• cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    If you want to feel more European maybe replace your car based infrastructure with one more suitable for pedestrians and bicycles.

    • frigge@lemmy.ml
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      11 hours ago

      have you ever been to germany? Not really great here as well. I just came back from canada a couple of weeks ago. Some places there are definitely worse than here but some are also quite a bit better. Germany has its fair share of lobbyism from the automotive industry as well, which is especially noticeable if you live close to one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world.

    • jerakor@startrek.website
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      1 day ago

      The country has 5% of the population density of Europe. As much as I want some of the infrastructure to be more pedestrian it isn’t viable for at least half of the country. Maybe in another 200 years.

      • greyscaleA
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        17 hours ago

        Believe it or not, that should make it easier to blast train corridors in.

        • Pyr@lemmy.ca
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          15 hours ago

          Yet still super expensive since you need hundreds of kilometers of rail and rail maintenance between major cities not just dozens, will less passengers and tax base to pay for it.

          • greyscaleA
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            14 hours ago

            Its only expensive because you’re drowning in a cost control crisis. Its concrete sleepers, steel rails and gravel. Its rather cheap compared to road infrastructure.

            Its only expensive because you want it to be. Will of the people and all that.

      • randoot@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        We don’t need to build a subway in the Arctic. People live in cities. Ther population density of Toronto is 4.4k/km2 vs 5.3k/km2 for Stockholm. Don’t fall for car propaganda, we can afford it.

      • PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de
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        22 hours ago

        complete BS. Think about it for literally 5 seconds. Do all Canadians live equally spaced throughout the country? No. They mostly live in metropolitan areas. The laws are deeply in favor of car-based infrastructure and actively anti-pedestrian. Improvement is possible, and whoever told you the density thing is either a car lobbyist or echoing their BS

      • whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works
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        13 hours ago

        I just want to point out that it’s in the cities that are build the bicycle infras, not to cross a entire country.

        But i have no idea how good or bad are those in Canada

      • phanto@lemmy.ca
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        14 hours ago

        If we had a decent high speed rail system and shotengai style downtowns… But we don’t. I spent Christmas in Sapporo once, and it was cold, wet, blizzardy, and we were able to get everywhere without freezing.

        • Killer57@lemmy.ca
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          13 hours ago

          Ah yes, because of one statistic, the rest of Canada does not matter, right?

      • betanumerus@lemmy.ca
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        11 hours ago

        Political borders are absolutely irrelevant to your commute and you know it. Time to move next door to your job.

    • phanto@lemmy.ca
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      1 day ago

      Also, (at least for now), it gets really cold here! I’ve wiped out trying to bike on ice.

        • lps2@lemmy.ml
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          18 hours ago

          Not really, no - they’re kinda famous for being temperate due to the Atlantic currents

          • Ibuthyr@feddit.org
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            18 hours ago

            Not just Bikes literally has a video on Norway and how it’s great to use the bicycle there. In Germany we have plenty of ice and snow in the winter. And despite the car-centricity here, getting around on a bike is still a viable option.

            • azimir@lemmy.ml
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              6 hours ago

              The biggest factor is the city maintenance of the bike paths during ice and snow. If the routes are plowed and cleaned first, then people bike. They make small sized pows just for bike roads for this very use, but cities have to buy and commit to them.

              Finland has some of highest density bike use areas in the world. It snows a bit there, but they’re also smart enough to clear off the bike routes, which is apparently beyond the ken of much of the world.

      • Logi@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        You’ll want studded tyres to cycle in icy conditions. But yeah, there is no requirement to always cycle. Having it as a viable option is great though.

        • vandsjov@feddit.dk
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          22 hours ago

          Copenhagen reporting in. We don’t have too much snow so it’s mostly cold and wet weather that keeps people off the bike and even then you see lots of bikes out. My point is your point, you will see a drop in people on bikes when the weather sucks for bikes. In the summer, you will have half of the city population on bikes (made up statistic as I’m too lazy to look it up, but wouldn’t surprise me).

          Biking, in a city that has been build for bikes, is a no-brainier as you often will get from A to B faster, and then it’s much cheaper than a car.

        • the_strange@feddit.org
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          22 hours ago

          Anecdotally, for me biking with studded tires on an icy road feels more comfortable and grippy than biking in autumn on wet leafs. It’s crazy how much of a difference studded tires make in these conditions and how easy it is to adapt to them.