belief that this is what I want to do and should be doing, for the sake of myself and my community. Talk about a strong book!
I'd recommend this for anyone who has a passing interest in bicycling as a way of getting around, for government officials staring down a pile of requests for new bike lanes, and for those of us who sometimes feel like we're all going down the tubes and we can't do anything about it. Elly Blue says we can, and I believe her.
January 21, 2015
I wish to strongly question author Elly Blue's credentials as a bike-riding hippie. There was far too much financial MATH going on here to be written by such a person. The thorough discussions of economic cost vs. reward precludes me from believing that the writer could be a soft-hearted, tree-hugging bike rider. I believe that Elly Blue is actually a brilliantly trained secret financial agent and is merely masquerading as a bike-loving hippie in order to get us all to lower our guard and tolerate economic discussions that don't make copious references to tofu.
January 1, 2022
Well worth reading (particularly if you're unfamiliar with the general bicycle advocacy literature - or for that matter, the literature that painstakingly lays out the pathologies of our self-destructive car-obsessed-and-dependent-and-biased culture/economy/society).
This is a highly accessible, easy to digest introduction to many of the larger issues currently being addressed (or, frankly, ignored) at the federal, state, regional, and municipal level after years of under-investment in infrastructure (and, of course, the potentially significant coming investment in (hopefully reimagined) infrastructure) and will become only more prevalent as the accelerating climate crisis drives governments and communities to think further outside the box.
Special kudos to Blue for being ahead of the curve and getting the research, literature, anecdotes, ... and stories out into (or at least closer to) the mainstream years ago (even if I only recently actually bought the updated/expanded book).
Minor Nit: As convincing as Blue's thesis (and larger storyline) is (are), don't expect this to read like a conventional economics argument. All the pieces are there, but (best I can tell) Blue isn't writing as an economist or for economists - and that's OK - but the title might suggest otherwise, at least to some.
Reviewer's Achilles Heel/soft-spot: This won't come as a surprise to readers well versed in the modern literature related to climate change, environmental justice, and, well, advocacy related to almost every conceivable pathology in modern society, but ... if you're an older, white male (and, even more so, if you're economically well off), even if you're a bicycle advocate, well ... you're not the hero of this story and, more specifically, you're (pretty consistently) billed as the problem (or an impediment) rather than the solution. Of course, the maddening thing is that the author is right - she's spot on (and clear in her explanations as to why).... But it does make the reading experience somewhat less pleasant. (Ah, the proverbial dose or reality, eh? ... Alas.)
p.s. The book is highly anecdote-driven, so (based on my own, albeit quirky, experiences) I was ever so slightly disappointed that I didn't find any/more references to some of the really impressive infrastructure development and urban decision-making related to bicycling in Denver or Geneva (Switzerland). Maybe they'll make it into the next edition, in addition to a stronger climate-change mitigation hook, along with more coverage of the explosion in e-bikes - for personal use, for older riders, for freight delivery, and, of course, for the Uber-Eats/GrubHub-type market.
It sure seems like the time is ripe for another, newer, further-expanded edition.
This is a highly accessible, easy to digest introduction to many of the larger issues currently being addressed (or, frankly, ignored) at the federal, state, regional, and municipal level after years of under-investment in infrastructure (and, of course, the potentially significant coming investment in (hopefully reimagined) infrastructure) and will become only more prevalent as the accelerating climate crisis drives governments and communities to think further outside the box.
Special kudos to Blue for being ahead of the curve and getting the research, literature, anecdotes, ... and stories out into (or at least closer to) the mainstream years ago (even if I only recently actually bought the updated/expanded book).
Minor Nit: As convincing as Blue's thesis (and larger storyline) is (are), don't expect this to read like a conventional economics argument. All the pieces are there, but (best I can tell) Blue isn't writing as an economist or for economists - and that's OK - but the title might suggest otherwise, at least to some.
Reviewer's Achilles Heel/soft-spot: This won't come as a surprise to readers well versed in the modern literature related to climate change, environmental justice, and, well, advocacy related to almost every conceivable pathology in modern society, but ... if you're an older, white male (and, even more so, if you're economically well off), even if you're a bicycle advocate, well ... you're not the hero of this story and, more specifically, you're (pretty consistently) billed as the problem (or an impediment) rather than the solution. Of course, the maddening thing is that the author is right - she's spot on (and clear in her explanations as to why).... But it does make the reading experience somewhat less pleasant. (Ah, the proverbial dose or reality, eh? ... Alas.)
p.s. The book is highly anecdote-driven, so (based on my own, albeit quirky, experiences) I was ever so slightly disappointed that I didn't find any/more references to some of the really impressive infrastructure development and urban decision-making related to bicycling in Denver or Geneva (Switzerland). Maybe they'll make it into the next edition, in addition to a stronger climate-change mitigation hook, along with more coverage of the explosion in e-bikes - for personal use, for older riders, for freight delivery, and, of course, for the Uber-Eats/GrubHub-type market.
It sure seems like the time is ripe for another, newer, further-expanded edition.
December 14, 2021
The author provides lots of arguments to back up the idea that bicycling is good from a money standpoint, as if the obvious benefits to fitness, safety, the environment and all that are not enough. This is an advocacy pamphlet, not a scientific analysis, but it did seem like the author was cherry-picking studies to exaggerate benefits. For cycling advocates I think this is good for the inspiring stories about places that have made progress. It did not seem like those transformations were driven by the purported economic benefits from cyclotoursim, reduced medical expenditures or whatnot.
May 2, 2023
A bit self righteous. Interesting notions about the economic benefits of biking, but no realistic discussion about how much cycling, particularly as a replacement for driving, will or will not grow in the next 10-20 years. The -onomics part of the title is just jumping on the bandwagon of other popular books with -onomics in the title. Would have preferred more actual economics and less preaching.
June 22, 2021
I love books like this.
Everyone should read at least one, especially people who think that bikes are impractical or that building a good cycling infrastructure is a waste of money.
"Street Fight" by Janette Sadik-Khan, former New York City Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, who absolutely revolutionized cycling in that city, is a more complete and authoritatize text, but "Bikenomics" hits all of the high points in the campaign to persuade, in far fewer pages.
Everyone should read at least one, especially people who think that bikes are impractical or that building a good cycling infrastructure is a waste of money.
"Street Fight" by Janette Sadik-Khan, former New York City Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, who absolutely revolutionized cycling in that city, is a more complete and authoritatize text, but "Bikenomics" hits all of the high points in the campaign to persuade, in far fewer pages.
June 12, 2014
could only make it a few chapters in. The writing was dry and the analysis was nothing new or interesting. I think this book probably serves best as a masturbatory experience for people who feel elitist about the fact that they ride bikes.
May 23, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Although published in 2013, some concepts have remained the same but it’d be cool to see an updated version of this book.
Big take aways:
-Cities see creating bicycle infrastructure as a way to attract young adults to move to their city.
-When businesses incentivizes their employees to bike to work, a majority will take on the challenge and this results in a win win for the business as they don’t have to pay costly insurance plans.
-Adding new lanes to highways is ineffective and tends to solve the problem temporarily of increased traffic congestion and accident rates.
-Maintaining highways is expensive and a quarter of that budget could fund miles worth of bike greenways.
-Adding bike lanes in NYC can be attributed to helping local businesses increase their revenue and exposure.
-People are afraid of biking on the main roads because not a lot of drivers are used to sharing roads with cyclists. Critical Mass can help ease drivers and cyclists worries and can help increase ridership.
Biking can be a great form of transportation and many people do use it, but that cant be said for many other Americans as their work, school, and grocery stores are vastly spread out from one another, making our dependence on cars greater. It not only takes local ridership to increase, but also a better funding from government organizations to truly support biking as a main form of transportation.
Big take aways:
-Cities see creating bicycle infrastructure as a way to attract young adults to move to their city.
-When businesses incentivizes their employees to bike to work, a majority will take on the challenge and this results in a win win for the business as they don’t have to pay costly insurance plans.
-Adding new lanes to highways is ineffective and tends to solve the problem temporarily of increased traffic congestion and accident rates.
-Maintaining highways is expensive and a quarter of that budget could fund miles worth of bike greenways.
-Adding bike lanes in NYC can be attributed to helping local businesses increase their revenue and exposure.
-People are afraid of biking on the main roads because not a lot of drivers are used to sharing roads with cyclists. Critical Mass can help ease drivers and cyclists worries and can help increase ridership.
Biking can be a great form of transportation and many people do use it, but that cant be said for many other Americans as their work, school, and grocery stores are vastly spread out from one another, making our dependence on cars greater. It not only takes local ridership to increase, but also a better funding from government organizations to truly support biking as a main form of transportation.
March 8, 2018
I initially picked up this book and thought that although I should read it, after flicking through the pages and seeing all the numbers and factoids referenced, I wasn't really looking forward to it.
I'm glad I dug in however as it's a brilliant and succinct account of the economics of bicycles - and how more investments by cities in bicycle infrastructure can build community, improve health outcomes (both physical and mental), address economic and social disadvantage, gender and racial inequality and sort out the environment.
But the book also interrogates how better bicycling infrastructure tends to be dominated by better off gentrifying communities - leaving poorer communities without access to public transport or cycling, and keeping them in economically disastrous car dependency.
It will take a huge shift to move from from a sedentary, consumeristic, fossil fuel burning automobile centric world, to a more local, bicycle powered, community based urban environment. I think of the sprawl of outer east and outer west Melbourne and do wonder if it can be done.
I thought the focus on the American economy would mean that the book would have limited insights for Australians, but on the contrary, the many experiments different cities in the states have tried regarding cycling provides a laboratory for other countries that have relatively young cities designed around automobiles. It's very relevant.
I'm glad I dug in however as it's a brilliant and succinct account of the economics of bicycles - and how more investments by cities in bicycle infrastructure can build community, improve health outcomes (both physical and mental), address economic and social disadvantage, gender and racial inequality and sort out the environment.
But the book also interrogates how better bicycling infrastructure tends to be dominated by better off gentrifying communities - leaving poorer communities without access to public transport or cycling, and keeping them in economically disastrous car dependency.
It will take a huge shift to move from from a sedentary, consumeristic, fossil fuel burning automobile centric world, to a more local, bicycle powered, community based urban environment. I think of the sprawl of outer east and outer west Melbourne and do wonder if it can be done.
I thought the focus on the American economy would mean that the book would have limited insights for Australians, but on the contrary, the many experiments different cities in the states have tried regarding cycling provides a laboratory for other countries that have relatively young cities designed around automobiles. It's very relevant.
December 31, 2023
I can’t remember the last time a book has made me so excited! I can’t wait to start a bike advocacy group in my community. I only wish this book had an appendix to include ideas on how to start one and what to target first.
Invest first in prevention- take heavy traffic off of the streets by whatever means possible is most cost effective way to make room for bikes. When someone can ride a bike they are saving money and more likely to spend it locally and less likely to take unplanned work off or need medical care. A street becomes less polluted and more prosperous when bikeways are added. Bikeways create more jobs per million dollars because so few materials and the money goes to the workers.
Bikeways are not stem too small to bring powerful backers to the table to lobby for them. Houston shoes bigger projects succeed better. It leaves more room for negotiation and compromise on a large proposal. Research shows when money flows into bike projects more people start commuting by bike.
CDC recommends 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week… we are more likely to achieve this by hopping on a bike for short trips rather than expensive time and money on gym membership. Biking does not even feel like exercise and Kees disease at bay. The basis of the economy is not the dollar- it’s us! The economic health of our community relies on our ability to participate in them by working buying selling and healing each other.
The best investment we can make personally and as society is in the ability to live our lives and live them well. Biking is one of the rotate areas where people can directly and concretely address our own health and health of our community- and see results.
Biking for transportation is t so much a lifestyle choice it’s more of civic action. Best way to prevent mental ailments is also exercise…
Primary cause of unhappiness is having a bad commute. The drive to work is most stressful part of our day. People with long commutes are more likely to be depressed. Biking is likely to make you happy. It reduces stress, improve ms mental health and self esteem, more likely to enjoy your commute, have less stress, feel more freedom, and have more excitement in daily life.
Give people bikes!
Bike share bikes solve two problems- ownership and theft. Air pollution affects prenatal development and May out child at risk for autism found a 2013 study. To tackle air pollution we need to stop building Rs roads and burn less fuel. We need to drive less and we need shorter distances between the places we go and we need local economies to provide options.
The easier and more intuitive it is to use our streets to bike the more people will do it!
The best thing for bike safety is more people out on bikes! More riders is fewer crashes.
Bike corrals helped improve local business as 25% of customers arrived by bike.
OHSU paid employees $50 a month to commute by bike to work.
Increase bike infrastructure and people will use it! Bike parking remains a barrier to commuting.
Invest first in prevention- take heavy traffic off of the streets by whatever means possible is most cost effective way to make room for bikes. When someone can ride a bike they are saving money and more likely to spend it locally and less likely to take unplanned work off or need medical care. A street becomes less polluted and more prosperous when bikeways are added. Bikeways create more jobs per million dollars because so few materials and the money goes to the workers.
Bikeways are not stem too small to bring powerful backers to the table to lobby for them. Houston shoes bigger projects succeed better. It leaves more room for negotiation and compromise on a large proposal. Research shows when money flows into bike projects more people start commuting by bike.
CDC recommends 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week… we are more likely to achieve this by hopping on a bike for short trips rather than expensive time and money on gym membership. Biking does not even feel like exercise and Kees disease at bay. The basis of the economy is not the dollar- it’s us! The economic health of our community relies on our ability to participate in them by working buying selling and healing each other.
The best investment we can make personally and as society is in the ability to live our lives and live them well. Biking is one of the rotate areas where people can directly and concretely address our own health and health of our community- and see results.
Biking for transportation is t so much a lifestyle choice it’s more of civic action. Best way to prevent mental ailments is also exercise…
Primary cause of unhappiness is having a bad commute. The drive to work is most stressful part of our day. People with long commutes are more likely to be depressed. Biking is likely to make you happy. It reduces stress, improve ms mental health and self esteem, more likely to enjoy your commute, have less stress, feel more freedom, and have more excitement in daily life.
Give people bikes!
Bike share bikes solve two problems- ownership and theft. Air pollution affects prenatal development and May out child at risk for autism found a 2013 study. To tackle air pollution we need to stop building Rs roads and burn less fuel. We need to drive less and we need shorter distances between the places we go and we need local economies to provide options.
The easier and more intuitive it is to use our streets to bike the more people will do it!
The best thing for bike safety is more people out on bikes! More riders is fewer crashes.
Bike corrals helped improve local business as 25% of customers arrived by bike.
OHSU paid employees $50 a month to commute by bike to work.
Increase bike infrastructure and people will use it! Bike parking remains a barrier to commuting.
May 15, 2014
This book offered a fun mental break in between studying these past few days. I've read some of Elly Blue's work in Grist, and much of this book takes up what she writes about online: that bikes are kind of a no-brainer solution when it comes to many of our societal woes, including environmental destruction, mental and physical health issues, the lack of cohesive communities, and our floundering economy, and I buy this argument. But, I also appreciated the author's attention to the stratifying effects of the rise of "bike culture" - that is, bike advocacy often excludes the poor and people of color, whose neighborhoods rarely see the expansion of any bike infrastructure, when, arguably, these communities can benefit the most from bicycling. She's also critical of the rise of the marketable image of bicycling, and I agree that I'd love to see the day when biking is neither the hip new thing nor a radical act, but simply a good way to get around. Reading this book made me feel very lucky to live in a place where biking is relatively safe, thanks to a pretty good (though not perfect) bike infrastructure, and where biking is very much a way of life. And, I was inspired to stop complaining already about pedaling up the hills in our neighborhood; it beats going broke on gas and parking.
January 8, 2022
There's definitely some interesting facts here, but a lot of the claims don't seem credible, and that's pretty off-putting. And I'm a cyclist and predisposed to believe this stuff!
Doesn't seem to have been through an editor; there's an incorrect "their" (instead of "there") in the first few pages.
Doesn't seem to have been through an editor; there's an incorrect "their" (instead of "there") in the first few pages.
October 13, 2019
I was browsing the library during my lunch hour, happened into the sports section, navigated to teh bikes department, and found this book and thought I would give it a try. Overall, it was worthwhile. It was easy to read, written somewhat in a coffee table conversation way, and didn't require a ton of concentration. I didn't learn that much, but it feels like a pretty accurate manifestation of my position on the role of bikes in American society. Elly Blue refers to many of the people and concepts that I have encountered in many other bicycle urbanism texts I've read. The last three paragraphs of the book does well to explain its thesis:
Whatever our challenges, we're better able to face them when we are relatively fit, healthy, happy, prosperous, confident, and on confidently equal footing with each other, and able to forge strong connections within and between communities. We need these things desperately, and an increasing number of communities are turning to the bicycle for them, with some success.
The bicycle is, at this moment in history, the rare tool that reminds us that we have the power to help ourselves and each other in exactly the ways that will allow us to face the worst of the disasters we find ourselves in.
What the bicycle can do--if we choose to use it this way--is help us survive and move beyond these things ourselves, to the best of our capabilities. The bicycle may not be able to save either the economy or the world that we have now. But it is one means by which we may e able to get through whatever comes next with grace and meaning. And it provides us with the opportunity to build ourselves lives, communities, and an economy that we can truly afford in the long run.
February 9, 2020
While I agreed with this book on its overall points, there were some concepts that went too far without data to support them. Claiming that biking can cure mental health issues is an insult to people whose’s mental health is not dependent on whether they exercise or not. When she talked about the negative connotations of bike helmets I was intrigued (they connote a sport element and in countries like Netherlands are hardly worn because it is so
Safe to cycle there). In the midst of car accident numbers and stating that booing is safer there were no numbers for bike accidents or how many lives helmets save. If there had been one statement about how helmets do save lives in high speed accidents I would have been satisfied but that was disturbingly missing. And while she mentions frequently the need to include low income and minority groups in our discussions of bike infrastructure and safety, NONE of the anecdotal stories in her book were from those minority groups she kept touting were left out of discussions. Good read to get you out and cycling and thinking about different aspects/costs but still doesn’t hit home for the above reasons.
Safe to cycle there). In the midst of car accident numbers and stating that booing is safer there were no numbers for bike accidents or how many lives helmets save. If there had been one statement about how helmets do save lives in high speed accidents I would have been satisfied but that was disturbingly missing. And while she mentions frequently the need to include low income and minority groups in our discussions of bike infrastructure and safety, NONE of the anecdotal stories in her book were from those minority groups she kept touting were left out of discussions. Good read to get you out and cycling and thinking about different aspects/costs but still doesn’t hit home for the above reasons.
September 6, 2017
With so many bike enthusiasts in my grad school program, I had planned to read this book for quite a while. Now that I have graduaded, I thought I could take the time.
This is a short (less than 200 pages), very interesting book that outlines the many advantages and positive aspects of biking. While not a panacea to absolutely all our problems, biking could solve or help solve a laundry list of issues...
Full review on my blog: https://edouardstenger.wordpress.com/...
Enjoy ! :)
This is a short (less than 200 pages), very interesting book that outlines the many advantages and positive aspects of biking. While not a panacea to absolutely all our problems, biking could solve or help solve a laundry list of issues...
Full review on my blog: https://edouardstenger.wordpress.com/...
Enjoy ! :)
November 11, 2015
Es una fantástica obra que brinda un panorama muy completo de las enormes ventajas del ciclismo para el desarrollo de ciudades.
Como bien dice al final: la bicicleta puede que no sea la panacea que nos salvará de esta economía inviable o del calentamiento global, pero es una pieza importante en la solución compleja que buscamos.
Como bien dice al final: la bicicleta puede que no sea la panacea que nos salvará de esta economía inviable o del calentamiento global, pero es una pieza importante en la solución compleja que buscamos.
April 17, 2014
I knew once I read the title that I would breeze through this book and love it. Short and illustrative read; Blue provides all the numbers and resources you need to get started on a two wheeler. Moreover, if you have thought about contributing to the bicycle movement, READ THIS BOOK!
July 11, 2024
I want Portland, but can Geelong do it?
May 20, 2019
記得大約在年多前，共享單車在香港興起。我當時還在金鐘上班，路途遙遠兼隔個大海，自然不可能單車通勤。我當時申請了共享單車的戶口，將原本一小段由居所往元朗西鐵站的小巴路程，取代成踏單車，目的不外給自己一個運動的機會罷了。
我幾乎立即感受到踏單車的好處。
早上的單車徑行人不多，可以全速前進，所花的行車時間和小巴差不多；早上運動又教人精神爽利，利用有趣的方式去開展新的一天，彷彿就是在險峻的工作群山中給你一個活命的氧氣瓶：大腦可以完全放空，可能就是踏單車上下班的那一小時。
本書的作者是個單車愛好者，積極推廣單車的種種益處。根據本書，踏單車的好處絕不止是個人運動對身體有益那麼簡單，它的好處超越個人，整體社會都會蒙受其利。此話怎解？原來在美國，國民已習慣用汽車代步的生活模式，當中過半的車程都屬短途。如果所有短途的代步工具由汽車換成單車，可節省相當可觀的碳排放；廢氣的減少再加上踏單車時的有氧運動，可減少癡肥，大大促進國民的身體健康，而最終又會反映在較低廉的健康保費和醫療照護等等的社會開支裡，還未算因車輛減少，而減少塞車所節省的社會成本。另一方面，單車團體可促進社區連結，帶動單車徑一帶的本土經濟；在如此的角度看，「踩單車，救經濟」是切實可行的務實哲學。
作者在書中回應了一個普遍的迷思：單車騎士沒有付錢買路票，卻又霸佔道路行駛，實質上是種「白食」的行為。但作者出示相關的數據，對此論調提出漂亮的反駁：在美國如此高度發展的國家裡，汽車網路佔據大塊的土地，單憑路票早就不夠補貼道路的建設與維修，那其實是納稅人共同承擔的結果。不可不察的是：汽車有極大的社會成本：除了惱人的碳排放與健康風險之外，汽車本身會損害路面，但單車對路面的影響卻幾近是零；另一方面，汽車的停車空間比單車的大得多，引起額外的土地社會成本。若果將一切社會成本納入效益計算，無車人士和單車騎士其實是補貼了我們高度發展的四輪社會，車主所付根本不足以持續這種發展模式。明白了這許多之後，我們自然能對在公路上的單車騎士包容許多。當然，在香港的確有不少在公路上橫衝直撞的單車友，那我們該做的是規範他們的行為，要求他們該如馬路上合格的駕駛人士，而不是否定單車作為短途運輸工具的角色。
單車有如此巨大的社會好處，但要如何落實執行？除了給政府施壓之外，我們首先要拋棄開發道路等同發展的固有思維，用擴闊道路去解決塞車問題，只屬飲鴆止渴：汽車的增長早晚會再度塞滿擴闊的道路。我們需要的是單車友善的社區，專屬的單車道，汽車與單車共用的道路、規範化的共享單車等等。只要這些配套齊備，人們自然就會因利成便，踏上單車，展開他們的單車之旅。我相信在這方面，美國與香港應該沒有大不同。或許我們所欠的，就是改變所需的政治意志。
好看！三星推薦。
我幾乎立即感受到踏單車的好處。
早上的單車徑行人不多，可以全速前進，所花的行車時間和小巴差不多；早上運動又教人精神爽利，利用有趣的方式去開展新的一天，彷彿就是在險峻的工作群山中給你一個活命的氧氣瓶：大腦可以完全放空，可能就是踏單車上下班的那一小時。
本書的作者是個單車愛好者，積極推廣單車的種種益處。根據本書，踏單車的好處絕不止是個人運動對身體有益那麼簡單，它的好處超越個人，整體社會都會蒙受其利。此話怎解？原來在美國，國民已習慣用汽車代步的生活模式，當中過半的車程都屬短途。如果所有短途的代步工具由汽車換成單車，可節省相當可觀的碳排放；廢氣的減少再加上踏單車時的有氧運動，可減少癡肥，大大促進國民的身體健康，而最終又會反映在較低廉的健康保費和醫療照護等等的社會開支裡，還未算因車輛減少，而減少塞車所節省的社會成本。另一方面，單車團體可促進社區連結，帶動單車徑一帶的本土經濟；在如此的角度看，「踩單車，救經濟」是切實可行的務實哲學。
作者在書中回應了一個普遍的迷思：單車騎士沒有付錢買路票，卻又霸佔道路行駛，實質上是種「白食」的行為。但作者出示相關的數據，對此論調提出漂亮的反駁：在美國如此高度發展的國家裡，汽車網路佔據大塊的土地，單憑路票早就不夠補貼道路的建設與維修，那其實是納稅人共同承擔的結果。不可不察的是：汽車有極大的社會成本：除了惱人的碳排放與健康風險之外，汽車本身會損害路面，但單車對路面的影響卻幾近是零；另一方面，汽車的停車空間比單車的大得多，引起額外的土地社會成本。若果將一切社會成本納入效益計算，無車人士和單車騎士其實是補貼了我們高度發展的四輪社會，車主所付根本不足以持續這種發展模式。明白了這許多之後，我們自然能對在公路上的單車騎士包容許多。當然，在香港的確有不少在公路上橫衝直撞的單車友，那我們該做的是規範他們的行為，要求他們該如馬路上合格的駕駛人士，而不是否定單車作為短途運輸工具的角色。
單車有如此巨大的社會好處，但要如何落實執行？除了給政府施壓之外，我們首先要拋棄開發道路等同發展的固有思維，用擴闊道路去解決塞車問題，只屬飲鴆止渴：汽車的增長早晚會再度塞滿擴闊的道路。我們需要的是單車友善的社區，專屬的單車道，汽車與單車共用的道路、規範化的共享單車等等。只要這些配套齊備，人們自然就會因利成便，踏上單車，展開他們的單車之旅。我相信在這方面，美國與香港應該沒有大不同。或許我們所欠的，就是改變所需的政治意志。
好看！三星推薦。
August 6, 2017
This book was definitely preaching to the choir for me, since I already agree with basically everything about it. But it was still nice to see everything laid out in such an easy-to-understand way, with lots of evidence and sources. It looked at cycling from all sorts of different angles, which I loved! I do wish it hadn't been so dismissive of public transportation, there were some parts where it felt like she was almost putting them on the level of cars. I think the best cities have an extensive public transit network along with cycling network and walkable everywhere! But I guess this is a book about bikes, so it's to be expected. Also unrelated to the content of the book, but I got a physical copy from the library, and it was really nice quality. Like the font was different from typical, and it was a blue color instead of black, which made it easier on the eyes. Very pleasant to read.
May 5, 2017
Interesting read!
Even though this book is now dated (it was published in 2011) I found it to be quiet interesting to learn about the social and economical impacts bike culture has had in various communities around the world. Being a woman of color, I also appreciated the talk about how bicycling is perceived across race and gender because I feel that is an important argument that is overlooked.
I use to ride my bike in NYC (around 2011-2013) and it definitely did not have the safety in numbers vibe as it does now! Here we are 2017 and I see the change the citibike systems have had including better bike lane infrastructure. More people are cruisin the streets than ever, and it's pretty awesome. So yey for bikes!!
Even though this book is now dated (it was published in 2011) I found it to be quiet interesting to learn about the social and economical impacts bike culture has had in various communities around the world. Being a woman of color, I also appreciated the talk about how bicycling is perceived across race and gender because I feel that is an important argument that is overlooked.
I use to ride my bike in NYC (around 2011-2013) and it definitely did not have the safety in numbers vibe as it does now! Here we are 2017 and I see the change the citibike systems have had including better bike lane infrastructure. More people are cruisin the streets than ever, and it's pretty awesome. So yey for bikes!!
June 18, 2017
Buen material pero casi todas las cifras que brinda son de EE.UU. por tanto resulta un poco irrelevante para el resto del planeta. Sin embargo, las conclusiones aplican para todo mundo, el mensaje claro del daño que le hacemos al planeta y a nosotros mismos por el uso desmedido de los automotores lo deja muy claro y muy bien fundamentado. El ahora y el futuro es la bicicleta, es algo obvio, pero aun existe una mayoría de necios e ignorantes que no dejan que la infraestructura avance para que el cambio sea más rápido, por el bien del planeta, por el bien de la humanidad, por el bien de todo.
March 6, 2018
If you are a new cyclist and find yourself interested in biking culture, or if you are an avid cyclist, I highly recommend this book by Elly Blue. She very eloquently makes the case for how important cycling is and how it could change the way you view a city. With the prospect of Sarnia’s first bike lanes being installed in the near future, this book reassured me of everything I already knew. It’s incredible that a leisurely activity such a riding your bike could mean so much more in the grand scheme of things.
February 26, 2019
A well-researched book on the benefits of cycling with a ton of references, that also made me want to get out and hop onto the bike for a quick cycle at times (a problem as I usually read in bed at night). I didn't realise how much of the content was aimed at a US audience though. I would have thought it doesn't matter, but a lot of the discussions involving numbers, taxes, subsidies, etc, and the overwhelming car culture made me want to skip ahead at times. Still, interesting.
July 28, 2019
This book was, to me, preaching to the choir. I learned a lot of this stuff by the things I have read over the years - especially since I started following bike advocates on Twitter. Still, it's a good compilation with plenty of citations, and there were enough new or re-framed ideas to make the read worthwhile for me. Also, the teal print in the book was fun. I'm hoping to pass this book on to an open-minded person new to the idea that bikes are more than toys.
January 1, 2020
Liked it. Gave me a reason in 2020 to possibly expand my biking into more transportation within the city, such as loading up the panniers and a backpack and buying $60+ at Kroger. It is an economics tome so I feel the book could have been shortened buy 50 pp. Goes into the inequities of race and income on bike infrastructure spending. I believe in most of it when it comes to local riding vs. using small trucks. Thanks to daughter Avocet for buying it for me for Hanukkah 2019
July 10, 2023
This book was inspired, inspiring and well researched and written! The bike is one of our greatest tools for movement, independence and is much more eco friendly than cars, yet in the US we love cars to our own economic detriment. Everyone could benefit from reading this and seeing the positive impact more cycling and more cycling infrastructure can have on our future both economically and environmentally.
April 25, 2024
baita livro
agora quero ler mais sobre o brasil
"Não existe receita mágica para construir uma cidade amiga da bicicleta. Os locais onde é aceita parecem ter uma combinação única de liderança vertical com movimentos populares. As duas forças dependem uma da outra e é a interação entre elas que leva à mudança."
agora quero ler mais sobre o brasil
"Não existe receita mágica para construir uma cidade amiga da bicicleta. Os locais onde é aceita parecem ter uma combinação única de liderança vertical com movimentos populares. As duas forças dependem uma da outra e é a interação entre elas que leva à mudança."
June 14, 2024
This is what’s referred to in the industry as a “Craig Kannel classic.” Reminds me of the good old days of biking through Boston to get everywhere. Worth a read if you don’t know all of this stuff already, otherwise a pretty good reference to have on hand for arguments with people suffering from windshield brain
October 9, 2017
Highly recommended to anyone that wants to learn more about our transportation system and how we each can positively impact it, our environment, our health and our pocketbooks through human power or mass transit
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