Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Challenging the auto-dependent lifestyle

An excerpt from my interview with Ken Coughlin of Transportation Alternatives:

MZ: In light of rising gas costs, one might imagine motorists reconsidering their driving habits. Do you see any indication that the price of oil could result in more people riding bikes?

KC: The New York Times had a front page article the other day about lower-income people in Florida suddenly unable to afford to drive. Some had switched to mass transit, such as it is down there, and at least one is now riding a bike. It’ll be the young and the poor switching first, but glimmerings of a shift toward biking in the overall zeitgeist can be detected all over. This week’s New Yorker includes a “Goings on About Town” item on Bike Month NYC that declares that “[w]ith gas prices hitting eye-popping highs, [the numbers of cyclists] might rise even more . . . “ But here in NYC, you won’t be able to say that bicycling has been officially embraced as an alternative until the city stops arresting or ticketing people for the “crime” of riding a bike, which is happening now.


Me and Ken celebrating our shared birthday (April 30)

To read the complete interview, please click here.

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Posted on 05/23 at 04:18 AM
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