19th century cyclists paved the way for modern motorists' roads (2011)

the idea is that an enterprising private company can manage costs and deliver services at a lower cost than a Gov run one.

Not really sure i 100% agree, but I suspect that oversite would be better with a Gov run Toll

at least here in the US we have a fetish for older guys in business casual with a little bit of a beer gut that knock off early to put in a quick 9. as long as one of those guys is taking a cut, we're happy.

thats the way it seems

Privatized vs government run. In some situations a privatized provider can be more effective than a government run one. If the private company has the call center in Tennessee, their accountants, lawyers and headquarters in Phoenix, they can be cheaper than a government run organization that has all employees living in a high cost area in CA. There are also economies of scale for a private company to manage these services for many different areas. S a city getting half of the toll revenue from a private company can get more money than collecting all of it themselves and hiring people.

Some folks, if inclined towards skepticism, think that it's a form of give-away: Hand it to a private business, and bail it out when it fails. Some of these things work, and some fail. A couple of interesting privatization episodes to consider:

* Public education --> Charter schools

* Public and nonprofit colleges --> For-profit education industry

Let's also not forget that road wear's relationship with weight is greater than linear, which is to say that doubling the weight will more than double the wear. Your average cyclist is going to be 10x smaller than a normal 4 door car.

The thing that gets me (as a cyclist) is that I commute almost entirely on local roads that are largely paid with my property taxes.

Yet the people that seem to complain most about bikes on the road are commuting from 2 counties away and very little of their tax money goes to paying the roads that I'm commuting on. And they act as if that me riding in that tiny 3 foot wide painted strip on the road is caused them to have an hour long commute in stop and go traffic from 30+ miles away.

That may be the situation in the U.S. – definitely not comparable in most of the EU.

Also worth bearing in mind that not all the money that goes to road infra for motor vehicles can be attributed to the costs of enabling the use of passenger cars, as at least part of that is needed for other aspects of a functioning society (transport, etc.)

I do wonder sometimes if the UK needs a "Stop the child murder" campaign similar to the "Stop de kindermoord" that occurred in the 70s in the Netherlands. https://www.dutchreach.org/car-child-murder-protests-safer-n...

It's had a profound impact on their society. That's not to say the country does not suffer from congestion, just most journeys under 7km are done by foot or bicycle and the health benefits are huge despite their rather calorific diets ;)

The level of child travel independence alone in the Netherlands is almost alien to other countries.

The dedicated bicycle infa that does exist (greenway) somewhat mitigates this for me. You can't get everywhere via dedicated bike path - but it's better than most midwestern cities, in my experience.

At urban traffic speeds, a motorcycle driver can use their engine power and acceleration to have almost complete control over their position relative to other vehicles. So most of their driving time can be spent in positions that feel safe. They can feel in control.

A bicyclist does not have this degree of control over speed, so they spend much of their time in positions, relative to other vehicles, that do not feel safe.

> I get conversations and interactions with people while biking.

Never happens for me. Probably because I'm about twice as fast as the average cyclist and basically pass them like they are standing still.

The guys that go head to head with me or that I can't keep up with tend not to be conversationalists, which suits me fine.

Riding side by side and chatting, in traffic, would be impractical, even if either of us wanted to.

The stops at intersections are brief. Plus you get separated; one just makes the green light, the other stops and that's it.

And then, what's there to say?

"Hi, I know everything about bicycle maintenance and fitness". "Wow, me too!" "`Kay, see you later".

One article I read suggested that the helmet de-humanizes the cyclist in the same way a car de-humanizes drivers. This is one reason pedestrians are treated better than cyclists. This is not a suggestion to not wear a helmet, although there is ample evidence that you're better off without one.

That said, I'll take my chances and wear a helmet :)

> I am convinced that, instead of cars, if cyclists or pedestrians were going by, someone would have helped me (even just by calling the police).

Cyclists and pedestrians turn a blind eye and avoid involvement with crimes they witness, too.

Of course, they are more likely to actually be around long enough to recognize what's going on, but that's no guarantee of willingness to get involved.

I would have helped you. But I'm categorically insane.

Born in '81, about a 1mi walk home, we spent most of it walking through the ditch on the side of the road, playing in drainage culverts under the road, etc. Not safe, but fun!

From the article I linked to:

> While most cycle path advocates and cynics like to argue over the merits and demerits of the duff ‘red ways’ of Milton Keynes, very few pay any attention to Stevenage. This is odd because Stevenage’s cycleway network was built before the one at Milton Keynes, and was built as an intrinsic and key part of the New Town plan, not an afterthought, as at Milton Keynes. Throughout the 1970s Stevenage was held up as proof that the UK could build a Dutch-style cycle network. An article in New Scientist magazine in 1973 claimed that “Stevenage cycleways and cycle underpasses [are] premiere exhibits…[in a] traffic revolution.”