Why the government is so slow in building bicycle trails for people to commute?

Question

Why the government is so slow in building bicycle trails for people to commute which will significantly reduce our dependence of foreign oil and global warming? This also gives people chance to excercise.

Answer 1

Most people are under the mistaken belief that politicians are community leaders. This is far from the truth. Politicians respond to topical events so they can be seen to be doing something. (I'm a cynic but I think they also like to make a few quid on the side)

Cycling has two great allies at the moment Global warming and obesity. There has been no better time than now for the cycling community to take the bull by the horns and get out there and lobby.

I'm more familiar with statistics in my own country.From the little I've been able to dig up on the U.S. and the U.K. , there seems to be large parallels.

One bicycle is sold each year for every 20 people in the population.

25% of the adult population (over fifteen) will ride a bicycle at least once a year. Less that 8% will ride more than once a week.

The number of cyclists has risen dramatically in the last few years.

Every politician all over the world knows the value of keeping lobby groups happy.

Cyclists represent larger percentages of the population than many very effective lobby groups.

It is hard to co-ordinate an effective lobby group when cycling is so splintered you have roadies, mountain bikers, bmx, flatland, track/velodrome, and there are competition riders, social riders, commuters and kids all fighting between each other trying to get the few scraps that come our way.

If anybody cares to start a world wide lobby group solely aimed at getting more people cycling it has my support.

Answer 2

Politicians respond to pressure from people (voters, constituents, and yes, campaign donations).

Generally, politicians have a pretty good handle on how many people want various things, and what those various things will cost. So it's simply a matter of relative priority.

The problem is, bike commuters are practically invisible. Look around, how many do you ever see? And even if you count the low-income folks on cheap bikes (who probably don't vote anyway), there's just not many compared to car drivers.

So, it's a chicken-and-egg deal. No bike commuters = nobody lobbying for bike commuting facilities. No bike commuting facilities = very few bike commuters.

And there's more - if and when trails do get built, too many of them are "recreational" trails that just circle a park or neighborhood, and are useless in getting from home to work.
The thing is, they use up the funds that could have gone to practical facilities.

Solutions:
- Get active. Find your local / state / national bike lobbying org's and pay the dues and show up at the meetings and public hearings. Write good, calm, sensible letters to politicians and newspapers. Call into radio shows when people are griping about traffic. Be a good example.
- Cough up the cash. All politics is about money. Who gives it, and who gets it. Even if it's a small donation, carefully targeted (for example, the reason people pay $1,000 a plate for dinner is not for the dinner. It's so they can spend 5 minutes talking with the politician or his staff about their issue).
- Don't wait for the perfect world... it ain't coming. Work with what you got now.

Good luck
Scott

Answer 3

well here's what Bush said when asked why he did not sing the Kyoto Accord a big bill that started in the 90's to reduce emissions of cars and factories etc. (the only countries who haven't seined are USA,Australia and China) He said it would be bad for the economy , it would cost money and hurt car sales. so I'm guessing that's why we dint have any decent bike trails. I agree with you we do need them I'm only 14 and I'm ride my bike just around the area and have had many near hit experiences. so please petition and write to local and national politicians and leaders. as well as all that me not being from the USA (I'm Irish) and i have noticed from when i go home every year everything here is so far apart. In some other American towns and cities things are a bit closer and public transport is better but here in Atlanta MARTA is so bad there are two trains and 15 bus lines. IT'S A JOKE! so you need to have a car or you cant go anywhere. Like when i went to London and Boston when we arrived my first question was when are we renting the car. I am so used to not being able to any where with out a car. We need either better public transport or bike trails and or better fuel efficient cars. The cars here are just do ineficient. my parents car in Ireland got 69 mpg and a hybrid here claims to get 48 its sad its all about power and size and I even see this hapening in Europe when i go back. Sorry for going of topic so much it just pises me off so much.

thank you fo reading and please take it into consideration and if you still dont see t global warming get Al Gore's documentary An Inconvinient Truth

Answer 4

At least in the USA....our push for incredible road building and suburbanization that began after World War II has left us with a society that is physically and behaviorally dependent on cars. Yes, we could effectively commute in cities, but when highways are designed to go from enclave to enclave, you lose that ability pretty quickly. This does not preclude mass transit, but old habits are hard to break. We romanticize the car so much, that it is almost a rite of passage to get behind the wheel. Try buying a teenager a bike when he turns 18 and tell him that it's more socially responsible. :)

Answer 5

Probably because they use a lot of cars these days and they don't want to but in too much money when they already have to put in money for fixing roads and the pollution the cars are making.

Answer 6

Bottomline is that few people want these things built. Why spend time on building stuff that few people will use?

Answer 7

Developers are buying the land as well. You are better off going to your local township to develop easements and parks...

Answer 8

goverment makes nothing on bicycles...they make money on gas for cars!....ya know?