| Re: Davis,CA bicycle ridership down 5% over ten years
max wrote:
> I'd bet it is some combination of increased sprawl, higher traffic
> density on bike route streets, increased number of monster vehicles
> driven by increasing number of more distracted drivers.
> I'd bet good money that Davis' ridership is down because of hostile
> cycling environmental developments.
Increased non-university population and sprawl may indeed be the issue. But I
don't think traffic density or monster trucks have anything to do with it.
Roads there are very wide and bike friendly, so the amount and nature of the
traffic hardly makes a difference. Plus, Davis is riddled with bike paths.
Many riders wouldn't spend much time on the roads anyway.
Even if the roads are more hostile, or perceived that way, the ridership
decrease is probably due to a general trend. Few students have ridden since
childhood and even then not all of them. They're not about to start while going
to college. We have the same problem here at VA Tech. Besides, only losers
don't have cars, right? ;-)
Matt O.
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