Valerie AuroraIt’s weird to me when people frame calls for bike-friendly infrastructure as in conflict with disability accommodation. Make a city good for biking requires lots of smooth curbless bike paths that are perfect for mobility scooters, much better than trying to use your scooter on the road or the sidewalk. I see people zipping around on their mobility scooters everywhere in Amsterdam. They also have these tiny little cars for people with disabilities that are allowed to use all bike infrastructure
Bike-friendly infrastructure goes hand in hand with public transit, which can and should be wheelchair accessible, much more than taxis or private cars. And then e-bikes add a whole class of people who can’t comfortably ride a regular bike but aren’t ready to use a mobility scooter to the group of people who can zip around the city independently. I’ve seen so many disability accommodations on bikes here, even bikes driven by arm power as well as recumbent and tricycle bikes.
And then for people for whom taxis or private cars are still the best option, guess what! The roads aren’t clogged with a bunch of people going very slowly, being angry with each other, and transporting giant useless hunks of metal everywhere. Unload your wheelchair or mobility scooter near one of the many curb cuts without a huge line of cars honking behind you. Bike-friendly infrastructure is disability-friendly infrastructure; most apparent conflict comes from car-first infrastructure.
Just saw 3 mobility scooters on the bike path on my 10 minute bike ride, including one used by a minor with their guardian walking beside them. There’s lots more to do for disability access but excellent bike infrastructure is an important step
Nazani@vaurora Let's take weather into account, too. In theory, I could use an ability-adapted bike to get to the grocery store or appointments 20 miles away, but would it be safe for me to be outside for an hour + in very hot or cold weather? No.
Russell Neches@Nazani @vaurora (1) You are describing car infrastructure. Divide all of those numbers by 10 or 20. (2) Contrary to what one would expect from a lifetime of experience with car dependent infrastructure might expect, weather has basically zero impact on the viability of bicycle transportation. The impact of bike infrastructure on people who need mobility assistance is just that they have shorter trips by whatever transportation they happen to use. https://youtu.be/Uhx-26GfCBU?si=wQXF0Xadtt727pgY
Why Canadians Can't Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can)
@ryneches @vaurora I'm describing where I live, where there is 0 chance my town will be reconfigured unless it all burns down.
Weather has 0 impact? It can take several days for my street to get 1 lane cleared of snow enough to drive on.
Look, I'm all for more bikes, but for a big % of people they're never going to be feasible. The more of these "utopian" ideas I read, the more it looks like seniors & disabled are going to be forcibly segregated from "fit" society, deprived of all spontaneous mobility.
Weather has 0 impact? It can take several days for my street to get 1 lane cleared of snow enough to drive on.
Look, I'm all for more bikes, but for a big % of people they're never going to be feasible. The more of these "utopian" ideas I read, the more it looks like seniors & disabled are going to be forcibly segregated from "fit" society, deprived of all spontaneous mobility.
@Nazani @vaurora First of all, nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is advocating a scenario where you or people like you would be deprived of mobility any more than you already are. As you said, your city has already implemented the maximum pain it possibly can on people with mobility issues. Adding more options to get around without a car, even if you do not personally use them, will improve your access to the places you want to go by increasing density and reducing pressure on car infrastructure.
@Nazani @vaurora Please check out the video I linked. It specifically addresses these concerns, including the problem with clearing snow.
"Utopia" means "no place," but these are real solutions that exist in real places. They are extremely popular, and they are usually implemented at no additional cost because roads have to be replaced every 30 years or so anyway. The Netherlands has snow and it has people with disabilities. How do you imagine they feel about this?
