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PLANNERS LIBRARY
The international history of bicycling since 1905
In eight chapters of Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling, British journalist Carlton Re id fluently explains why bicycling has had only one real "boom" in the past century-plus. That was back in the early 1970s, when U.S. bicycle sales tripled in eight years. Before and since, it has all been pedaling uphill.
Reid is the inconveniently honest advocate, at pains to explain why all the advocacy has rarely worked, b'or one, biking for function has many drawbacks, such as rain, sweat, and effort. Another problem is the 20th century's built environment, rendering many destinations inconvenient. As a result, building belter bikeways does not usually help much, "The reason the Netherlands now has a cycling modal share of 2 percent is that it had more than double that in the 1920s. Similarly, Copenhagen's status as the world's leading 'cycling city' is due lo the fact that it was already thus in the 1930s." As in the old joke, the best way 10 become a millionaire is to start out as a billionaire.
Or to keep at it for a long time. Reid's account of the comparative success of Dutch bicycle measures involves combining five policies: coherence (good connectivity), directness (few detours and delays), safety (minimal conflicts with motor traffic), comfort (comfortable maneuvering), and attractiveness (as with walking, varied small-scale environments make the best passing scenery). "The real secret lo the success of the Dutch cycle networks is not that they are all protected hut that they are connected. Flagship routes can become white elephants if they don't link in with a wider network," he explains, "We wouldn't expect a freeway to be used if no roads joined up with it."
Reid has furnished the book well, with illustrations from all periods, especially the early 1970s. And where would we be without Appendix A, meticulously cataloguing all the real and supposed "bike booms" since 1896? The book will certainly make cycling advocates wiser-if not happier.
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