Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by CoolHand on Sunday August 02 2015, @04:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the deutchlanders-being-cool dept.

Munich wants to extend the thrill of the open highway to cyclists with a network of bike lanes running through the city and into the suburbs, in a bid to encourage car-free commuting.

The ambitious plan calls for a network of 14 two-way bike paths, each 13 feet wide and fully segregated from automobile traffic, that would spread out over an area of about 400 square miles. No crossroads, no traffic lights. It's an autobahn for cyclists, or, as the Germans obviously call it, a Radschnellverbindungen.
...
The planned routes would connect Munich with small city centers, universities, and employment centers. They would be built over a combination of what's now open land, small streets, and conventional size bike lanes.
...
Building the Radschnellverbindungen's not a done deal yet. Local authorities must approve the project before construction starts, and it won't be cheap. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung pegs the estimate at $1.75 million per mile.

Ausgezeichnet!


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Sunday August 02 2015, @11:57PM

    by tftp (806) on Sunday August 02 2015, @11:57PM (#217157) Homepage

    An experience cyclist on a lightweight road bicycle could likely push it up to 18+mph (29+ kph), making that trip take about an hour.

    Every driver can make this trip at 50-60 mph, making that trip under 20 minutes. Perhaps they have something else in life to spend those freed up 80 minutes on? Hobbies, perhaps, children, books - or just to stay a bit longer at the restaurant?

    I don't want to denigrate bicyclists [any more than they deserve ;-] - but in the modern world time spent on transportation from A to B is a waste. It is great if a bicyclist can turn this waste into much needed exercise. Most people, however, do not ride bikes for a hobby, and they'd rather get "there" and "back" as fast as possible, so that they can focus on what they really want to do. There are also some weird social customs about not coming to a fine restaurant all dusty and sweaty, stinking up the place. Exercise and social functions have to be separate, with distinct time and place for each.