…the post is intended to portray the difference in trains – the logical, excellent, and much preferable alternative to cars. They’re excellent everywhere else but absolute shite in the supposed pinnacle of the free market.

In an anti car community. Considering the US proudly proclaims itself the champion of the free market, yeah, it’s only fitting to use Amtrak as the example.

China does have a superb high-speed rail network, you gotta give them that

The left whiskers are there, the portrait mode filter thought they were part of the cat tree and applied massive levels of bokeh to blur them out

Honestly, Cuba and North Korea both have pretty decent (urban) roads. Pyongyang even has some bike lanes, bike parking, and bikesharing infrastructure

It is, but the monsoon’s about to roll in so it’s a little better at the minute. Humid as fuck though

The problem there is enforcing said smaller space. Painted bike lanes do absolutely nothing to ensure people get used to having the smaller space because drivers still have all that space. A painted line doesn’t stop them from swerving into the bike lane whenever they please.

At the very least you put flexi-posts on there to enforce it if you can’t build a full curb to protect the bike lane. That tends to discourage drivers if not stop them entirely

Slight disagreement there. Streets are for pedestrians and bikes and trams and the occasional car (in a dedicated car lane). Roads (as in large arterial roads in very limited areas, meant for fast travel between faraway zones when trains are inconvenient, or highways between cities) can be considered as intended for cars, and even those should have pretty good space dedicated to bike lanes and pedestrian sidewalks.

With opinions like that, I expect there are very many things you don’t realize. That isn’t one of them, but I respect the attempt. Good lad.

Well, at least you’re not in denial about it. Good for you!

To be fair it’s exactly what you’d expect someone like this to tweet

Has the concept of “extending the bike lane so it leads to something” crossed your mind, or have you been huffing too much gasoline for that kind of radical thinking?

That’s because most of them are unprotected and drivers are assholes. Paint doesn’t mean shit to them

I can hear John Forester screaming in his grave

Okay good. I was concerned they were serious for a second there.

Is that supposed to be satirical or…?

“Goddammit Phalange, I don’t need to know what kinky shit you’re into. Go to the hospital if it’s that bad.”

Awesome. By all means, live in an open space. Neighborhoods like this aren’t for you and no one’s going to force you to live in one.

Traffic density doesn’t cause any problem

It does when the traffic is so dense that you can’t get by even on foot, let alone on a bike. I’ve had the misfortune of spending 20 minutes marooned in the same spot in the middle of a traffic jam because I was boxed in with no space to pass anywhere.

We take “bumper to bumper” traffic quite literally in this neck of the woods.

There’s actually pretty decent public transit on my route, but I’d have to take a bus for half of it, which…well, see above.

14km one way. Takes me a little under a half hour to get to work in the mornings, longer on the way back home because there’s a fuckton of unruly traffic at that time of day