Saturday, 9 Sept 2023

I just finished watching the latest video from NotJustBikes. One thing that struck me the most is how safe European cities are, even the small ones. The very first video I watched on that channel was about the trash system in Amsterdam, if I'm not mistaken. Since then, I've been interested in urban planning (after checking out the other urban planning videos from that channel). So, the point is that even the smallest cities have robust and safe infrastructure, according to the latest video.

Smaller towns have great bicycle infrastructure, which is bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly, reminding me of my visit to Europe. You might ask why I didn't visit other places in the United States. One of the reasons is that the United States is car-centric. I don't mind visiting New York or Chicago because you can easily walk, and I know that the train system in Chicago is not as good, but at least it's there; if not, I can just walk.

So that's why I decided to visit the biggest cities in Europe because they have reliable public transportation available. I can walk, and if not, I can take an Uber or something like the local Uber, only if needed. For example, I was in Paris at the time and had to catch a flight to London. I think it was London because, sadly, the flight ticket was much cheaper than the train ticket. That's another story, but I had to catch a flight, I think at 5 a.m. So, we had to leave at maybe 3 or 2 a.m. At that time, there was no public transportation operating, so just to catch the flight, we opted for an Uber instead. Yeah, okay, so the point is the reason why I chose European cities is that they are very bicycle-friendly and pedestrian-friendly (because you rarely hang around at 2 or 3 am anyway). Cycling over there is safer in my experience than over here in Kuala Lumpur.

I'm not saying that cycling infrastructure is excellent in most major European cities. It can be terrifying as well due to the cities still retaining some volume of cars within their centers. But at least the speed of motor vehicles is lower, and there aren't any motorcycles zipping through traffic at high speeds like in Kuala Lumpur. Although I can't be totally sure since I haven't been cycling in Kuala Lumpur yet. Despite that, through the lens of being a passenger in a motor vehicle, the observation I've made is enough to deduce that cycling in Kuala Lumpur is not a safe experience (at least not as safe as in Budapest, for instance). I'm just comparing city centres, by the way.

For the moment, I'm actually cycling to and from the lab and my accommodation. Even then, it can be terrifying because it's not made for cyclists. It's made for cars, and yeah, sharing the infrastructure with much faster-moving cars and motorcycles is terrifying. That's one of the reasons why I plan to do my PhD somewhere in Europe (I've excluded the United States due to the same reason) just because I can live in a place that is much safer for me as a non-car user.

Full video: