Volker Bach, a cycling friend in Hamburg, Germany, had this to say about cycling season today:
“In two or three months, police and local authorities will be plastering social media and billboards with reminders to drive carefully “bicycle season is starting”. Today, about 7:20 am in freezing cold and darkness, I went past two rows in the bike stands at the train station before I could find a free spot. Suggesting that we only exist seasonally feels like a good way of adding to the cull in the darker and more dangerous time of the year.”
It’s worth noting that Hamburg has over 7,000 places to park bicycles at more than 40 locations around its train stations. Here in Ottawa, we would be thrilled to have that many parking spaces connected to an excellent public transit system, and a city that encourages cycling with safe infrastructure to get there.