Lee Heidhues 10.3.2021
The current over wrought political drama to designate less than three miles of roadway in San Francisco, The Great Walkway along the Pacific and JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, is causing a virtual civil war.
San Francisco has 1200 miles of roadway for automobile usage.
The fact that the long entitled, selfish and “we want it all” motorists are able to harass and browbeat City officials is a complete disgrace. All the “progressive” talk about San Francisco being a leader in fighting climate change and global warming is just a lot of hot air.
No elected official from Mayor London Breed on down to faux progressive Supervisor Connie Chan has enough political will and courage to tell the long self entitled motorists, it’s time for change. Instead these politicians make excuses and equivocate.
San Francisco elected officials and bureaucrats, even those who think of themselves as “progressive” are engaged in self delusion.
Once the car owners start to yell and scream Official San Francisco caves in.
The attached article, The Copenhagen Index breaks down the top 20 cities globally for their bicycle friendly policies.
There is not one American city in the Copenhagen Index. Pathetic.
Excerpted from The Copenhagen Index
THE 2019 COPENHAGENIZE INDEX OF BICYCLE-FRIENDLY CITIES
Welcome to the Copenhagenize Index – the most comprehensive and holistic ranking of bicycle-friendly cities on planet earth. As the fifth edition of the biennial Index since 2011, this year’s effort was made possible through months of intensive teamwork, research and outreach. Creating an inventory of urban cycling in all corners of the world is no small feat – and this year we are as excited as ever to share the most fascinating cycling stories from across the globe.
How to read the 2019 Copenhagenize Index
With each iteration, the Copenhagenize Index evolves. This year, we have again expanded the total number of cities to examine well beyond the 80 we ranked in 2011. The data set continues to grow year-by-year and accounts for hundreds of cities representing every region of the world.
2019 offers up a number of surprises yet again. The three-horse race at the top is as close as ever, with Utrecht being nudged back down to #3 by Amsterdam taking the 2nd position with its bold steps taken in the past years. Meanwhile, Copenhagen continues impressive investments and innovations for cycling to hold onto the #1 spot, but for how long, no one knows. All three of these cities remain role-models for all of the friendly competition below.
The second pack sees a tightening gap between Antwerp, Strasbourg and Bordeaux, as these three cities all strive for greater and greater bicycle friendliness. And at the lead of the third pack is Oslo – the bicycle urbanism darling that shot up in ranking over the last 4 years to an impressive degree.
This year also sees a number of new faces from all over the world on the Top 20 like Bogotà, Bremen, Taipei and Vancouver – newcomers that are showing other cities how possible it is to make our urban centres better for the bicycle. The margins between cities in the third pack of the Top 20 are tight, and those that are innovating, investing and pushing forward with political and citizen action every year, see results in the Copenhagenize Index. Just outside of the Top 20 sit a number of cities all on the cusp of breaking through, each one requiring that sustained investment and implementation of bicycle innovations to see better rankings in 2021.
This year, we have also added a new section called “Success Stories” – sharing a number of inspirational bicycle stories from around the world, outside of the Top 20. These stories show us how bicycle friendliness can come in many shapes and forms, with each new step offering critical utility to the urban citizens that need it.
The 2019 Copenhagenize Index shows the world that it is no longer only the Danish and Dutch cities that are really taking the bicycle seriously. Through a combination of ambition, culture and better streetscapes, cities all around the world are starting to push the envelope for what it means to be bicycle-friendly.
Enjoy this year’s edition of the Copenhagenize Index.
https://copenhagenizeindex.eu/
Lee's Perspective 