Not everyone is interested in walking or bicycling

What are sustainable and safe alternatives for people who are not big on walking and can’t or won’t ride a bike? Even in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, known for growing numbers of people riding bicycles, plenty of cars are still on the street. Getting everyone to give up driving cars is not realistic or necessary.


As the chart below shows — confirmed by surveys in recent years — about a third of Americans will not get on a bicycle. Some of them fulfill most of their mobility needs by walking and riding transit, using neither a bicycle or car. But most of that third are wedded to using cars for all mobility needs, either out of necessity, habit, lack of interest in the alternatives, or the belief that cars provide them with safety.


Since automobiles compromise the safety of people on the street who are not enclosed in a car, perhaps the solution is to consider safer, self-propelled alternatives to the standard 2- or 3-ton automobile — vehicles that can provide the satisfactions of the car while reducing the danger to others.


From El Cerrito's Active Transportation Plan

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