Anyone quit taking the metro and start bike commuting for safety reasons?

[Bilsko]

Not necessarily concern over safety/maintenance, but I’ve switched over to riding Bikeshare bikes (instead of Blue/Yellow line) from Crystal City into DC whenever I have to head downtown. Unpredictable headways, roughly the same travel time, and a comparable cost (around $3 each way for Metro and $7 to activate my daily CaBi membership) make CaBi the more attractive choice for me.

[bentbike33]

It’s inconceivable to me that biking to work could possibly be statistically safer than Metro, so safety is not the reason I have gone almost exclusively to bike commuting. The main reasons for me are that: (1) the bike commute is far more enjoyable, even in the cold January darkness and sodden July heat, than standing on an overcrowded train (or sitting beneath looming standees); and (2) while under ideal conditions, total travel time might be shorter for me by Metro than bike, ideal conditions on Metro are a “black swan” event and the variance in my bike commute travel time, even allowing for the occasional flat tire, is much smaller than by Metro.

[Judd]

@Sadie Dingfelder 139185 wrote:

Hi all,
I’m writing a story for the Washington Post Express and looking to chat with people who quit taking metro and started bike commuting at least in part because they were concerned about the Metro’s maintenance and safety issues. Please drop me a line if this sounds like you! Sadie D at gmail
-Sadie

Hmmmm…. This looks like an exaggerated story looking for a supporting quote.

Yellow journalism lives on.

[Rod Smith]

Quit after the Tokyo subway sarin attack in ’95.

[mstone]

I just don’t have time for metro. As far as safety goes, it’s probably more dangerous to just stand near a car.

[Crickey7]

As R. Cannon (I think) once suggested, I prefer breathing in my own armpits, thank you.

[Tim Kelley]

@Judd 139229 wrote:

Yellow journalism lives on.

https://twitter.com/lizbon/status/719922202800300034

[baiskeli]

@Judd 139229 wrote:

Hmmmm…. This looks like an exaggerated story looking for a supporting quote.

Yellow journalism lives on.

Or it’s a really awesome story about another way bike commuting is better. Let’s give the reporter the benefit of the doubt and give ourselves some good press.

[Sadie Dingfelder]

I’m just looking for someone like myself to write a story about. Obviously, statistically, biking is less safe than public transport, but with all the safety and maintenance issues Metro is having, it feels like we are heading towards some kind of metro disaster. That’s what gets my lazy butt on my 2 wheels in the morning, anyway.

[baiskeli]

@Sadie Dingfelder 139245 wrote:

I’m just looking for someone like myself to write a story about. Obviously, statistically, biking is less safe than public transport, but with all the safety and maintenance issues Metro is having, it feels like we are heading towards some kind of metro disaster. That’s what gets my lazy butt on my 2 wheels in the morning, anyway.

You might be able to find a new commuter who is commuting by bike for safety, but they may be hard to find. I’d bet it’s easier to find a new commuter who switched from Metro due to reliability, breakdowns, etc., which is what I think you mean by maintenance.

[Sadie Dingfelder]

True! I have already talked to a lot of cyclists who bike for the health benefits, speed, and fun.

[rcannon100]

@Sadie Dingfelder 139245 wrote:

Obviously

Please cite any credible research and literature that supports said obvious proposition. Such literature should include data not only on riding public transportation but also traffic crashes caused by public transportation.

According to DOT, fatalities involving moving vehicles is in the order of 36,000 per year. That is not broken out for public transportation. Fatalities involving bicycles – you pretty much can count them on your hands.

[chris_s]

@Sadie Dingfelder 139245 wrote:

Obviously, statistically, biking is less safe than public transport

Statistically, we actually have no idea how safe cycling is. Risk is (negative outcomes) / (exposure) and we have no credible data on exposure. You can look at # of injuries, # of fatalities, etc but comparing them without knowing how many miles people bike vs how many miles people take whatever other mode of travel, it’s not terribly useful. It’s like looking at # of crimes committed without looking at population.

[Sadie Dingfelder]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920084/
Nationwide injuries per 100 million trips
Motorcycles: 10,337
Bicycles: 1,461
Car: 803
Pedestrians: 216
Bus: 161
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology, 2007; 116: 212-218.

Obviously that data is national. Locally, there are no numbers on bike riding risk as compared to other kinds of transportation. But I’m willing to be that Metrorail is the safest. Metrorail and Metrobus reported just 2 injuries per million riders in 2015.

[chris_s]

@Sadie Dingfelder 139252 wrote:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920084/
Nationwide injuries per 100 million trips
Motorcycles: 10,337
Bicycles: 1,461
Car: 803
Pedestrians: 216
Bus: 161
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology, 2007; 116: 212-218.

Obviously that data is national. Locally, there are no numbers on bike riding risk as compared to other kinds of transportation. But I’m willing to be that Metrorail is the safest. Metrorail and Metrobus reported just 2 injuries per million riders in 2015.

Well technically the first link’s data is for a nation, but it’s not our nation, it’s the Netherlands. Looks like they’re using exposure data from the Dutch CBO but I can’t find any info on how they collect it.

The second study is very interesting – US based, they pull fatalities from FARS, injuries from GES and Exposure from the National Household Travel Survey. FARs has some issues, but generally they are that they under-report not over-report. I don’t know anything about GES and the NHTS should be decent, though it is self-reported. Thanks for passing along the sources!

[Author]

Posts