🇬🇷 News from Greece
Shared electric bikes: Last month we reported that more and more municipalities are starting shared electric bike programs, but things are not rosy… In Nea Smyrni they were temporarily withdrawn due to incidents of vandalism. We learned from our members that signs were put up in Piraeus, but bicycles never appeared, and in Paleo Faliro bicycles appeared and then disappeared…
In Thessaloniki, the Municipal Police is starting bicycle patrols on the seafront and pedestrian streets. “The bicycle patrols will initially take place every Friday and weekend on the seafront and pedestrian streets, sending the message that we need to increase bicycle use for environmental, ecological and traffic reasons.” Bicycles are also allowed on regular streets… But let’s not complain, it’s a good start!
Despite the increase in the price of gasoline due to the war in Iran, traffic in Athens has worsened. People unfortunately believe that there is no alternative to the car*.
A parenthesis here: The article says that one of the reasons why traffic is getting worse every year is “the circulation of more than 6 million cars on the streets of Athens, at a time when the infrastructure can only handle 2 million”. Hearing this, there is always someone (see e.g. the comments below the article) who mentions that the solution is to reduce the population of Athens. This is another example of “car brain”: there are too many cars, therefore there are too many people. It is impossible to imagine that we could reduce the number of cars without reducing the population…
🌍 News from the world
*Did someone ask about an alternative to the car? In the US, companies are offering electric bike subscriptions as a workplace perk to make commuting less painful as gas prices soar.
The Netherlands is inspiring the world: returning from a trip to the Netherlands, the mayor of Beijing put cycling at the heart of the development of the new Tongzhou district.
In Australia, adult cycling lessons are booming, especially for women of all ages. “If we’re going to calm the roads down, we need to get more women on the roads. Nobody wants to run over their grandma, or their mum, or their sister.” That checks out.
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