Riots and protests don’t need your approval or applause. They happen because the majority of people are too complacent. If everyone was already aboard we’d just do those things, you know. You probably don’t understand this, because you never stuck out your neck for anything in your life.
Yeah, I know Birmingham, I just went with the joke, sorry. Maybe should have added some air quotes.
Berlin is only „big“ because it gobbled up a lot of area in the past. Outside the central districts it‘s often just suburbs or even literal villages. and the public transport becomes… limited… 😬
I guess a more honest comparison would be the West Midlands, roughly the same size, population close to 4 million (Berlin) vs 3 million (West Midlands).
Still though, Berlin is a very interesting example not just with regards to public transport, but also with regards to housing, street lighting, etc. Really impressive what a mere ~40y of differences in government policies can accomplish.
in Marseille, trams have to frequently compete with pedestrians and bicycles that keep walking/riding on the tram line
Ugh, that is definitely annoying and dangerous. I used to live in Erfurt, Germany for a while. Quaint medieval old-town, huge cathedral, very popular with tourists, some major attraction happening roughly every weekend.
So they have that really narrow alley running from the cathedral to the central square where all the tourists and citizens are squeezing through, and yeah, lo and behold, they run a tram through it as well… 🤪
I gotta assume the majority of Germany’s ~30 tram deaths per year are drunken tourists in Erfurt.
Yes, because people in the US cannot be trusted to drive at safe speeds while the EU regulates 80/100 km/h with a trailer.
Interesting piece of hyperlocal history, very nice.
What I don't understand though is why they never moved from the U-shape to... I don't know the English term, in Germany the most widely used ones are called "Leipziger" or "Kreuzberger" rack.
They are the most ubiquitous rack by far here.
I like them since they stop bikes from falling over and allow for a variety of locking options. For example I usually just lock my bike on the top bar when I just want to drop into the supermarket or something.
The issue with them is only that bike thieves found out that it's far easier to cut through the rack instead of the locks, so they started doing this... 😅
So tell us, where are the people calling to "kill all cars" in this community here? Can you point to them?
Where is this "extreme bigotry", can you point to that here?
Oh, right. There is none.
You want to see "extreme bigotry"? Look at this guy making false claims and then going quiet when being asked for receipts: https://lemmy.world/comment/4953347
Get lost, troll.
Well, I guess we can go on forever here, but I think the differences between the EU and the US are too many to find a simple explanation. Wealth distribution, population density, regulations, and so on.
I imagine bike shops in Europe are fairly standalone, small businesses
It's a little bit of everything, tbf. There is a lot of independent local businesses here, for sure, and even in small cities you will find one. But you'll also find the same few brands everywhere. We do have larger manufacturers who own several brands, so if you buy brand X or Y – it's the same company. You have companies like Cube (I think they're popular in the US as well) who run their own flagship stores, and Rose, who dominate online. But even those are mostly owner-managed companies.
I imagine very wealthy people would likely still be driving cars, for the speed and personal convenience.
Well sure, wealthy people here also have a car, they might just replace one car with a cargo bike. What I meant is, in the US even if you're poor, the car is the last thing you're going to give up. For example the thought of living in your car is absolutely alien to me, but I've heard this quite often as an argument from Americans why making fuel more expensive would be classicist. In the US, losing your car is often more devastating than losing your house.
Would both types be called pedelecs,
The speedier ones are called S-Pedelecs, Speed Pedelecs. And yes, they're pretty much like a 50 ccm scooter, and the license needed is not a full auto license, it's the same 16 y old get for their scooter.
but what is the purpose of the license plate?
I don't know, I've never owned one or a moped, but it's the same plate a moped would get, it's some kind of insurance/tax thing I think.
a conventional commuter-style bicycle might run into the one or two thousand USD range
We're talking € not US$ here, so not sure how this translates, but if by "conventional" you mean analog, then yes, a commuter bike with belt drive and disc brakes is somewhere around 1.5 k€.
Prices have surged in Europe over Covid, the analog commuter I bought for 1090 € in 2019 is now being sold for 1499 €...
Electric (pedelec) commuter/city bikes start at 2 k€, but realistically you're looking at 2.5-3.5 k€.
So cargo bikes are about twice the price of that. Is that justified? Well, depends. You can easily transport two children in there, with a commuter that's a chore.
And Urban Arrows are good, but aren't that fancy or pricey, the market is pretty tight. With a Bullit you're also looking at 5.5-6.5 k€ depending on configuration. Bakfiets are a bit cheaper and Yuba as well, while Riese & Müller can go up to 8 k€.
However (I'm not sure about other countries, this is Germany specific), if you're self employed / run your own company you're eligible for a 25% government grant, and if you're an employee a lot of companies have programs where you can lease one and it's tax deductible.
Ooh, now it's not about money but "putting people in danger"! Okay.
Here's the British police telling you how you are wrong: https://www.tiktok.com/@georgescarmedia/video/7263078730241756448
Death trap, oh come on...
Apart from this here obviously being some prototype/DIY/research project, it's pretty much the same as a delivery bike, e.g.: https://cargo.mubea-umobility.com/
Are those death traps? How many people have died in there? How many people have been killed by them?
Even fully loaded and at top speed, which is commonly limited at 25km/h in the EU, it maybe has 5 times the kinetic energy of a "normal bike".
A car at 50 km/h easily has 100 times the kinetic energy of a bike.
Yes, if you run that thing into a pedestrian, that probably wouldn't go well. But those accidents, even in countries with lots of cargo bikes, are extremely rare, all things considered.
The style is usually called long john, since bakfiets is also a company and can be any style (though originally it was a tricycle).
And yes, there's several dozens of makers and countless variants in Europe alone.