Tel Aviv Wants To Be Amsterdam: In Bicycling
Bicycle magazin'e web site. Bicycling as a hobby is a big in Israel, riding in Tel Aviv is another storyTel Aviv is a great place to bicycle. It is flat, the weather is great most of the year and most roads are bicycle friendly. But people here do not get around by bicycle. They prefer cars, mopeds, taxis or buses, anything motorized. There is even a trend for electric scooters as a commuter vehicle. City hall decided to promote bicycling. There are good reasons for people to get around by bicycles, after all in Amsterdam and Beijing you see more bicycles than taxis. A recent article in the Globes, a business paper, reported of city government push for more bicycle commuting. As you can imagine, what government decides is not exactly what people will do. So is turning Tel Aviv into Amsterdam in bicycle transportation just a matter of some PR? What makes the Chinese and Dutch take to the road by bike while Israelis take taxis or buses?
While Tel Aviv is a great place to bicycle, Tel Avivian's love their cars and mopeds (called Tus-Tus.) Cars are somewhat of a new phenomena for most people in Israel. Until the 1990's car prices were too high for most Israelis due to 100% import duty. When taxes were reduced to 50% and then 30%, cars became affordable. Tus-tusim (plural for mopeds) are a perfect vehicle for city commuting and are preferred to bicycles, it's a bike except there is that engine. Moped riders ride just like bicyclists, pass between cars in intersections and ride and park on side walks. So what makes these Dutch and Chinese pedal instead of moped? It's hard to say. Tel Avivians are probably just as practical as Chinese. Tel Aviv is just as flat as Amsterdam and probably has as much free parking. For the most part biking on the streets is safe. When streets are too crowded there are sidewalks, which most walkers do not mind sharing with bikes. The only real problem with bicycles in Tel Aviv is theft. Which leads one to believe that someone out there wants the bikes. Which means that they should want to bicycle around town. Actually, the theft seem to come from the teenage market (and teenagers themselves.) Teenagers seem to want expensive bikes and do not mind a slightly used one, so they buy or steal them. Police does not seem care and bicycle registration programs are not promoted enough or encouraged. A good lock and some common sense where to lock your bike is usually enough to prevent theft.
Bike path along Yermiyahu street heading to the old Tel Aviv port. Bicycle paths are simply painted lanes taking space from pedestrian walks / © 2009Motivating Tel Avivians' to bicycle more is a great idea. Bicycling behavior in Tel Aviv is a little more complicated than just convenience, safety and security. As a leisure activity Israelis actually love to bike. Bikes are available from the basic Chinese made $200 variety to $5000 and up carbon fiber sport models. Most American and European high end manufactures have a store here or sell through agents. The Cheshmonaiim street and a part of Menachen Begin boulevard are the bicycle retail center of Tel Aviv. Here are a dozen big shops and a few smaller ones offering new and used bikes. High end stores usually carry one or two brand name models. Shops without a big brand name carry the lesser known names. Shops also carry a wide variety of accessories: helmets, pumps, cloths, car racks, breaks and safety accessories (pads, etc.) Big signs with brand names on Ha'chesmonaiim street: Specialized, Raleigh USA, Diamondback, Look, Ritchey, Trek, Cannondale, GT, Mongoose, Schwinn, Scott, Giant, The North Face and a few exotic Italian types.
Bike riders complain of the few paths designated for bikes. Most of the paths are simply painted lanes in the middle of wide boulevards. These are usually taken from pedestrian paths. The complaint, like most city riders around the globe, is that most bicycle paths are taken from walk ways rather than roads. Riders assert the need for more paths to enable safe riding across the whole city. Once routes are available it will make more sense to commute without the fear of accidents and the slowdowns. Transportation and city officials claim the need to give automobiles as much road as they can until bicyclists really need more room to ride. Who is right? Ask a Dutchman or a Chinese, they will side with the bikers every time.
Comments
Firstly, helmets. I believe that, like here in Australia, they are compulsory in Tel Aviv.
Here, Helmets have been a big dampener on bike activity, not so much on leisure and sport cycling, but on using bikes for getting around.
Our bike commuting rates are amongst the world's lowest.
Helmets are the culprits in another way as well. They make it much harder to have a bike-share program like Paris, Montreal and so many European cities.
No one has suceeded in renting a helmet automatically, along with such swipe bikes. So, Like us, you are missing out on the best multiplyer of city biking.
Tel Aviv is slated to get a Velib type scheme, but how will you solve the helmet problem?
You can see films on related topics on my blog, And So To Bike.
http://datillo.wordpress.com/
Mike Rubbo
Good point. Israel has passed a mandatory bicycle helmet law over a year ago. The first few weeks everybody started wearing them. Then they realized that police is not going to enforce the law. Now we are back to "who cares" attitude. I see more helmets in the last year but that may be just my perception. Helmets are rented out in bike shops when there is an attendant. As you pointed out, they are not rented out in most places where there is a stand just outside a cafe and you can rent a bike for 5 shekels an hour (US$ 1.25.)
I suspect that one dead cyclist without a helmet on the news will change this. Sad to say this, I ride with and without a helmet. In the summer here a helmet is definitely a problem, it will bring up the head temperature enough to deter most from wearing them.
At least in Tel Aviv metropolitan area I do not see police enforcing the helmet law. There are so many other things they can enforce. Israelis are a complaining bunch when it comes to certain legal issues. If police started charging thieves for stealing bikes, bikers will put on helmets (I think.) CRAZY HUH?
Love your blog! Keep on taking pictures. I specially love the ones with a father/mother no helmet the 1 ~ 2 y.o. on the handlebar or behind with a helmet. See it in Tel Aviv all the time, will take pictures :)
Continue your good work.
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On another note, Israel is a country with little or no domestic oil production. Yet, there are, perhaps, as many cars in Tel Aviv as I can remember in Washington DC, Pittsburgh and NYC. Bikes are a practical, economical and green solution to gasoline-powered vehicles. They are also much safer.
In the cities I mentioned, mopeds are hardly even visible. Instead, deliveries are made by bikers, and the biker delivery culture is hardcore. For instance, when a bus cut me off one time, a delivery guy on a bike suggested I carry a metal pipe so I could bash out a window or mirror of a vehicle not being mindful of the bikes.
I understand that cars and mopeds might get a person from point A-to-B in, what seems like, a shorter time. I can assure you, however, that I can get from my apartment on Yaabets St to my office on Yordei HaSira in 10-15 mins. With traffic lights and congestion, it often takes longer in a car and the drivers are wasting money on petrol, whereas I don't spend a sheqel.
Ami, when you mention bike theft as a drawback to owning a bike, it is important to remember that, even if your bike is stolen, it can be replaced for less than the amount of money spent on petrol in a given year. Certainly registration programs would be worthwhile; but who wants to wait in yet another line to fill out that paper work.
The mentality of this country concerning bikes is changing, I think, especially with the green movement gaining momentum. However, I can see that we are a long way from Holland, when I nearly run down people walking in clearly designated bike paths and suburban mountain bikers consuming the entire promenade.