Unstructured: If you build it, people will come

Our hostel in Amsterdam hosted another study abroad group. The students were from Italy and there were 160 of them ages 14-18. One of the nights Sydney, Lauren, and I went up to two of the girls and asked if they were studying abroad. After telling us about their trip and discussing Italy vs America I decided to ask them about bicycle infrastructure in Italy. I asked them if they had bike lanes, separation from cars, connected and accessible routes, and if they biked as a means of transportation. All of them told me they don’t bike because they either do not have bike lanes, it isn’t safe, or it isn’t an option. Most of them depend on their parents to take them places and pick them up or they take infrequent buses. I asked them if they had bicycle infrastructure similar to what they have seen here in Amsterdam, would they use it? All of them said they would bike as transportation if they had a safe way to do so. Many of the students lived in the countryside in less populated areas. Yesterday we biked 30 minutes outside the city and we were in farmland. We barely stopped the entire way and were able to safely bike through the countryside into the city and vice versa. The entire country of the Netherlands is connected by bike networks. Every city should be connected and accessible by multiple modes of transportation including bikes. Rural accessibility is crucial to spatial justice and ensuring that planners design inclusive cities.

Unfortunately in a car-dependent society freedom is tied to our vehicles. If you are a child, elderly, unable to drive or afford a car most often you are isolated from community, public space, and important amenities. The Italian students told me that they would have a lot more freedom and independence if they had a connected bicycle network in their city. In San Luis Obispo I feel isolated from downtown, commercial strips, grocery stores, and green space because I do not have a car. If there was a connected bike network in SLO I would have more freedom to go to and from the places I need to go and I would have a stronger connection to the place I live, work, and go to school.