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US DOT deleting bike lane references
- goatlover 2mo agoWhat's a "DEI bike lane"? Like woke, DEI has lost all meaning at the political level of discourse. It's just whatever the current regime dislikes.
- f17428d27584 2mo agoMaking things better is Progressive, and Progressive is woke, and woke is DEI. So to fight back against DEI find the things that make peoples’ lives better (like bike lanes) and destroy them. Just tear them up, and you’ve won the culture war and saved America. This is the official GOP policy, the best of what the GOP has to offer. Fight friends, betray allies, threaten your neighbors, drop bombs, smash bike lanes.
- foco_tubi 2mo agoNot that there's any credence to the idea, but many residents of low-income neighborhoods in urban areas see bike lanes as a dinner bell for gentrification. Never mind that a ton of bicycle commuters in urban areas are from low-income neighborhoods themselves...
- jimbokun 2mo agoI will never understand the fight against “gentrification”. You want property values in your neighborhood to go DOWN?
- hakfoo 2mo agoProperty values going up is only appealing if you own property. For renters, it means they're going to try to increase rents. For everyone, it presents a pressure on favourite local businesses-- higher costs, and an influx of well-bankrolled outside competitors.
- cucumber3732842 2mo agoValue of an illiquid asset doesn't help renters who don't own that asset or residents who aren't in a position to liquidate. Furthermore, the absolute last thing most of these communities need is an influx of people who have fewer big problems in their jurisdiction because those people always go right to work turning the screws of government on the poors and existing residents. I'm not saying vote against change at every turn, but given the choice between heavy industry and rich people I'm taking the heavy industry every damn time.
- jimbokun 2mo agoSo White Flight was a good thing?
- cucumber3732842 2mo ago>So White Flight was a good thing? I'll take your flagrant strawman. You're telling me that black communities weren't doing probably the best they've ever done during that exact same period? A conspiracy theorist would say the white man invented welfare to keep them down. I would say they weren't thinking that far ahead. I mean hell, wealthy (enough, and mostly white but that's beside the point) folk had their own communities to run and what did they do? They cooked up zoning and look how that turned out. And then they kicked all the heavy industry out of the country because I guess we're supposed to all get rich off financial products and real estate speculation. You can hair split and lay these problems at the feet of various groups. Liberal white women, hippies, moralizing christian types, money grubbing businessmen and investors, people with little hats and big noses, etc, etc. Perhaps some of the assessments of blame are mostly true. But they, and other aspects of naive pattern machining (insert 13/50 joke here) wholly miss the the broader trend. And t The political whims and their nearly universal ignorance of 2nd and beyond order consequences that arise out of the "comfortable middle class and above" have been a disaster for western society. Idle hands are the devils workshop and oh boy has he been productive over the past couple generations. Wanna discuss unions next? I have a spicy take on those too.
- jimbokun 2mo ago
- foco_tubi 2mo agoThere are a myriad of sources available to help you understand. How to Kill a City is a good one.
- actionfromafar 2mo agoDon't forget the children, more milk and less vaccines.
- klaff 2mo agoraw milk, unpasteurized, right?
- JohnTHaller 2mo agoGOP/MAGA/"Conservative" ideas are basically Regressive.
- Spooky23 2mo agoIn a nearby suburban town, the GOP Chair forced a referendum on a road project. New York has a complete streets program where bike lanes and pedestrian friendly crossings are included in most projects. Iirc 4-5 people have died crossing this road. The call to action was that “those people” would use the bike lanes to leave the city, connect to the Democrat bike trail and rape, murder and rob the townsfolk. Old fearful white people are terrified of this stuff.
- klaff 2mo agoSo much racism.
- foco_tubi 2mo agoYep. Beverly Hills and Bel Air used the same argument to rally against new subway development near UCLA.
- mothballed 2mo agoI think there's a good faith possibility here that the taxpayers just don't see themselves biking to "the hood" rather than some sinister plan against black people. I mean I wouldn't vote for a bike route to the white trash trailer park, not because I hate them but because there is no reason for me to bike there whereas I might bike to a nice gentrified district for some drinks. I would reframe most things more in terms of "what will I gain" to see how voters to vote, and new opportunities or bridges to bike to the hood gains them basically nothing.
- maxerickson 2mo agoDo you think there is any way to convince you to value a broader community of people?
- Spooky23 2mo agoIt’s actually a super popular bike route as it’s a 20 minute path to the central business district downtown. And again, 4-5 people have lost their lives in as many years. In this case most of the hubbub was really about a pedestrian island that would block left turns to a business the guy was friends with. The woke people were out to get them for some reason, etc. The racist dog whistle was very deliberate and targeted at Nextdoor. The messaging in more mainstream outlets was about lane width reductions causing a traffic nightmare. It was almost taken from Blazing Saddles.
- quantified 2mo agoReal Republicans do not bicycle. Plain and simple.
- brentm 2mo agoIt's just a way to keep the culture war hot. They need people on Reddit mad, the media questioning what a DEI Bike Lane is and ridiculing, etc. The actual policy they've implemented, excluding the border, has so far been an abject disaster and even their own base is unhappy. "DEI Bike Lanes" is a way to throw their voters some red meat while stirring the pot.
- transitorykris 2mo ago"Since nearly 80% of the population uses cars to get to work and their important medical appointments, we are taking a closer look at federal guidance to ensure American families have the infrastructure they need," the spokesperson said. "This is a common sense approach despite the Left's belief that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda." Jumping straight into the middle of the article you might believe you stumbled onto The Onion.
- mypalmike 2mo agoI’m getting somewhat sick of Christian Nationalist trolls running the US government.
- CamperBob2 2mo agoNothing can be done about it, so (shrug) praise the Lord and pass the Shell 93 octane, I guess. Can't fight a hundred-million strong cult.
- nielsbot 2mo agoThere are many more non-cult people in the US, but they don't vote enough. As long as the government is captured by Capital, however, it's hard to make the case for them to "vote harder".
- AlexandrB 2mo agoNo idea what you guys are talking about. The Christian faction of the right has waned significantly since the Bush presidency.
- BoggleOhYeah 2mo agoGiven the level of involvement the Heritage Foundation has in the current administration, I think you're absolutely wrong.
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- VariousPrograms 2mo agoI have friends who despise cyclists but oppose bike lanes. Bike lanes would take cyclists out of your lane and into their own lane. Plus if more people start cycling because there's infrastructure, that's less car traffic in the way of your truck! It just seems like a win-win for everybody. I've given up hope on transportation in the USA. It certainly won't be fixed within my lifetime.
- supern0va 2mo agoYep, I'm perfectly content to use the full lane if there's not another option. And that doesn't mean squeezing into the shoulder. No, that means riding left of center to prevent assholes from passing unsafely on my left. The funniest thing is that tactical use of bike lanes, neighborhood greenways, etc, actually serves to funnel cyclists into specific protected routes such that the majority of other roads have fewer cyclists utilizing them. From my home in Seattle, I can ride several miles to work on roads that were already low traffic volume, but which are faster because cyclists get priority, and cars get diverted away. Before this existed, I just used the main roads that cars did, because it was faster. Like, if you hate bicycles, you should love bicycle infrastructure. It's better for everyone.
- jerlam 2mo agoYou are assuming that with or without bike infrastructure, there is a fixed number of cyclists. Many drivers either believe there are no cyclists; or that the number of cyclists should be reduced to zero, and they should drive instead, like normal people. Also, everything is zero-sum, so any money spent on bike infrastructure is less money spent to widen the freeways or subsidize parking.
- mmooss 2mo agoSome people despise drug users on their streets but oppose safe injection (a.k.a. overdose prevention) sites, which would move the drug users indoors. It's often an act of power, like a mob. It's the corruption of power made viceral. > I've given up hope on transportation in the USA. It certainly won't be fixed within my lifetime. Exactly the response your enemies planned. Act aggressive enough and the other side will give in. You're their best friend when you do it and every time you post it.
- f17428d27584 2mo ago"This is a common sense approach despite the Left's belief that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda." The government we deserve. Nobody bother thinking coherent thoughts, insults and spurious non sequiturs are policy now.
- jimt1234 2mo agoThat's one of the many problems I have with the current regime: they can't say anything without framing it as an opposition to some exaggerated bogeyman. I get it, politics is about messaging. But can't these fools, for once, rise above it and just do something without taking a jab?
- jrmg 2mo agoThe worrying thing is that many supporters, and, I’ve come to believe more and more, many of the leaders and upper echelons of organizations on the right actually believe the exaggerated rhetoric is the truth.
- tpm 2mo agoNo, they are forever captured in that narrative now, they can't jump out, that would kill their carreer.
- krapp 2mo agoThese fools were elected because they refuse to "rise above it."
- protocolture 2mo ago[flagged]
- nomel 2mo ago[flagged]
- actionfromafar 2mo agoIt's 2026.
- nomel 2mo agoSorry, I don't understand this answer.
- diego_moita 2mo agoThe world desperately needs less "Murica". It needs the U.S. to be weaker, poorer, less powerful and less influential. And both Trump and Xi-Jiping are delivering just that, thanks God.
- actionfromafar 2mo agoThe model seems to be Russia, which does not bode well for anyone.
- breezybottom 2mo agoIn what way is Russia doing better than China?
- protocolture 2mo agoWhenever I see Russias ratty old aircraft carrier I kind of feel bad for them.
- apothegm 2mo agoThey’re not, but a certain faction of the US right is taking them as a model nonetheless — I’m assuming they covet the sort of power the oligarchs there enjoy.
- foco_tubi 2mo agoGreat, more ammunition for bad faith arguments from all sides. Unfortunately there's a healthy subset of the Democratic party which is also against road infrastructure improvements like bike lanes and traffic calming. Car brain is an affliction which does not discriminate.
- croes 2mo agoThere is a difference in being against bike lanes and calling them DEI. Only one of them is totally nuts
- foco_tubi 2mo agoI mean, the positive effects of road diets and bike lanes generally are pretty well settled, as the US DOT website used to claim.
- jimbokun 2mo agoHave you read some of the DSA’s policies?
- foco_tubi 2mo agoWhich ones are you referring to?
- ndsipa_pomu 2mo agoTo be fair, bike lanes and cycling are inclusive and a surprisingly effective way to empower underclasses. When the safety bicycle was invented, it greatly empowered women who previously were more or less house-bound to be able to travel distances. This has been seen across several different cultures where the introduction of cycles leads to the empowerment of women. Here's a good quote from Susan B Anthony (famous Suffragette): "Let me tell you what I think of the bicycle. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. It makes her feel as if she were independent. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can't get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."
- johnnyApplePRNG 2mo agoIt's pretty clear that from the other side of the border that the man in charge is literally acting like an 80 year old 4chan b troll. He's just trying to get under everyone's skin and it's working. Look at those crowds of bikers... ICE protesters... no king protesters... He's a showman and he loves it. Stop giving him airtime. So what if federal funding doesn't recognize bike lanes or whatever this is about? Vote in competent city Councillors that will get bike lanes prioritized in your city if that's what you care about.
- kgermino 2mo agoA big part of the issue is that federal funding drives probably the majority of significant projects at all levels. We have a completely broken system where every project is a targeted towards winning a grant as much as if not more than the actual local need. Milwaukee WI has had several (awarded!) street reconstruction grants killed by this admin because they included bike lanes. They weren't bike lane _projects_, they are to primarily to rebuild crumbling unsafe streets, but they included bike lanes so the Fed's rescinded the grants and now most of the projects are dead. There's no local money to do it without the grants. The real fix for this is to fix the stupid system we have, but for now it's what we're stuck with and this has a real impact you can't overcome locally.
- johnnyApplePRNG 2mo agoWhat a mess. Condolences, and good luck down there.
- JeremyNT 2mo ago> The real fix for this is to fix the stupid system we have, but for now it's what we're stuck with and this has a real impact you can't overcome locally. And to elaborate on the stupidity, blue states send more taxes to the federal government, which then doles them back out to subsidize the low cost of living in red states. So you end up with people in dense urban areas sending tax dollars to Washington, then begging to get the taxes their own citizens paid back, in support of building the infrastructure projects they want locally.
- paj26 2mo agoHow do children get around? They bicycle. For a party claiming to be pro-life, pro-family, pro-child, they don’t act like it.
- actionfromafar 2mo agoNah, pro-family means pro nuclear family mom staying at home waiting for dad in his car.
- mothballed 2mo ago[dead]
- arjie 2mo agoGood grief, this website is utter garbage. Keeps popping up the Support Us popup and crashed the iOS web view. But one thing that’s interesting with the administration’s approach to so many things is the removal of tools to get information. In the article (which works in brave which suppresses the pop up) they talk about this tool to collect information on how a crash occurred. I get wanting to change priorities. As a bicyclist I can understand if road space is optimized for other uses due to the predominant form of use. But I think one of the reasons the US is so prosperous is that we have here a reliable and high-quality data collection machine. The less you know about yourselves the worse you can achieve your objectives. Massive tragedy that data collection fell to ideology. Though the ideology is very funny. It sounds like an angry redditor! “This is a common sense approach despite the Left's belief that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda”
- fassssst 2mo ago“DEI bike lanes” heh, despite cycling being over represented by middle aged white guys.
- boogieknite 2mo agoimo cyclists are different than commuter bikers and the former have a seeming tendency to prefer routes with no bike lane
- dadjoker 2mo ago[dead]
- mmooss 2mo agoPeople who dislike this situation need to stop taking the Trump administration's (and allies') statements at face value, like David Harkey does in the article, and stop calling them crazy. Either way, they are playing you and distracting you, and you are inadvertently acting as their messengers. Using the universal analytical tool cui bono (more powerful than an LLM) and their own explicit words, there's a consistent, non-crazy strategy: Support the fossil fuel industry in every way possible (which appeals to some people; I'm not writing a critique; you should understand this.): * Destroy or acquire national competitors: Venezuala, Iran, even Nigeria * Buy off domestic competitors: using tax dollars to bribe renewable energy developments to stop * A million other policy and political actions, major and and minor; even opposing bike lanes. Regarding 'crazy', it's a form of aggression - demonstrating there is no length to which they won't go, to intimidate the other side into backing down. It's been the American neo-right rhetorical tactic going back decades - be aggressive, and if that doesn't work, be more aggressive. Because nobody else has figured out this very basic tactic (used by even by animals), people keep backing down and the tactic keeps working. You see people every day saying they are hopeless, tired, resigned, etc. Why would the neo-right stop - this is working amazingly well! (If you doubt it, see if my hypothesis predicts future events.)
- Freedumbs 2mo agoFrom what I've seen and heard, the propaganda is blaming pedestrians for being "distracted". I've heard ads on the radio telling kids to look up when walking and not walk distracted (because automobiles are dangerous). This is absurd and I'll spell it out: larger cars designed to generate more revenue and distracted drivers are problems, not people walking around with their heads down. Nearly everything is backward and designed to make money or blame poor people who don't know any better.
- tzs 2mo agoKids have repeatedly been warned to pay attention when walking near roads for as long I can remember which is over 60 years. Even getting hit by a subcompact car can kill someone if they just step out in front of it not giving it enough time to stop.