I know I have written many times before on why one should not depend on infrastructure to influence their lifestyle (especially with regard to cycling and dedicated cycling lanes). I believe in it and carry on with what I do. I guess there is a hint of lethargy in this attitude as it does not encourage me to stand up and demand a better system for managing traffic woes. The fine people here are keeping tabs on the situation and I am sure they will be instrumental in bringing about a change.

 Though, from a purely utilitarian perspective, I do not see the bicycle lanes adding much value to my commute, I realized yesterday that having these lanes provides more utility than to connect points A to B to C. Commuting by cycle is unlike any other form of transport, cars and motorbikes isolate you from the rest of your environment and the interaction is restricted to signals and rude honks, the friendliest one gets is when one indulges in a courtesy wave to another motorist. On the other hand, people in a public transport (on a bus or a train) are competing for space to sit or stand and generally lacks civility. Due to the crowd and mass, people avoid interacting with one another. A step on someones toes will result in a sorry and angry glares but nothing else comes of in terms of social interaction.

Cycling seems to be uniquely placed in this aspect, A cyclist is fully exposed to the elements and the speed is reasonably slow and extremely silent. This means that a cyclist has the opportunity to interact  both non-verbally and verbally with others on the road. Of course it just makes sense that much of the verbal communication would be with another cyclist or other pedestrians (when at rest). The cycle is also fast enough to get people to their destination in a time comparable to public transport and sometimes can rival cars. Social interaction can make people more aware of their surroundings and people and generally make them friendlier (which is a good thing).

While I was heading back home, I met a frequent acquaintance cycling by. He was having a relaxing ride after a tough day and I decided to keep pace with him and chit chat. We had a nice and enjoyable ride and I found a nice alternate route back home. Things were nice until we reached a reasonably congested stretch of the road. Cars that were following us were very fidgety, I got honked at many times by frustrated drivers. I have to mention that we were riding side by side (but we were on the bus lane), and it is difficult for drivers to overtake us that way. But I was amused by the fact that among the ocean of cars, buses and generally slow moving traffic, the cars seem to target us for venting their frustration. I really wonder why a driver gets pissed off (may be it is because I was having a good time and the drivers are paying through their noses to haul around their cars).

None the less, The behavior made me think that it is nice to be out on the streets taking in a leisurely rid chatting with like minded people (and friends) and given an opportunity, people would indulge in it instead of looking at cycling as purely sport or a means of transport. This happens in many bike friendly towns, the lovely stories from Copenhagen come to mind and I have seen it first hand in Portland, people head out to breakfast, cafes, cinemas, have romantic encounters, hangout with friends etc… all on a bike.

But with drivers on your arse honking and generally being rude, there is little charm in this indulgence, and that’s why I think we need bicycle lanes.

Related posts:

1. Cycle lanes in Beijing
2. We already have bike lanes
3. The curious case of bicycle helmets
4. Risk
5. Riding in traffic

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 2:57 pm and is filed under bicycle commuting in singapore, musings, Singapore. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.