> That being said, there are a lot more factors, incentives, and > advantages about commuting by bicycle in a place like Holland and it's > easy to see why we can't have that here.
With Chinese and Indian fuel consumption pushing gas prices up, it will not be long before U.S. prices are within spitting distance of the Netherlands'. Overall U.S. population density is lower than the Netherlands. But more than half of the U.S. population are in its 10 largest metropolitan areas. Long and short, if we do not find solutions soon, the car dependant among us are going to be paying more than half their income on fuel. On Jan 21, 9:12 am, jlvota <jlv...@ilstu.edu> wrote: > What you have to consider about Holland is that gasoline there is the > equivalent of around $7.91/gallon (one of the highest in Europe) and > they have a much different tax system that allows massive funding to > public transit. They have a progressive income tax rate that peaks at > 52% (down from 60% a few years ago), a corporate tax that peaks at > 25.5% and a "sales" tax that peaks at 19%. > > That being said, there are a lot more factors, incentives, and > advantages about commuting by bicycle in a place like Holland and it's > easy to see why we can't have that here. > > On Jan 19, 7:26 am, newenglandbike <matthiasbe...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Wow, that's a good read. "Cars and bikes both are vehicles, in the > > same way that a Glock and a Squirtgun are both guns" is a kind of > > potent analogy right now, however imprecise analogies may be. > > > The point about bicycle culture/laws in Holland, and the reasonability > > of incentives for commuting in a safe, non-polluting manner is > > something that's resonated with me for a long time. Sometimes I long > > to move to a place like that, but then I wonder why shouldn't I just > > try to be be more active in trying to help change happen here, which > > i'm woefully not and just riding a bike doesn't really do > > anything. It seems futile riding a bike for 'green' reasons, or > > because you think it's right thing to do-- even if you do it for those > > reasons-- and it's easy to end up suppressing frustration at the > > status quo, but reading stuff like this always brings it back to the > > surface, which is probably a good thing. um I doubt that makes any > > sense. which means it's probably too early for me to be typing right > > now. yesterday's ride home west of boston was a slush-ice > > nightmare. Thank god for studded tires but even they were out of > > their league. we were expecting some weather, but if i knew it > > would be that bad I would've stayed home. > > > On Jan 18, 7:23 pm, James Warren <jimcwar...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > There's an interesting editorial on rivbike right now about how bikes > > > aren't the same as cars. > > > > It reminds me of something I often remember when teaching students: the > > > idea that doing what's right and fair for a kid is sometimes not the same > > > thing for any two given kids. > > > > -Jim W.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
