Problem is, a lot of people come to Palo Alto from farther afield and a lot of people who live in Palo Alto go other places, and a lot of those trips don’t get made by bike. And let’s be realistic: my co-worker from Pleasanton is never going to bike to Palo Alto to get to work.

But that’s not to say TaoMom is wrong. There are a lot of things we could change, infrastructure-wise and culture-wise. Getting rid of free car parking, allowing more density, making it easier to take bikes on Caltrain, running more trains on Caltrain, making Dumbarton Rail happen, etc. can all make Palo Alto a better place for bikes (and walking). And there are plenty of car trips now that could easily be bike trips if people felt safer on bikes.

I am not a bike fanatic. I am a 47-year-old mother of three who drives, walks, and takes Muni, though indeed my favorite form of transportation is my bike. Yesterday I took three trips from my home, totaling 27 miles, all by bike in windy, not warm, hilly, poor-bike-infrastructure San Francisco. Eleven of those miles were with my 85 lb eleven year old daughter on the back of my bike. I must assert that bicycles are an excellent general purpose means of transport for trips under five miles for most people and families. Plenty of families in Holland, Denmark and Japan use bicycles to transport children all the time, though this wasn’t true thirty years ago in Holland and Denmark. What has changed in those two countries is improved bicycle infrastructure and the attitudes of the people.

You’ll notice in my comments about Palo Alto, I said “there is no reason why . . .”

There is no reason why Palo Alto could not have excellent bicycle infrastructure with plenty of physically-separated bike lanes. The technology exists (paint, concrete dividers, etc.) and the cost when compared to most road projects geared to car traffic is negligible.

There is no reason why, with excellent bicycle infrastructure, most trips under five miles in Palo Alto could not occur on bicycles in good weather. Bicycling on flat ground at a moderate speed works up no more of a sweat than walking and can be done in regular street clothes.

There is no reason why, with excellent bicycle infrastructure, children over the age of 8 in Palo Alto could not bicycle themselves to school and activities.

There is no reason why, with excellent bicycle infrastructure, families in Palo Alto could not use a bakfiet to transport children under the age of 8. If you visit copenhagenize.com, you’ll see that the Danes have an unbelievable variety of three-wheeled bicycles they use to transport children and other valued items.

There is no reason why, with excellent bicycle infrastructure, errands and shopping could not be done by bicycle. (200 lbs of groceries will fit on the back of an Xtracycle.)

There is no reason why, with excellent bicycle infrastructure, many folks who are elderly or physically unable to cope with a bicycle could not use an electric adult tricycle for local jaunts. In addition, for anyone facing hills or heavy-loads, adding a small electric motor and battery to one’s bike is a viable option.

I reassert that there is no reason why 75% of all trips within Palo Alto could not occur by bike. The place is flat and has far better weather than Denmark, Japan or Holland. In addition, bicycles are far more economical than cars. It’s all about infrastructure and cultural mindset.

Heh. Sure that’s not a horse trail?

The idea that 75% of the trips in PA could be done by bicycle is pretty laughable. Unfortunately, bike fanatics just don’t realize that bikes are not a good general purpose solution for most people and families.

I guess closing University to traffic is probably not a bad idea, but there are a lot of other changes I’d rather see Palo Alto make (e.g. permit more, cheaper apartments, require less parking with everything, turn Stanford Business Park into something walkable, etc.).

How about that place in Woodside?

Whatever you do, just stay away from University. And Il Fornaio.

It was just more than 100 years ago that Palo Alto first started running streetcars down University.

I agree Stanford is good at encouraging their employees to take Caltrain, but when they have huge events such as football games and alumni reunions that involve tens of thousands of people, they could do much better at getting folks to arrive in some fashion besides private cars.

Stanford is really good already. I am very jealous of the Stanford employees, who get a Caltrain Go-Pass as a perk.

But I can’t feel sorry for the Stanford students, if they wanted “town-meets-gown” they should have gone to Cal

University Ave.’s geographical role is a town-meets-gown strip of student amenities and local shops, not a place for startup jocks to pitch VCs or Restoration Hardware galleries.

Rent pressure has driven the district too far in the direction of useless yuppie amenities, forcing students into their cars to obtain necessary services. This will hopefully relieve some of that pressure.

As a side note, check out these great pictures of how the Chinese use bicycles for hauling just about anything.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bricoleurbanism/sets/72157617860997830/