Don’t need a multi-page essay to get this point across: build more regional bike routes and upgraded the (wildly popular, wildly beneficial) established routes. Commuters will use them (year round) and they reduce traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and are a great form of recreation and exercise. They’re also an equitable transportation solution, giving underserved communities access to the outdoors, the coast, and a healthy, free commute.
I hope to see a future with regional bike highways serving a core transportation and commuting function. Two and three bikes lanes going in either direction, with small businesses along the routes (imagine sitting outside a bike highway-facing café, enjoying a coffee–you could actually hear the birds chirping rather than trucks lurching and tricked out Civics popping). And don’t forget about secure bike parking infrastructure (like bike garages) which can be built cheaply and on a fraction of the land that automotive parking requires.
P.S. I’ve anecdotally noticed an increase in anti-cyclist memes in the corners of the internet I frequent. I’m a good sport, and appreciate good jokes targeting my interests. But I can’t help but use my tinfoil hat and speculate that Big Auto is running a psy-ops campaign to discourage cycling. Look, all I’m saying is that you can’t prove they aren’t.
