Bernhard Isopp

Lecturer @ Technical University of Munich @TUM_STS

I like to ride bicycles and think about science and technology. Often simultaneously. Sometimes vice versa.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

The bench tried to warn us

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@relsoo @Customds @mindoverdata So, for the last time: a transportation system built overwhelmingly around driving has much greater costs than one that encourages active transportation and transit. The GTA is a case in point of the inefficiency of a car-centric system.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@relsoo @Customds @mindoverdata You seem to want to say: "this particular bike lane isn't worth it." But by that logic, a huge portion of roads in Toronto aren't worth it (and even the least used bike lane would be more cost effective than them). That's why we talk about transportation *systems.*

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@ztisdale @CBCNews Sweden is also an arctic country. The bicycle mode share in Malmö is 25%.

(over 90% of Canadians live within 150km of the southern border, by the way).

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@OhUrbanity It was a big deal! But I was so naive.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

I remember when the Bloor bike lanes went in in 2016. It was such a small change, yet somehow momentous, as if a sign of a better city to come. It's so disheartening to see how regressive and hostile the politics of the GTA actually are.

[Robert Benzie @robertbenzie]

BREAKING: Premier Doug Ford's @OntarioPCParty has begun the process of removing bike lanes on sections of Bloor, Yonge, and University. Complete coverage soon at https://t.co/EqIKpHb7BB

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@DerekJrSr17 @relsoo @Customds @mindoverdata Bike lanes are built so people can get around safely by bicycle.

The lanes Ford is explicitly targeting get lots of use.

I agree Toronto is broken, but because of its regressive and shortsighted politics, the kind championed by Ford.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@g_meslin Yes, but that is a defense mechanism from the abusive relationships people have with their cars, where they convince themselves that driving everywhere is convenient and enjoyable when they are confronted with the opposite every single day as they sit stuck on the DVP.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@relsoo @Customds @mindoverdata Cars are by far the most expensive form of daily transportation to subsidize per person-km. The cost per user (or person-km) is not even "relatively equal," it's far cheaper for someone biking. As the cycling mode share goes up, total transportation costs go down.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@relsoo @Customds @mindoverdata Don't be sorry! Again, this is about mode share of *trips*. If you look at any city with a more balanced mode share, road traffic is still "serviced," but the infrastructure make up is different. Cycling doesn't need to be primary; a 20% mode share is better than 5%.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@noelle_dave @Customds @mindoverdata You are fixated on the average distance. But trips is more useful for policy, because the aim is to identify which trips are more suited to alternative modes. Not all trips need to be exclusively made with a single transportation mode.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@noelle_dave @Customds @mindoverdata The most recent available data says that the average Canadian drives about 41km/day. But that's for all of Canada. We shouldn't base transportation policy in T.O. on that figure (nor on Ontario wide averages). That's why there's a T.O. specific survey.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@noelle_dave @Customds @mindoverdata I posted a link to the survey in a reply to my original comment. The methodology is there. 5.5km is the median car trip. It's likely that those who work from home travel less in a day, but that's not what the survey measures. Working from home doesn't count as a trip.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@RoughnitJay @Customds @mindoverdata I never said that it would help with congestion on the highways. My original comment was about trips in the city in response to someone else.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@RoughnitJay @Customds @mindoverdata The bike lanes in the core are very busy. I push for bike infrastructure because once I started biking my quality of life increased enormously, and I think T.O. would be a much better city with better transportation options. But it can be risky, so safe infrastructure is needed.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@pawprints1986 @LittleMissYYZ @Customds @mindoverdata They don't have to! No one is forcing people in Amsterdam to bike in the rain. If you don't want to ride in the rain, fine. But rain isn't some insurmountable barrier. Lots of people do it. It's not about making people feel better, it's about giving people transportation options.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@RoughnitJay @Customds @mindoverdata But that's not what I said. I said 50% of car trips under 2km could be replaced by cycling trips. No one has to drive for 100% of trips or bike for 100% of trips. The point is to choose the mode that makes sense for the trip.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@RoughnitJay @Customds @mindoverdata In cities like Toronto roads are paid for through property taxes. Everyone pays property tax. But car transportation requires far more subsidization per person-km than cycling. All else being equal, the person who mainly bikes is subsidizing drivers.

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@RoughnitJay @Customds @mindoverdata But there are other reasons to build bike lanes. In many neighbourhoods, cycling rates are very high. Even if congestion doesn't improve, people should have access to safe infrastructure. It's also extremely cost-effective per person-km (and cars are the least cost-effective).

[Bernhard Isopp @BernhardIsopp]

@RoughnitJay @Customds @mindoverdata Roughly 1/2 of the 6 mil. daily car trips in T.O. start in the city. The median trip is 5.5km; that means that millions of trips are within the city. 20% of car trips are 2km or less. If even 1/2 of those are replaced by bike, that's a significant reduction in cars on the road.