Comment 88814

By LOL all over again (anonymous) | Posted May 19, 2013 at 00:15:11

That is exactly the biggest problem with cycling in North America compared to Europe, everything is so far away. The more area a city encompasses the further away things will be. European cities are so much smaller than North American ones that inherently things are closer and cycling makes more sense there. Amsterdam the city so often referred to glowing terms for its cycling numbers covers a whopping 220 KM2, a tiny fraction of Hamilton's. It's easier to cycle a kilometer or three than 10 or 15. I doubt that cycling will ever account for a meaningful percentage of commuters in a spread out city like Hamilton. Just look at a micro segment of our city, the university. Most students tend to live reasonably close to the the school and I wager the percentage of students cycling to McMaster is far higher than the city's overall percentage of commuters, just go to the university any morning when school is session and watch the number of bikes rolling in. The fact that parking is outrageously expensive also helps to encourage the use of bikes. That is why European cities are always the ones that the author refers to as cycling havens. The denser cities in North America also tend to have more cycling NYC is a fine example. Cycling in a city like Hamilton which is spread out and has a low density will never have a large percentage of commuters who cycle. The weather and the hill in the city also tend to encourage the use of cars over bikes.

Let the downvoting begin.

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