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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   29049 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 7, 2023

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What do Europeans have to do with the discussion? Are you under impression that Europeans ride bicycles a lot, including to work? They don’t, except of couple of places, which is no different than in US.

What do Europeans have to do with the discussion?

I just found it to be a funny unintentional marker of the same cultural gap between Americans and Europeans that starts lots of arguments here.

They don’t, except of couple of places, which is no different than in US.

The full bike sheds at my old 6:30am-start factory workplace would seem to indicate otherwise but of course that's anecdotal. Ipsos tells me that 5% of Americans cycle to work, which is on par with Britain, but half or less than half of the number who do in Spain, Italy, Norway or Belgium, a third or less of Germany, Hungary and Poland, a quarter of Sweden and one sixth the number in the Netherlands.

Yes, you are confirming what I said: Europeans don’t cycle to work a lot. Overall, maybe something like 10% does. Large majority of them drives. Sure, the split between driving and cycling is only slightly less lopsided towards driving, but whether 5% cycles or 10% is not substantial difference.

Then we're just debating the meaning of 'a lot'. A substantial minority to me still seems like a lot, a doubling or tripling compared to America seems like 'a lot more'.

They ride/walk to work far more than people in USA.

Not really, though I understand how one might get this impression if one is very online and frequents places like Reddit or HN. Most of Europe is unlike Amsterdam, and even in Netherlands, last I checked, majority of commuters drive.

Note that I wrote "far more than people in USA" not "more often than commuting by a car".

That was intentional.

I am pretty sure that in nearly all or all European countries people commute via walking/cycling at noticeably higher rate than in USA.

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