| Re: Davis,CA bicycle ridership down 5% over ten years
Matt O'Toole wrote:
> Wayne Pein wrote:
>
>
>>UCD apparently instituted free busses in the recent past. This would
>>kill bicycling and walking, much the way an escalator next to steps is
>>used more. People generally take the physically easier route. Here in
>>Chapel Hill NC, free busses have also absolutely killed bicycling and
>>walking.
>
>
> I don't think it's the free buses that killed walking/biking in college towns --
> it's the free cars from parents.
Free cars probably contribute, but a retired professor at UCD reports
that the free busses did indeed kill bicycling and walking there, and it
certainly happened here at UNC too. The plunge was dramatic.
Furthermore, well-funded students are the last
> ones universities want to scare away, so they tend not to make driving/parking
> too inconvenient.
Here, parking has become more and more restricted on campus.
> Also, since going to college has become so expensive, no one's in a "pay as you
> go" mode anymore. Many students see a car as just a minor addition to the pile
> of debt they expect to accumulate anyway.
>
> Matt O.
Driving does supplant bicycling when people have the means to have car
and parking access. Cars are status symbols and bikes are low status
symbols.
I believe that the internet has also reduced the need for travel, and
trips to campus are no exception. Text messaging and cell use might also
reduce some trips.
Wayne
|