Saturday, July 9, 2011

Is Driving in Europe Miserable?

For the third homework assignment, we were to read the New York Times article "Europe Stifles Drivers in Favor of Mass Transit and Walking" by Elisabeth Rosenthal and the corresponding article on BikePortland.org "NYTimes: In Europe they 'make car use expensive and just plain miserable'" by Jonathan Maus and share our comments. 


The NYTimes article explains how Zurich, Switzerland, has reverted some of its central areas to pedestrian only by banning cars or by making infrastructure changes that benefit the pedestrian more. Ms. Rosenthal explains how closing streets to car traffic isn't new in Europe, and that many other cities such as Copenhagen, Paris, and London are making efforts to make their centers more pedestrian friendly. The article gives some statistics on how people are adapting and taking transit and other non-motor vehicle modes to get to their destination.

At the start of the NY Times article, I received the impression that Ms. Rosenthal felt displeased that European countries put more of a priority on the other users of the road over automobiles. Using phrases such as "creating environments openly hostile to cars" and "working overtime in recent years to torment drivers" put a harsh image of Europe fighting heavily against people driving. Further into the article, the view of the writer had seem to become more neutral, but the first impression painted a bias on the remaining text. On an interesting note, I found it amusing that later in the article their quote from a European that was against the change was someone driving a Jaguar (a more of a luxury sports car usually starting at 30,000). To me that is almost equivalent to someone buying a race car and complaining about how he can't drive it on the horse track.


The BikePortland article summarizes the NYTimes article, explaining that "in Europe, they simply grab [the bull] by the horns and wrestle it into submission". The article then explains that how in America, that if we burden automotive traffic any it is branded heresy, even in the Portland region. After a few examples of recent Portland projects that were dropped due to affecting automotive traffic, the author goes into a few quotes from some Dutch experts (one of which gave a presentation to my class on Tuesday), speaking of how people in the U.S. have the wrong idea of what a car trip is best for.


While the NYTimes article struggled with accepting what Europe's priorities are in transportation design, BikePortland viewed them as ideal. Jonathan Maus felt like Europe was doing the right thing in challenging the dominance of the automobile. He then explains a valid point in that since people fear what will happen to their trip, politicians can't make the changes needed to move the society towards a better future. The article ends with the question:
"The question is, should we grab the bull's horns and wrestle it to the ground? Or approach it timidly, try to befriend it, and then hope it doesn't trample us?"
I feel both articles demonstrate two views on the topic of designing towards the bicycle. The NYTimes article shows the more fearful side, questioning what will happen to their trip by car if less of a priority is placed on vehicular traffic, while the BikePortland article shows the supportive view, explaining that there is too much fear of the change preventing us from moving forward as a more sustainable society. 


I believe that Maus hit the nail on the head with the article in BikePortland. There is definitely a lot of stigma when it comes to forcing people to change their lives, even in the smallest amount and even if it is for the better of everyone. That fear of change is what keeps politicians from doing what is needed in fear that they will lose their job.

Near the end of the BikePortland article, Maus stated "What works in Europe doesn't always work in the U.S.. Our cultural differences must be taken into account." I feel that this is true and that Europe has had 20-30 years of adjusting it's people to accepting cyclists and pedestrians as higher priority than a vehicle. We can't tear down the United State's 75+ year old infrastructure and replace it with a bicycle oriented system, the costs would be too great. Not only would the capital costs be infeasible, the cost in safety to both cyclists and motorists would be too. We can, however, begin to implement new design standards and education into our reconstruction of the existing infrastructure to better serve other modes other than the personal automobile. This will begin the stride towards being more sustainable, and like with a good run, you can start slow before picking up the pace. The fact remains, people need to start making the transition soon or else future generations are going to suffer, whether it be from climate change or from obesity.

Personal Aside:
To write my thoughts on both articles coherent way is difficult for me. So many thoughts swim through my head that putting them down in any logical order would confuse the reader more than help them understand my point of view. This little aside is for me to basically empty my brain of other thoughts that I couldn't fit anywhere above in the homework assignment.

Personally, I love to drive my car. As a kid, I grew up looking forward to the day I would turn 16 and be able to drive a car. To this day, I still enjoy driving my car to and from any destination that is given to me. Now I'll admit that it's not just cars, I also dream of the day I would be able to fly a private plane, but that is a different matter that doesn't pertain to this. Although I have altered my habits in the last 3-4 years where I take more public transportation to destinations not needing the vehicle, I still can't help but to have some excitement when sitting behind the wheel of my car.

My personal experience here in the Netherlands has caused some childhood memories to resurface. I can remember that with my bicycle, I would pretend that the sidewalks of my grandfathers house were city streets. I would ride the bike on the right side of the sidewalk, come to complete stops at intersections, signal a make-believe blinker when passing my sister, and even park my bike in an imaginary parking space. To be able to have this same experience as an adult on a bicycle is great. Riding a bike down the street and being treated as an equal by cars weighing over 10x more than you is a wonderful feeling. Having a car yield to you at the intersection, waiting to pass until it can do so without inconveniencing you, or even giving you more room as it passes you going the other direction are all things I've come to appreciate while in this country. The experience of riding a bike within traffic works here in the Netherlands, and it works very well.

I don't see it being the same feeling in the United States, not without a lot of work. In the few times I've ridden a bike around Portland, I feel like I'm looked at as inferior by other people on the road, whether it's on in a bike lane or on a bike boulevard. I'm not sure only improvements to infrastructure will alleviate this problem. I think more education and more bike riders are going to be needed to improve the environment for cyclists. I say more bike riders because I can almost relate the feeling the the instance where you feel like you are in the wrong when you are doing something alone, but if there are other people doing the same thing you are, you feel comfortable (even if the activity is wrong). Hopefully with future infrastructure improvements and more education, more bike riders will take that step to be regular bicyclists leading the way for more people to feel just as comfortable as the cyclists are in the Netherlands.

1 comment:

  1. I think you have to think about cycling as an adult now. You know when you are in your car you're polluting and using oil from the Middle East (of if it is electric, there's still something). You see the problems with health and obesity in the country and how our culture fosters those sorts of problem.

    When I am biking, I enjoy that I am self reliant and able to keep myself fit. I like the way I interact with my neighborhood and the community much more easily. I am teaching my children about cycling and giving them the future that I hope we'll be able to achieve in the U.S.

    ReplyDelete