Endpoint construction for the HT system is very
rapid, as only apartments or offices need to be converted to take a tube
attachment and to hang carts on the walls. Still, it will take a year or
two until high density is achieved as streetside pylons need to be erected.
During this period, your nearest neighborhood endpoint may still be a mile
or two away. You will get there by bike, electroscooter, scooter, rollerblades
or you will walk.Construction rapidity demand and cost constraints prevent
the establishment of new parking lots. Since many of the residents in the
area will themselves be taking the HT system to commute, they leave their
cars in place, making additional commuter parking impossible. From careful
observation in advanced industrial countries like Japan, we were able to
determine that pedestrians and bikes can indeed mix safely, and that this
practice is much preferable to exposing bike riders to automobiles rushing
by them. Not only can the two populations mix, but the bikes can even run
at significant speed. It is not uncommon to have a fast riding elderly
biker speed toward you in Japan, and the simple convention is to be attentive
and to indicate your intentions by moving to one side. The referendum will
legalize sidewalk bikeriding but place the burden on the bycyclist when he
is approaching from behind in case of collisions. The photo on the left shows
a for pay bike barking lot (which the bikes attached to the front of it have
ignored) and the right shows sidewalk sharing. Biking to the station will
also provide you with some exercise, and is generally refreshing. Here is
data on bike
position during 6 years in North Carolina, together with links to gory
images of collisions due to street biking.
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