Should cycling proficiency be required of anyone who would lead a transportation organization?
Most readers of this blog would answer "yes!" My own unbiased (wink, wink) opinion would incline me to agree. But some would disagree; not so long ago, most people would have. I think one's answer depends on whether one sees bicycling as a form of transportation; although the number of people who see it that way is increasing, there are still many who see cyclists as young people with a sense of entitlement. Those, I believe, are among the people who are upset whenever a bike lane "takes" "their" parking spaces.
While we're talking about definitions: If the director of a transportation organization or agency should exhibit cycling proficiency, what, exactly constitutes it? I think most of us would agree that Pete Buttigeg, the Secretary of Transportation doesn't have it, at least judging from the video from which this still is taken:
To be fair, he even joked about his cycling skills, or lack thereof. But we all know that time and practice makes you more proficient and savvy.
That last sentence, by the way, can apply to his political aspirations. When he ran in last year's Democratic Party primaries, he was younger and less experienced than the other candidates. I think that he'll run again and, possibly, win in 2028--when he'll be about the same age as Obama, Clinton and JFK were when they entered the White House. And maybe, just maybe, Pete will ride to his inaugural--and look good doing it!
The last time I remember anything about a Secretary of Transportation, was, 2 miles into my bicycle work commute around 2011 or so, I heard a news alert on the radio that Ray LaHood (Obama's first, Republican Secretary of Transportation) rode 1.5 miles into work on a bike. I don't recall any of Trump's Transportation Secretaries' names, much less that any of them knew what a bicycle was. The main bicycle news while Trump was President was the black guy on a bike (I won't call him a cyclist) that got shot 16 times in the back by LA County Sheriff's Deputies. By that measure, Mayor Pete is in the mainstream of Transportation bigwigs. Perhaps Mayor Pete is well ABOVE average as Transportation Secretaries go, though one wonders about wearing a mask while riding a bike, while socially distant, beyond just being politically correct...
ReplyDeleteHe sounds like a smart guy but let's face it, those in charge of transportation for many decades have created a very cycling unfriendly landscape keeping generations away from considering it a viable safe form of personal transport and therefore do not develop cycling skills...
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved to this city fifty years ago I came to know the head of transport who was a cyclist and photographer who got to know the city streets intimately inch by inch and his staff knew that. Once he retired the rot set in.