"while shrinking our individual “carbon footprints” alone certainly won’t save the world — and that responsibility certainly cannot be asked of the least advantaged —
many of us do
have far more
privilege and power to reduce emissions in our everyday lives than we admit.
Many of us can walk, or roll, or share rides whenever we possibly can, rather than shrugging at how quickly we believe those actions will be dwarfed by a few dozen moneyed special interests."
How to protest #climateChange instead of buying gas daily:
Whenever you can, ride your bike instead of driving.
If it's hard, get an #eBike.
If it's raining, get some fenders, a hat, maybe a poncho.
If you don't have space, or need to bus, get a folding bike.
If it's scary, be brave, but stay safe.
Don't make excuses, change takes effort. Ask for help.
Vote, based on this experience.
If you can't, then don't. But there are trikes, adaptive bikes, and technology that can help if you want that.
@Snowshadow that's a taller ask for many people, given the infrequency of the transit network, especially in low-density sub/exurbs. Where a short bike/trike trip can get the vast majority of us out of cars for some trips (e.g. to access transit), if not a long commute. And pols love to say we just need better transit but then don't deliver it, so I think the path to better transit is to get people on bikes, and ask for bikes to get enough priority to replace cars, even if you can't ride one.
@Snowshadow@enobacon There are mobility options which do quite well in the same reserved lanes as bicycles.
They're not much more complicated than a chair on a platform with electrically powered wheels, so anyone with enough presence of mind to operate a car can use them.
Since they go slower in a less hostile context, they're doable for many people who can't drive a car anymore, too.
@justafrog Many seniors can't afford scooters. they are expensive to purchase and maintain.
Also, until you work with seniors, or are one, you won't understand the issues surrounding their needs. @enobacon
@Snowshadow@justafrog cars are much more expensive than mobility scooters. My experience with seniors in the US is that they haven't seen decent bikeway design, and many keep driving cars longer than they can safely manage. But even moving from suburban house to retirement home, most people still rely on cars for mobility even after they don't drive, losing independence because the network doesn't support this kind of freedom:
@enobacon One final comment...lol
Though I am old and unable to use a bike, I always push for better biking conditions. Anyone in our area who promotes biking receives my full support.@justafrog
@Snowshadow@justafrog thanks, I hope you can find some leaders who are bold enough to make the pragmatic street changes needed to make trikes and adaptive bikes viable for your area, and fast frequent transit to make longer journeys just as easy without a car. Portland has an "adaptive biketown" program to help people try technological options for active mobility, sadly they're mostly stuck on the river loop and not able to access grocery stores etc via a low-stress network.
An extra ten minutes and a bit of sweat is a small price to pay for the amount of change you bring to your neighborhood, city, etc. Is it really ten minutes or does your car trip sometimes get delayed by that much for traffic and parking anyway? When do you get that twenty minutes of daily physical activity? How much do you want to be owned by the auto/oil industry? Not every trip needs to be by bike, but half of all car trips are under three miles. Cars cost $12k/yr to drive, on average.
If you can't ride a bike for some trip because of physical limitation or distance or truly unsafe & hostile road design, don't feel guilty. But, pay attention! Look at where you would be without a car in that case, how many lanes have been allocated to cars, where is the bus lane? Ask which agency is responsible for this shit and call officials out in public meetings, name names. Talk about it with your carpool. Vote from that perspective.
Designs & distance are not forever, cities change.
If you can't, don't. But, recognize that bikes are required for cities to get out of the trap that cars have put us in, even if you won't be the one riding them. I recognize that it's a more difficult, or impossible, choice for some than others. Cars can still access everywhere, if not 2-by-2. The first step toward system change is still to reallocate car lanes toward bikes and transit, and let the bikes, e-bikes, and trikes be an option for people who can use them.
@enobacon I have to explain this to people all the time. Anywhere I can drive in 10 minutes I can bike in 20. That's 20 minutes of activity that only "cost" me 10, for free, and I always feel better afterward. Better than coffee.
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