Car-Free In And Around D.C.
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-06-04/car-free-and-around-dc
America's long love affair with cars seems to be waning. Young professionals and empty-nesters alike are eschewing car ownership in favor of lives centered around walkable communities. When they need to, they're turning to bikes, hourly car rentals and public transit to get around. And as more people choose to go car-free, businesses are popping up to provide new options.
Guests
Ron Kirby
Director of Transportation Planning, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG)
Martin Austermuhle
Editor-in-Chief, DCist.com
Danielle Kurtzleben
Business and Economics Reporter, U.S. News & World Report
Comments
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Why are scooters and motorcycles not mentioned in the selection you provide?
Why DC and other cities do not encourage this mean of transportation? by providing more parking space and lanes ?
Setting aside the encouragement part, just out of fairness why does DC charge motorcycles the same price for parking as cars? You can park up to 6 medium size motorcycles in a car parking spot. PARIS, the MOST VISITED city in the WORLD and most beautiful, allows motorcycles to park for FREE on the curb.
Furthermore, scooters allow lower pollution. A scooter can get up to 116 miles per gallon according to EPA's website and Honda and Yamaha's websites.
Why are we so attached to our little kingdom? our cars and try to chase away any other alternatives?
Just on may 2nd Maryland governor signed into law a bill that raises the fees on mopeds and scooters ($100 per moped, that's more than a car).
Are we waging a war on people who are trying to save on gas? and who by riding their tiny mopeds allow MORE SPACE to BIG SUV owners who’d enjoy less competitors on the road?
Many countries around the world see mopeds as a very effective way to operate. Look at Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe.
I'd bike to work if I had a place to shower! I'd prefer to not buy a gym membership just to shower before work.
I am a pedestrian and public transit patron. Love this show. I am dismayed, however, at the failure of some of the panelists to grasps the real hazards - deadly as in the recent case in San Francisco - posed by cyclists on sidewalks. I appreciate that cyclists are allowed to use sidewalks outside DC's CBD, yet too many fail to grasp that they need to slow down and give way to pedestrians. Most of these cyclists are on the sidewalk because they are afraid to bike on the main thoroughfares in DC. Yet they imperil the life of pedestrians. Many cycle as if the sidewalk is Beach Drive on Sunday morning, not a Tuesday commute where children are walking to school, commuters are waiting for the bus, and seniors are catching Metro or hailing cabs to go to the doctor or Smithsonian. Children don't understand what "give right" means; seniors can't always hear these shouts, often yelled just seconds away from impact.
It appears as though my email went in too late...
I need help with etiquette.
I have large dogs that I've been biking with for the last 11+ years. This started after being in a car accident, and not having anyone to provide their exercise. We've lived in southern california as well as portland, oregon, have been in the dc metro area for the last 3 years, and are moving to NYC within a month. To be clear, my dogs do not pull me; we bike at their own pace, with slack in the leash(es).
What I don't want to do is annoy pedestrians. However, during rush hour, you've got to go MULTIPLE blocks to get away from cars, and sharing the sidewalk seems to be just that, annoying to pedestrians.
How should a dog owner whose dogs LOVE to run alongside his bike responsibly address both their safety and the pedestrian considerations?
Martin Austermuhle's "answer" to the last caller's question (peds and cyclists on sidewalks) demonstrates the epidemic lack of listening skills in Washington! He turned it into cars and cyclists. Aargh.
Great show on a slice of the transit picture in Washington - cycling. Nothing else. Such superficial discussions and lack of discussion on public transit, especially buses (this was pretty much a show for Washingtonians afterall) shows why our bus system won't improve. White men by and large don't ride the bus (as demonstrated by Martin) and so they won't talk about it. Double aargh.
Where's the knowledge in action?