Would you bike to work for $? Nanny state or common sense?

[marylander1940]

Several countries including the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and Britain have bike-to-work schemes, with different kinds of incentives such as tax breaks, payments per kilometer and financial support for buying bicycles.

 

In France, some 20 companies and institutions employing a total of 10,000 people have signed up to pay their staff 25 euro cents (34 U.S. cents) per kilometer biked to work, the transport ministry said in a statement.

 

http://www.abc.es/sociedad/20150930/abci-indemnizacion-francia-centimos-euro-201509301642.html

 

http://www.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/picture-123.png

 

http://www.bumc.bu.edu/transcomm/files/2010/03/bike-to-work-burn-cal.bmp

 

http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/06/france-pays-bike-commuters-537x444.jpg

 

http://www.sportku.com/uploads/images/bike-to-work-201008261304544498.jpg

[thickornotatall]

whenever possible...walk...bike or public transport is a better way than auto...I walk at least 10 miles every day..and only use my car if the weather is poor...to carry groceries etc..or the distance is too far...my weight has maintained the same since college...

[TruthBTold]

I think it is great. We offer incentives to change and maintain behavior for a lot of things, e.g., tax breaks. This sounds like a great way to get people to start biking to work and leaving their cars at home. I think it is better than plans that increase parking fees so that workers can't afford to drive. In those cases the city gets the fees. At least in bike plans the workers get the money.

[rvwnsd]

I find this to be no more or less of a "nanny state" practice than giving tax breaks and constructing taxpayer-financed infrastructure for a privately-owned factory or retail store that pays its employees less than a living wage.

[+ deej]

When I first moved to CA I did not own a car and biked to work every day for 8 months. My butt never looked better.

 

I'd be happy to do it today except my commute then was 2 miles and is now 49 miles (longer on surface streets I'd use on a bike).

 

Taking cars off the road is a good thing. Far better than forever building more and wider roads (and not maintaining them).

[Lookin]

Not so handy for taking a client to lunch. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

 

http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/60a7ebdb-cf89-414d-9cba-73962fdd9611.img

[jackjackjack]

Living in Los Angeles makes it very difficult to only bike unless you work, shop, eat, in a small graphical area. But who usually suggests we bike or walk and give up our cars? It's usually the government officials or the wealthy that ask us to sacrifice.....you know the people with their government cars, limousines, chauffeurs, private jets, etc. When they start biking, so will I.

[gallahadesquire]

In the mid-70's, I lived at Kenmore Square, and biked to just-inside-Waltham on US 20. 8 miles. Twice daily.

 

Lost not a pound [piss me off]. GREAT leg tone. Thank you, Pres. Gerald Ford, and Motobecane.

[samandtham]

Any mode of transportation that doesn't involve a car is always going to be my preferred method of going around. I'm used to taking the subway and walking to work and wherever else I have to be (cabs or Uber only if absolutely necessary). But if my company would incentivize taking a bike specifically, then I might consider this as well.

[+ poolboy48220]

I was in NYC last week for training and walked about a mile each way from the hotel to class every day. Well, took a taxi once after dinner. I walked more there than I have walked in a LONG time in Detroit.

 

I've got about a 15-mile commute if I were to bike to work. I biked to work on a few occasions at other jobs. Showers in the building are a real plus.

[+ deej]

Not so handy for taking a client to lunch. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

 

True, but Uber and Lyft can handle that. Or you could walk to lunch.

[+ deej]

Not so handy for taking a client to lunch. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

 

True, but Uber and Lyft can handle that. Or you could walk to lunch.

[+ friendofsheila]

If only. Here in the US we vomit up zillions to make cars comfortable.

 

Bikes? [snort!]

[+ purplekow]

i used to bicycle 12 miles each way to work. I had two cars and kept one at home and one at the job. So if the weather was bad or an emergency came about, I could use the car. Would take the bicycle with me in the car if need be. It was great but once the bad weather came, I stopped. Now I work less than three miles from work, but no shower and no place to safely leave the bicycle. If there was more incentive, I would go back to doing it. My ass could use the toning.

[craigville beach]

yes, I would bike to work (in good weather)

[samhexum]

common sense?

 

[+ bigjoey]

I was in Amsterdam for a few days last month. I was told there are more bikes than people in the city and that next to the train station they were building a garage just to hold bikes and the capacity would be to hold 40,000 bikes.

 

One thing that really stood out was that I did not see one bike rider wearing a helmet. The nanny state had not yet declared helmet wearing a requirement.

[+ sniper]

Many US cities and roads are unfortunately engineered in a manner that makes it markedly less safe to bike. Which then gets compounded by the fact that since so few do bike, drivers are unaccustomed to being on the lookout for them. I'm over 20 miles from where I used to work in northern NJ and we had one guy who biked 17 miles each way. Company newsletter did a big story on him. Three months later he was hit by a car on one of the narrow highways he had to navigate and landed in the hospital for weeks.

 

I will say Boston seems to be doing quite a bit to make the city more bike-friendly from what I've seen. But in general we simply aren't there yet in terms of setups making it feasible for most people.

[+ poolboy48220]

A guy was skateboarding on 8 mile this morning (not a highway, but a divided road, busy, 4 lanes each way). Going against traffic, for what it's worth.

[samhexum]

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) - A man under the influence of drugs when he plowed into a pack of Michigan bicyclists, killing five, was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison Monday after a judge expressed dissatisfaction with his apology.

 

Nine people out on a recreational ride were members of a group called the "Chain Gang." They were hit on a two-lane rural road two years ago in southwestern Michigan's Cooper Township.

 

"I'll live with this the rest of my life," Pickett said, crying. "I would give my life for the people I murdered, killed and maimed and I just want to say I'm sorry."

 

But Judge Paul Bridenstine called his apology "woefully inadequate." He told Pickett that he had many opportunities to stop driving before the crash, 140 miles (209 kilometers) west of Detroit.

 

A woman who was with Pickett earlier that day told jurors that he had attended a cousin's funeral and swallowed a handful of drugs.

 

The dead were three women and two men, ages 42 to 74.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board said better communication between dispatchers might have alerted police to stop the 52-year-old while he was driving erratically through different communities before the crash.

[escortrod]

I have taken advantage of the British ‘cycle to work’ scheme a couple of times. It allows your employer to purchase a bike for you and take reimbursement from your salary, pre-tax. It saved me ~35% on the purchase price, so it’s a very worthwhile scheme.

 

At the moment I work about 10.5 miles from my home, so I cycle in 4x per week. It’s a great way to build exercise into my routine and very preferable to sitting on a packed, delayed train, as I am right now.

[Guy Fawkes]

 

Not so handy for taking a client to lunch. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/60a7ebdb-cf89-414d-9cba-73962fdd9611.img

[escortrod]

I was in Amsterdam for a few days last month. I was told there are more bikes than people in the city and that next to the train station they were building a garage just to hold bikes and the capacity would be to hold 40,000 bikes.

 

One thing that really stood out was that I did not see one bike rider wearing a helmet. The nanny state had not yet declared helmet wearing a requirement.

Helmets aren’t particularly beneficial in cities where cycling is a norm, the infrastructure takes cyclists into account and drivers interact with them appropriately. Sadly Amsterdam is unusual in all of that, so there are strong arguments in favour of requiring helmets elsewhere.

[+ bigjoey]

Helmets aren’t particularly beneficial in cities where cycling is a norm, the infrastructure takes cyclists into account and drivers interact with them appropriately. Sadly Amsterdam is unusual in all of that, so there are strong arguments in favour of requiring helmets elsewhere.

 

While there, I saw two cyclists collide. An ambulance came so at least one required medical attention (I did not stay around).

[escortrod]

While there, I saw two cyclists collide. An ambulance came so at least one required medical attention (I did not stay around).

Sure, accidents happen, but helmets are most necessary where there’s a lot of energy involved, i.e. when cycling fast, or when interaction between cyclists and two ton steel boxes is likely. I can’t really be bothered to dig up mortality rates per KM for Amsterdam cyclists, but I’d be willing to bet quite a lot that it’s a hell of a lot lower than London, or any large American city.