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A comment on The self-driving car is a red herring. Parent comment

Re:The self-driving car is a red herring by clairity on Wednesday October 28, 2020 @01:08PM (#24921316)
electric kick scooters (and bikes) make foot-travel distance less relevant in many places, extending the serviceable radius around a station from 1/3 mile to 2-3 miles. we just need to turn street parking into dedicated bike/scooter lanes to make it safe enough for more people to choose this option.
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Re:The self-driving car is a red herring by shadowgovt on Wednesday October 28, 2020 @01:27PM (#24921576)
Possibly. Americans seem real reluctant to hop on a bike, and I don't think it's just for safety reasons. Big chunks of the US are too cold to want to be outside that much, a lot of the year.

But more dedicated bike infrastructure would be a huge help in general.

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Re:The self-driving car is a red herring by hutzlibu on Wednesday October 28, 2020 @02:01PM (#24922018)
"Big chunks of the US are too cold to want to be outside that much, a lot of the year."

There are surely limits to everything and not everyone is into extreme sports, but even in the winter I really like cycling. Much, much more, than the virus infested public transport.

There is a saying, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

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Re:The self-driving car is a red herring by shadowgovt on Wednesday October 28, 2020 @02:24PM (#24922317)
Clothing won't help when the roads are slushed up.
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Re:The self-driving car is a red herring by hutzlibu on Wednesday October 28, 2020 @06:10PM (#24924688)
Spikes do, though. But like I said, there are certainly limits for most people.

But most people probably consider a grey sky, where some rain drops may fall, their limit.

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Re:The self-driving car is a red herring by clairity on Wednesday October 28, 2020 @03:29PM (#24923097)
sure, there are some parts of the US that get too cold and snowy, but there's plenty of the country that doesn't (like my own neck of the woods, southern california).

i was more pointing out that 2 relatively inexpensive changes (use scooters, convert parking to bike lanes) could dramatically change the balance of cars vs. public transport in those places (not everywhere). it doesn't have to require a wholesale change of our built environment to get benefits now (even for those dependent on cars).

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