>Most transit systems get worse economy than if all passengers drove
>alone. However, transit is actually worse than that because it converts
>bicyclists and pedestrians into chauffered motorists. Heavy, polluting
>short haul transit has nothing in common with cycling.


This is a question that involves utilization, the nature of the community
serviced, wide ranging sets of government subsidies and edicts, etc. ,
etc...

Higher percentages of the culture's trips serviced by mass
transit and walking in communities easy to service
with mass transit and walking - not more bicycling - is the needed
big-picture-primary correction to _transportation_. If
the epidemiology at any particular instant in time
shows a bicycling reduction by the culture correlated with some
effort to promote that shift to more mass transit and walking
mode share... so be it. However, I suspect that will not be true
over the long haul of this change. I suspect that when we get closer
to where we need to be(much higher mass transit use, in reconfigured
communities) bicycling rates will be much higher than they are now.
However, However... even if that does not turn out to be true, this
needed change to more mode share by mass transit and walking is too
important. Bicyclist advocacy must not get in the way and sign up
with opponents to this change.

Bicycling is an minor issue within this bigger issue. I don't
accept anti-mass-transit efforts/noise by bicyclist advocates
because they feel their specific goal of seeing higher rates
of bicycling is threatened by mass transit. I would vigorously
oppose any anti-mass-transit noise out of a bicyclist advocacy
organization I am involved with. Better to drop that specific
goal from bicyclist advocacy efforts, if you come to believe
that goal forces you to say anything against mass transit as
part of your bicyclist advocacy efforts.

If some people feel - or some data potentially indicates -
mass transit "competes" with promoting increased bicycling
right now, this works out to be another good
reason for bicyclist advocates to focus on issues like
maintaining/expanding roadway access, promoting "act and treat"
message, and improving conditions for existing _vehicular_ bicyclists.
Limit marketing and promotion for greater rates of bicycling to
demonstrating/explaining how wonderful vehicular bicycling on roadways
is _right_now_ - but don't make this the primary focus. Also, don't
weigh measures of advocacy success too heavily by whether the
increased rate of bicycling actually occur.

Ken