Quote:
Originally Posted by audiomuse
Amsterdam, arguably the top bicycling city in the world (along with Copenhagen) has 214 rainy days per year. Yet, over 50% of people commute by bike. If you plan accordingly, anyone can make it work. For the heat, you just need to dress appropriately and do some basic hygiene rituals. Bring wipes with you and freshen up in the restroom. If your workplace has a shower, even better! The temperatures are much cooler during the morning rush hour so you deal less with the heat than during the day. When you're going home in the evening, it doesn't matter as much because you can take a shower at home.
As for the fact that Austin is so spread out, yes it's true. However Copenhagen is quite sprawly as well and like Amsterdam over 50% of the people get around by bike. Austin is constantly densifying so the urban landscape is improving
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Copenhagen doesn't see 90 F or 100 F days four months each year. Copenhagen also has dedicated biking infrastructure. Not only are most bike lanes separated from traffic, they're also separated from pedestrians. Someone pedaling a bike can't actually achieve 20 mph without fear of being ran over by autos, but also without fear of running over pedestrians.
In Austin and Texas in general, you might see dedicated bike lanes marked on streets just by painted lines with little protection from autos, and you might see dedicated bike and pedestrian paths physically separated from autos, but not from pedestrians. We're a far ways from having dedicated, physically separated lanes, trails, or paths for all three modes.