Re:Cycling to Redefine Urban Mobility in the Era of Coronavirus
by techsupporter on Friday May 15, 2020 @12:41PM
(#23194196)
> There are many many other negative externalities of car dependence.
Yes, exactly, all of these. All of the flaws with everyone driving and owning a personal motor vehicle that existed before the pandemic still exist during it and even afterwards. We cannot give back the gains we made in a handful of areas, and were in the process of making in a lot of other places, as a result of this. A virus running rampant is bad, but the economic and social upheaval of our planet becoming even slightly less hospitable due to climate change will beat all of this by multiples.
> Cycling is an opportunity to reduce our car dependence, and is safer than public transportation for COVID.
I agree that cycling reduces car dependence and can be a safe option, but I don't follow that public transit in the era and after COVID will be "unsafe." There's increasing evidence, like this linked Twitter thread[0] from a doctor reports, that it's sustained contact, particularly around activities that increase viral spread, that are the issue. Factors like air flow, air turnover, and fresh-air intake are shaping up to have pretty big influence; these are things that many buses and trains already account for with HEPA filters and air conditioning.
I'm less worried about transit than I am about what's at the other end of the trip. 30 minutes on a bus, I can control what I touch and wear a mask and there's onboard air handling with filtration. In a grocery store? Far less of that.
Yes, exactly, all of these. All of the flaws with everyone driving and owning a personal motor vehicle that existed before the pandemic still exist during it and even afterwards. We cannot give back the gains we made in a handful of areas, and were in the process of making in a lot of other places, as a result of this. A virus running rampant is bad, but the economic and social upheaval of our planet becoming even slightly less hospitable due to climate change will beat all of this by multiples.
> Cycling is an opportunity to reduce our car dependence, and is safer than public transportation for COVID.
I agree that cycling reduces car dependence and can be a safe option, but I don't follow that public transit in the era and after COVID will be "unsafe." There's increasing evidence, like this linked Twitter thread[0] from a doctor reports, that it's sustained contact, particularly around activities that increase viral spread, that are the issue. Factors like air flow, air turnover, and fresh-air intake are shaping up to have pretty big influence; these are things that many buses and trains already account for with HEPA filters and air conditioning.
I'm less worried about transit than I am about what's at the other end of the trip. 30 minutes on a bus, I can control what I touch and wear a mask and there's onboard air handling with filtration. In a grocery store? Far less of that.
0 - https://twitter.com/firefoxx66/status/1260905937910587392