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submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by SpiceDealer@lemmy.world to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world

I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume that many of you reading this are long time viewers of the Youtube channels Not Just Bikes, Climate Town and probably Adam Something. All three of these channels have mentioned in their videos that car companies lobbied governments and pressured urban planners to create infrastructure suited for cars. So if car companies can throw money at politicians to get legislation passed that suit their needs why can't bike companies counteract by playing at their own game? Hell, shoe companies could 'counter-lobby' as well. Nike, Adidas, New Balance, etc. would benefit greatly from walkable and bikeable cities. So why don't bike companies like Trek, GT and Tern lobby governments to make cities more bikable? They could ask for subsidies so they can open official shops in city centers and with it the promise of employment. I'm pretty there are flaw this approach so I would like to know your thoughts on the matter. Thanks in advance!

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[-] mrialena@mastodon.social 40 points 8 months ago

@SpiceDealer my guess is the bike companies don't have as much profit for lobbying, but I like the direction of this. I'd love to see a grassroots movement demanding infrastructure for active travel.

[-] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

I certainly don't. It's just as possible for us to make the same mistakes with bike infrastructure as we did with car infrastructure. The purpose of all types of traffic should be getting people from where they are to where they want to go, but these "bike superhighways" are the same bullshit we're fighting against with cars.

[-] mrialena@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago

@rockSlayer why do you assume "active travel" is only bikes? what about walkable communities? what if I like to roller skate? why can't we collaborate in each community on how we want to get around and what the rules are?

[-] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Why are you assuming that I don't want mixed use travel? This conversation is specifically about bikes, and I was pointing out a specific design trend that's appearing in cities that is antithetical to the point of reducing car travel.

[-] mrialena@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago

@rockSlayer I see later in the thread that you've talked about thoughtful infrastructure, which I starred. Unfortunately, that wasn't in my notifications, which is what I replied to.

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this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2024
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