11-30-2017, 04:55 PM
(11-30-2017, 04:33 PM)creative Wrote: When I was a student I walked, biked and rode transit because those were my only options. My parents did not drive me everywhere. When I graduated and started working I continued to walk, bike or transit everywhere because I could not afford to buy a car. As my life changed and I got married my responsibilities changed as well. Two people working on different schedules meant getting kids to and from daycare along with long work days meant that I didn't want to be sitting on a bus or riding a bike which would both more than double my commuting time. Time which I wanted to spend with my kids. As the kids got older and they became involved in sports as well as other activities, not to mention my wife's and my personal activities, time became a major factor. It was just not feasibly possible for our family to live our lives within the time available to us and use transit, cycling or walking to get to everywhere we needed/wanted to go. Now a days when I have more time on my hands I love to cycle and walk for exercise and pleasure. We will sometimes walk to the store to pick up one or two items. We never use transit because it is just not convenient for us. We live fairly central in Kitchener and can drive almost anywhere in KW in 10-15 minutes without having to stand at a bus stop in bad weather. Most of our trips by car involve stopping at multiple locations along our planned route. When my father was alive I also needed to drive him to apppuntments and grocery shopping because of mobility issues. Sorry for the long rambled on explanation. What I am trying to get at is that many people have busy and complicated lives that prevent them from using transit and cycling as a means of commuting and getting around. For those that are able to do so I commend you. As for cycling infrastructure it my not be perfect but it is way better than when I commuted by bike. There were limited bike trails in the suburbs and no such thing as bike lanes. It appears these days that I keep seeing more and more bike lanes. Is it perfect, no. Is it getting better, yes.
I disagree with your assessment of cycling. I bike and I routinely make multiple stops on my trip home. I don't have kids, but I do have a busy life, just like everyone else, and I feel no limitations on my getting around by bike. It really doesn't take me much longer to bike than it would to drive most places. People vastly underestimate the speed you can bike around, and when you factor in finding parking in the cores, almost always biking is faster for most of my trips. Transit too, is competitive....less so for multiple trips, but at least for work and home, in the core, it's fairly competitive with driving when you consider I sit on the bus and check email (or facebook or WRC). Certainly I use a car sometimes, but the vast majority of my trips are on bike.
Sure if you live in the suburbs, this is not true, but in the core, I don't think it's at all fair to say "busy people need a car".