Globally, only one in 50 new cars were fully electric in 2020, and one in 14 in the UK. Sounds impressive, but even if all new cars were electric now, it would still take 15-20 years to replace the world’s fossil fuel car fleet.
The emission savings from replacing all those internal combustion engines with zero-carbon alternatives will not feed in fast enough to make the necessary difference in the time we can spare: the next five years. Tackling the climate and air pollution crises requires curbing all motorised transport, particularly private cars, as quickly as possible. Focusing solely on electric vehicles is slowing down the race to zero emissions.
Why Canadians Can’t Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can)
Tens of thousands of people cycle year round in Montreal.
I watched the video and it had a huuuge hole in its argument.
It basically said one of the key issues is snow removal, then conveniently doesn’t mention how Canada gets more 4X the amount of snow than the Netherlands… Canada doesn’t remove snow as often cause there is more of it…
I live in Montréal. Commute by bike daily. And the city removes snow just fine. Even from bike lanes.
I had a similar experience in Toronto for the years I lived there. But Montréal is better at clearing bike paths.
I remember vaguely an article from a few decades ago that claimed Montreal was the only Canadian city that at least tried to do snow clearing right.
Saskatoon, for example, is abysmal and always has been.
I once heard that property taxes would have to increase by a lousy $50/year to bring Saskatoon snow clearing up to Montreal standards. That’s when I finally realized that governments at all levels, as they are currently organized, are basically useless when it comes to figuring out how to best serve the population.
The video points out that Toronto is not a good biking experience in the winter. Your probably the minority in therms of tolerating snow on roads.
Montreal has higher taxes allowing them to spend more. The whole small government philosophy is the crux of the issue and it effects a lot of things that would make this problem better like public transportation.
It used Finland as the best case scenario. The argument is not as strong when your comparing it with the best case. The average case would be the rest of Europe and they don’t get as much snow.
I’m surprised NJB didn’t bring up the point of slush that much, but studded tires might help solve that problem, and this issue is tied up in poor winter maintenance of bike paths. The scariest part for biking in places like Toronto is the potential to slide out into vehicle traffic.
The other day I was going over snow dumps up to my knees like taking a BMX track in a commuter bike…
Tampere has improved a lot in the last few years in terms of cycling infrastructure, I now commute by bike all year round, even when it was under -23°C for two weeks at the beginning of this year.
There could definitely be more improvements as segregated bike lane coverage can sometimes be a bit patchy still.
Here in Nova Scotia, I’m not gear up to ride when slush is falling from the sky and the bike lanes don’t get cleared.
You’re literally describing the issue the video is talking about: infrastructure.
Infrastructure is only half of it. There’s also weather conditions that you really can’t ride in. Which happen quite a bit.
Cool, what about those who don’t live within biking distance?
My work is 37 km of rural highway from my house. I biked it once years ago, took me 1h45m one way. Not a reasonable option.
Yes, biking 37km each way is pretty extreme. However, if you haven’t already, I’d suggest questioning whether you should be making some changes in your life. Using rough calculations for a fairly efficient & economical car ($0.25CAD/km for gas, maintenance, and depreciation), your commute is costing you $18.50CAD/day (more if you drive an SUV/Truck)! That means if you could move closer to work so you could bike, you could pay an additional $350/mo in housing and still be ahead. Or, you could look for a new job that pays $4,600/year less net (probably ~$6,500/year gross) and be ahead. And if you could give up your car completely, those numbers could more than double!!
It’s possible after reviewing the numbers, you’ll conclude that it’s not worth it to make any changes in your life, and that’s fine! Work in agricultural and other rural industries is important. It’s just that so many people aren’t even ware how much their 20min commute costs them, let alone what it costs their local government (roads aren’t cheap) or the environment in general.
I live with my mom. I cannot afford rent in the town that I work in, and the two other nearby towns require a car just the same as the one I’m in now.
I cannot afford to move. When my mother dies I will likely become homeless.
Once again, the problem boils down to the billionaires not paying people enough.
If you’re still interested in long-distance commuting by bike, an e-bike is worth considering.
You’d likely get to work in “around” an hour with little effort. The cost savings from not having to buy gas for those distances would easily offset the cost of the bike + electricity used for charging.
Cool. What about all those people who live within 5km of where they need to go, and are generally alone in the car.
Just because it doesn’t apply to you in particular doesn’t mean you can’t support and champion a cause that would help in the grand scheme of things.
The comment I replied to implied that if people in Montreal can do it, why can’t I? I was merely addressing the implied accusation.
Besides, if you want a champion the guy making $40k/year isn’t it.
The billionaires got a lot of money to spend on transit and infrastructure and densification, but everytime this shit comes up somehow the guy who barely clears the fuckin poverty line is the one who has be a champion.
