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'Top Gear' Host Argues To Swap 'Pointless' Driving For Cycling In The City - Jalopnik
(www.jalopnik.com)
this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025
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micromobility - Bikes, scooters, boards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility
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Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles, heelies, or an office chair: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!
"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.
micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"
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Normally I would agree with the essence of the comment but I can also understand what the person you're replying to is expressing.
I'm from a rural town in Canada and I moved away specifically so that I do not need a car in my life. In and around the city, I can pretty much use public transit mixed with my bike to cover a radius of about 100 km. I will usually take the lane and use the space I have the right to use.
However my family still lives in that rural region and it's around 140 km away. I can use public transit and bring my bike for the first 100 km, but I have to cycle on rural roads for about 40 km and it's always a scary experience. To the point where I simply refuse to cycle on those roads and ask for someone in my family to come grab me, or cycle the entire 140 km using a dedicated bike path.
I am very adamant on "roads should be for everyone", but doing that in some regions of North America will just get you killed, and blamed for it.
Rural micromobility options exist but they're more on the end of motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, horses, etc.
There are probably ebikes out there that could do it too, but just barely I'd imagine. That said, a MTB would be just fine for getting around a small farm or homestead.
Yes. When I go back there I use an MTB with a trailer. However there's also "fortunately" a rail trail that links a few towns together. Because as the first commenter said, some roads can be scary without respect from car drivers, or proper infrastructure, even if you have all the right to be there.
But passed micromobility, people need get in and out of the region. When I was a kid the biggest town around had intercity buses. Now it's just 'use your car'. There is also a train station that is now a museum. My mother remembers taking the train there. Trains are still very frequent on those rails, but just freight.
Looking at maps and public transit for my native rural region, they had much much more transit options 75 years ago than right now. There were trains and buses linking villages and factories and now there's only "get a car, loser".
Don't live in North America then.
Do you actually think this exchange was in any way helpful or productive
I don't live in North America, wonder if they've got any other bright ideas.