But where there are friends there are enemies, and last winter they came out in droves[19]. The “bikelash,” as New York magazine dubbed it, began when a group of aggrieved citizens, with support from former transportation commissioner Iris Weinshall, who had stymied plans to install bike lanes that had been on the books since 1997, filed a lawsuit to force the city to remove a lane along Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.[20] They launched a media campaign, blaming “bike activists” as “pedestrian terrorizers” with an “agenda” to impede drivers’ “rights” and mar their hallowed asphalt.[21] They complained that bike lanes increased congestion by taking away precious road space and that they weren’t used enough to justify their cost.
The suit was thrown out of court, but it did illustrate just how deeply entrenched car culture is in twenty-first-century America.[22] If bike-bashers would roll down their windows long enough to see who’s occupying those paths, they’d find grandmothers, school kids, businessmen and women of all shapes, colors, and ages. Elitists[23]? It turns out that a good number of people pedal to work because they can’t afford other means of transport.[24]
Other facts are evidently ignored by car drivers: even if cities could build more roads, it wouldn’t alleviate gridlock;[25] studies have shown that more roads breed more cars, which breed more congestion. Bike lanes, often portrayed as a waste of money, actually reduce the cost of maintaining roads, which are damaged mostly by heavy vehicles; they also can calm traffic, which leads to fewer accidents. But the biggest threat to bike-bashers is this: if bike lanes can work in a big city like New York, they can work anywhere. Already, Chicago is following our lead with protected bike lanes. It’s not unlike gay marriage: pass it in New York, and the rest of the country will eventually follow.
【我的自行车日记:不一样的精彩】相关文章:
★ 六级快速阅读理解练习—— Just Call Me Mister
★ 2014年12月英语六级阅读理解真题训练:Attention
★ Analysis and Interpretation of the News阅读练习与解析
最新
2016-10-18
2016-10-11
2016-10-11
2016-10-08
2016-09-30
2016-09-30