You are right about that. I'm hoping eventually this will become popular enough that cities will open more dedicated bike paths separate from traffic. I've even heard rumors of our city closing and dedicating the main street downtown for bikes and pedestrians.

I would also add that Santa Barbara generally has some of the most delicious air i've experienced in a place that still has restaurants, stores, jobs, etc. It surely gets worse with proximity-to and volume-of car traffic but overall the air quality here vs. other places i've lived is noteworthy[0]. (0: except when there's fires.)

> except when there's fires

Which is a given in the winter :(

San Francisco recently voted to shut down the main downtown road (Market St.) to private cars. I think taxis and buses will still be allowed, but otherwise it'll only be bikes!

In some sense this is true—I like to believe the benefits of exercise outweigh the increased exposure to air pollution. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that bicyclists are often breathing deeply next to traffic that can, in some cases, be putting out a lot of bad stuff.

I knew some researchers who were specifically looking at the question of bicyclist exposure to air pollution by pedaling around town with nephalometers (IIRC). I don’t remember what their conclusions were, if any. I should look that up.

Also, driving in a car doesn't protect you from air pollution. Cars suck in polluted air from the car ahead and concentrate it around the driver and passengers. You're actually less exposed to pollution cycling the same route.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971...

Here's a video about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySzmo_sScQk The message was that yes, city cyclists are inhaling polluted air. But the benefits from the exercise cycling gives you far outweighs the negatives.

But most of the time, you're not commuting with cars, because you can take ways through woods or river beds, etc. that are open to bikes but closed to cars.

I’d agree with that but you’re still better off than people sitting in their cars in a line of traffic.

https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/fuming-air-pollution-and-c...

That's true with any transport that runs on the roads. Your car isn't filtering much.