Something that I think will get a massive chunk of people to commit to 80% biking over driving is “water stops” or “rest areas” along bicycle paths that people can get water, coffee, use the bathroom or just sit and rest and get ready for the rest of their commute
I was an avid cyclist and bike commuter to work in Austin during most of the 1980s. Even then, the city was considered bike-friendly, with some network of non-protected bike lanes. But this is almost unrecognizable... not only the bike facilities, but the totally unrecognizable skyline. No doubt Austin is becoming, or already is, a "big city." Certainly a more impressive skyline than, say, Fort Worth. :-)
There are *pockets* of bikeability in Austin, but those pockets are really disconnected. It makes biking as a main form of transportation not super feasible if you don't live downtown. They also limit things like e-bikes, OneWheels, EUCs on most of the cycling infrastructure. If the goal is to give people who already live downtown a nice amenity, they're doing a great job. If the goal is to make non-car transportation a viable option for the city and reduce traffic, they still have a very very very long way to go.
There is still room for improvement: I don't think you should mix bicycles and pedestrians on a through route, and I see too many potentially dangerous right hook situations. But when you see people riding without helmets you know your city is on the right way. Happy cycling!
Houston could learn a few things I'm an advocate adventure cyclist. I get screamed at all the time for no reason. People in Houston HATE cyclists. In my experience. I ride to work . I have a lot of experience.😊
That is interesting from a Dutch point of view. When I ride my car through Amsterdam I know that virtually all people in cars are "cyclists" and most people on bikes are "motorists" It is as if when I screw a screw into a piece of wood I am a screwdriverist and when I do something with nails i turn into a hammerist. People who are used to displace themselves by car should realize that every time someone in the morning chooses to go to work on bike that is one car less on the road. Amsterdam is far more efficient by car than most other citys of comparable size in europe.
I couldnt stand cycling in Houston, i moved yo atx and loved it, then i moved back to htx... It got worse the 3 years i was gone or i just didnt remember it being so bad
I love how whenever they make something about bicycles in Austin, they only cover the downtown area. I wonder why, could it be that nobody is going to risk their lives on Mopac Expressway, I-35, you name it, with their 15 month old in tow to go the local supermarket? Unless you live downtown, there is no where you can go in Austin where you are not next to a major highway/freeway and they are building, not more bicycle friendly pedestrian friendly streets, but more of these Los Angeles type of highways/freeways, but damn they got great marketing here in Austin, fooled me enough to move here. No way in hell I am risking the life of my loved ones on my Linus in 105 degree weather to go to Costco or to go to work like I used to in Philly. You guys ever see episodes of CHIPs with those pretzel freeways all over the place, yeah...that's Austin, welcome to L.A.2. I hear in Houston you can bike through the whole city without ever having to ride next to a 75mph freeway, I am looking to visit you soon Houston to verify this.
Bike infrastructure is all about freedom!! Free parents from slavery being cab drivers for their children!! In France, in the weekend parents have to stay up, untill their 17 yaer old doughter wants to be picked up from a party. Free the parents from bringing their children to hockey or football, music education. Free the parents!! (in the netherlands children over 12 transport themselves)
we have a few too many cycling gutter lanes, i dont feel comfortable letting children ride to school and back without a guarded off lane. just put a bloody curb people! its not that difficult, two bricks, stacked atop each other, fixed with cement to the road, at each yard length.
yeah stay away from Austin, its good PR but thats about it. You will be riding in freeway/highway traffic all over the place. What you see in this video is all in downtown, God forbid you should live NOT in downtown, you will not see anything in this video. You will see the lanes, but you will see cars going 75mph. Ask yourself, would you ride next to the Dodge Chargers and Ford F150s doing 75mph with your 15 month old in the trailer of your bike? If I can't do that safely, then its not a bike friendly place. Even if you don't bike ride, you can't live anywhere in Austin without being next to a major highway or freeway, how bike friendly is that?
7 months of summer heat. Climate is a big factor in city bikeability. It’s a factor as much as infrastructure. The hotter it gets, the more people will drive cars to avoid arriving somewhere drenched in sweat.
I wish that here in Vero Beach,Florida we could have the same Bike ways. We do have the share the road signs and bike direction on the streets but they are all worn out by the street sweepers and missing share the road signs. Our highway dept. Doesn't care but only their paychecks. Thanks
If there is no parking it shouldn't be used for through traffic, thus closed for cars, bicycles and pedestrians only. Simple solutions work best: transform two lane street to one way only, plonk in an protected duel cycle lane and keep the sidewalks on both sides.
Still the drivers here are shit and these paths are actually in only a few places. They did make Shoal Creek a wider bike lane but cars still park in it and you still have to go into traffic and drivers still don't get it. Might be the best in Texas but extremely further from being as good as this video is claiming.
@@patchesohoulihan2009 If you moved to the downtown area of Austin, you will agree with this video. If you live anywhere else, the Domain, Parmer Lane area, especially Parmer Lane, just anywhere else except downtown, you will find or have found "holy $$#! who is going to be riding their bike right next to I-35 with their 15 month old in a trailer to go 20 miles to the nearest anything in 105F degree weather!? Yeah...that.
Austin is NOT bike friendly nor is it sensibly e-bike friendly. This is an area where the City is backward compared to most comparable cities. The city cannot make a clear policy e-bike policy and stick to it. A group of body-powered-only two-wheeled cyclists and rollerbladers has pushed successful to allow people to ride anything but that on the Veloway;; allowing a group to declare “no motor-assisted 3-wheelers on the Veloway (but kids and rude adults on traditional bikes can weave two+ abreast, against the flow of traffic). We are a country suffering from obesity, depression and pollution (and Austin has that and traffic congestion) and other conditions that e-vehicles help people address. A true electric-assisted vehicle isn’t a moped, dirt bike or motorcycle or the now defunct, no-exercise Segway or a scooter; but rather a vehicle that can be propelled with a combination of human power and an electric motor; generally with a max speed of
I wish they'd stop putting those %^#$$#^ concrete curbs around all the bike lanes. It makes them inaccessible to street sweepers, and thus all the bike lanes are full of nails and other debris. I avoid riding on the bike lanes now, because every time i do i get a flat tire.
i used to ride from 45th and lamar area to south congress and live oak area to work for many years....i would be stupid to try that again as austin is NOT bike friendly....it is tourist friendly....it is nothing but an auro centered nightmare.....i lived in austin for 23 years and so happy i do not now....
I'm in San Antonio and there's zero bike infrastructure outside downtown or next to universities. I take my scooter or bike from Leon Valley to UT Health where I'm studying, but there's zero infrastructure on the way so I have to go an indirect route through neighborhoods which adds a mile or so to the total distance.
@@legitpancake4276 true that, I mostly ride outside of the city on country roads, however I still do think SA has a better bike network than Austin with long routes that go far beyond downtown.
Horrible! Combining strollers, pedestrians, joggers, bicycles, dogs and playing children all on one narrow path? Big shame on you! And some seem to be proud about it...
Well it's obviously not going to be as good as Dutch bike paths. But a place like the U.S. has to start from somewhere, and these bike paths are better than riding in the street.
Something that I think will get a massive chunk of people to commit to 80% biking over driving is “water stops” or “rest areas” along bicycle paths that people can get water, coffee, use the bathroom or just sit and rest and get ready for the rest of their commute
I was an avid cyclist and bike commuter to work in Austin during most of the 1980s. Even then, the city was considered bike-friendly, with some network of non-protected bike lanes. But this is almost unrecognizable... not only the bike facilities, but the totally unrecognizable skyline. No doubt Austin is becoming, or already is, a "big city." Certainly a more impressive skyline than, say, Fort Worth. :-)
There are *pockets* of bikeability in Austin, but those pockets are really disconnected. It makes biking as a main form of transportation not super feasible if you don't live downtown. They also limit things like e-bikes, OneWheels, EUCs on most of the cycling infrastructure. If the goal is to give people who already live downtown a nice amenity, they're doing a great job. If the goal is to make non-car transportation a viable option for the city and reduce traffic, they still have a very very very long way to go.
There is still room for improvement:
I don't think you should mix bicycles and pedestrians on a through route, and I see too many potentially dangerous right hook situations.
But when you see people riding without helmets you know your city is on the right way.
Happy cycling!
Great video. Upbeat and informative. Glad that bicycling is continuing to grow in Austin-town!
Congratulations on the made progress Austin.
Houston could learn a few things
I'm an advocate adventure cyclist. I get screamed at all the time for no reason. People in Houston HATE cyclists. In my experience. I ride to work . I have a lot of experience.😊
That is interesting from a Dutch point of view. When I ride my car through Amsterdam I know that virtually all people in cars are "cyclists" and most people on bikes are "motorists" It is as if when I screw a screw into a piece of wood I am a screwdriverist and when I do something with nails i turn into a hammerist. People who are used to displace themselves by car should realize that every time someone in the morning chooses to go to work on bike that is one car less on the road. Amsterdam is far more efficient by car than most other citys of comparable size in europe.
I couldnt stand cycling in Houston, i moved yo atx and loved it, then i moved back to htx... It got worse the 3 years i was gone or i just didnt remember it being so bad
Truly enjoyed watching this. :D
I live in the Philly area, and this looks amazing. Wish we had it here. Way to go, Austin!
I love how whenever they make something about bicycles in Austin, they only cover the downtown area. I wonder why, could it be that nobody is going to risk their lives on Mopac Expressway, I-35, you name it, with their 15 month old in tow to go the local supermarket? Unless you live downtown, there is no where you can go in Austin where you are not next to a major highway/freeway and they are building, not more bicycle friendly pedestrian friendly streets, but more of these Los Angeles type of highways/freeways, but damn they got great marketing here in Austin, fooled me enough to move here. No way in hell I am risking the life of my loved ones on my Linus in 105 degree weather to go to Costco or to go to work like I used to in Philly. You guys ever see episodes of CHIPs with those pretzel freeways all over the place, yeah...that's Austin, welcome to L.A.2. I hear in Houston you can bike through the whole city without ever having to ride next to a 75mph freeway, I am looking to visit you soon Houston to verify this.
It's USA. People are addicted to suburbs, not real cities.
Awesome. Can’t wait.
Bike infrastructure is all about freedom!! Free parents from slavery being cab drivers for their children!! In France, in the weekend parents have to stay up, untill their 17 yaer old doughter wants to be picked up from a party. Free the parents from bringing their children to hockey or football, music education. Free the parents!! (in the netherlands children over 12 transport themselves)
WAY TO GO, AUSTIN!!!
Hard to believe, or should I say: how bad are the rest. I had two incidents in just a 6 mile ride on the same avenue. West parmer Ln.
Americans : wow look, Austin is so bike friendly.
Dutch people in Amsterdam :
we have a few too many cycling gutter lanes, i dont feel comfortable letting children ride to school and back without a guarded off lane. just put a bloody curb people! its not that difficult, two bricks, stacked atop each other, fixed with cement to the road, at each yard length.
I am looking to move to Austin and I want to live in a place that is bike-friendly (not necessary to have bike lanes). Any suggestions?
yeah stay away from Austin, its good PR but thats about it. You will be riding in freeway/highway traffic all over the place. What you see in this video is all in downtown, God forbid you should live NOT in downtown, you will not see anything in this video. You will see the lanes, but you will see cars going 75mph. Ask yourself, would you ride next to the Dodge Chargers and Ford F150s doing 75mph with your 15 month old in the trailer of your bike? If I can't do that safely, then its not a bike friendly place. Even if you don't bike ride, you can't live anywhere in Austin without being next to a major highway or freeway, how bike friendly is that?
Austin is a unique cultural experience.
7 months of summer heat. Climate is a big factor in city bikeability. It’s a factor as much as infrastructure. The hotter it gets, the more people will drive cars to avoid arriving somewhere drenched in sweat.
E bike.
Still would rather ride my bike than not ❤️🔥❤️🔥
I wish that here in Vero Beach,Florida we could have the same Bike ways. We do have the share the road signs and bike direction on the streets but they are all worn out by the street sweepers and missing share the road signs. Our highway dept. Doesn't care but only their paychecks. Thanks
Awesome. Unlike where I live in Florida which is the most bike unfriendly place I have ever seen.
I wish London could be more like this but the roads are too narrow, most cycle lanes ( not separated from roads) might as well be car parks.
jesoby London needs to just get rid of cars entirely. There's not space for both, and the roads are narrow because they weren't built for cars.
Graydon Buchleiter that would be great, just have an efficient (and it would be without cars) electric public transport network including taxis.
jesoby says:
"I wish London could be more like this but the roads are too narrow,..."
==
Look to Tokyo, the streets are even narrower.
No excuse.
If there is no parking it shouldn't be used for through traffic, thus closed for cars, bicycles and pedestrians only. Simple solutions work best: transform two lane street to one way only, plonk in an protected duel cycle lane and keep the sidewalks on both sides.
Same arguments were used in the Netherlands 40 years ago.
And look at us now! Safest cycling in the world.
Still the drivers here are shit and these paths are actually in only a few places. They did make Shoal Creek a wider bike lane but cars still park in it and you still have to go into traffic and drivers still don't get it. Might be the best in Texas but extremely further from being as good as this video is claiming.
appreciate the honesty. I will be moving there in about a week. so I'll find out how good it really is
@@patchesohoulihan2009 If you moved to the downtown area of Austin, you will agree with this video. If you live anywhere else, the Domain, Parmer Lane area, especially Parmer Lane, just anywhere else except downtown, you will find or have found "holy $$#! who is going to be riding their bike right next to I-35 with their 15 month old in a trailer to go 20 miles to the nearest anything in 105F degree weather!? Yeah...that.
Austin is NOT bike friendly nor is it sensibly e-bike friendly. This is an area where the City is backward compared to most comparable cities. The city cannot make a clear policy e-bike policy and stick to it. A group of body-powered-only two-wheeled cyclists and rollerbladers has pushed successful to allow people to ride anything but that on the Veloway;; allowing a group to declare “no motor-assisted 3-wheelers on the Veloway (but kids and rude adults on traditional bikes can weave two+ abreast, against the flow of traffic). We are a country suffering from obesity, depression and pollution (and Austin has that and traffic congestion) and other conditions that e-vehicles help people address. A true electric-assisted vehicle isn’t a moped, dirt bike or motorcycle or the now defunct, no-exercise Segway or a scooter; but rather a vehicle that can be propelled with a combination of human power and an electric motor; generally with a max speed of
Modern Austin is a Unique Spiritual experience symbolic of the many diverse cultures of Europe and Australia.
I live in Austin 👌
Austin is looking like a new york but actually new
*the only
👍👍👍👍👍
Yeah but having right hooks bike-ways. Way to go! The street already accommodates cyclists in the traffic lane since we are vehicles.
Maybe vehicular cycling isn't for everyone?
But they should fix the right hook situations.
Who’s here after Prop B got approved?
What's that about?
Isn't Prop B about kicking the homeless out and not letting them camp or something?
I wish they'd stop putting those %^#$$#^ concrete curbs around all the bike lanes.
It makes them inaccessible to street sweepers, and thus all the bike lanes are full of nails and other debris.
I avoid riding on the bike lanes now, because every time i do i get a flat tire.
Wake up Vero Beach, Florida.
i used to ride from 45th and lamar area to south congress and live oak area to work for many years....i would be stupid to try that again as austin is NOT bike friendly....it is tourist friendly....it is nothing but an auro centered nightmare.....i lived in austin for 23 years and so happy i do not now....
Nowadays San Antonio has better bike infrastructure, all Austin has is its lady bird trails
I'm in San Antonio and there's zero bike infrastructure outside downtown or next to universities. I take my scooter or bike from Leon Valley to UT Health where I'm studying, but there's zero infrastructure on the way so I have to go an indirect route through neighborhoods which adds a mile or so to the total distance.
@@legitpancake4276 true that, I mostly ride outside of the city on country roads, however I still do think SA has a better bike network than Austin with long routes that go far beyond downtown.
Horrible! Combining strollers, pedestrians, joggers, bicycles, dogs and playing children all on one narrow path?
Big shame on you!
And some seem to be proud about it...
Well it's obviously not going to be as good as Dutch bike paths. But a place like the U.S. has to start from somewhere, and these bike paths are better than riding in the street.
All these trails and bike lanes clogging the city and cyclists are still getting hit for riding irresponsibly.
Ban cars
Keep your hobby on the hike-and-bike trails the adults have work to get to
Thanks lard ass
Hey "D Man" maybe you can leave your bloated dumb ass lifted truck at home and bike somewhere, enjoy life and shit.
Bruh
Keep your dick-waving pickups in your garages, the adults have work to get to