An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Are Republicans more pro-bicycle than Democrats?


In New York, we think maybe they are. An article in today's New York Times about Mayor Bloomberg's Dept. of Transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, mentions that she's a daily bike commuter, and she's working hard to connect the Big Apple's various disparate bike lanes.

This quote especially resonated with us:


“We are really emphasizing connectivity in the bicycle lane network, because all cyclists, myself included, know that it’s maddening to be coming along a lane and have it simply end and leave you off on your own on a big avenue.”



That's actually an expression of great continuity with previous New York Republicans. It was, incredibly, William F. Buckley who first proposed citywide bike lanes -- way back in 1965.

Perhaps Republicans have an intuitive understanding of an eventuality that we've been chewing on for a while: When will the first multi-million dollar lawsuit be filed by a maimed cyclist against a city for that "Bike Lane Ends" sign that marks the spot of their near-fatal collision with a car? Nobody hates personal injury lawyers more than a Republican.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

For a look at the other (more bike-hating) side of that party, check out this entry on BikeHugger:

Anonymous said...

They can make up for this Republican
U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Says Bikes Are Not Transportation...

"Well, there's about probably some 10 percent to 20 percent of the current spending that is going to projects that really are not transportation, directly transportation-related. Some of that money is being spent on things, as I said earlier, like bike paths or trails."
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters offered these comments August 15 on PBS in response to a question from an interviewer about where federal transportation money is being spent inappropriately. She appeared on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer to talk about the nation's transportation infrastructure in the wake of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
In the course of the interview, Secretary Peters made several statements to the effect that one of the big problems in the U.S. is that transportation funds are being spent on non-transportation projects, including bike paths and bike trails, and that these things are not part of the transportation infrastructure.