Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict

I had to take my car to work today. The commute became a strong reminder of why motorcycles is a part of the transport solution in most cities of the world.

The railway service into downtown Oslo collapsed today. A small error made all the trains transporting commuters on their way to work stand still for 12 hours. A bad start on a Monday morning. Already overloaded roads leading into the city became a non-moving river of cars as commuters chose to take their car to work. It was as asphyxiating as only a traffic congestion can be. And I live in Norway - I can't even imagine how it is in the really, really big cities.

Traffic congestion on one of the major roads leading into Oslo, Norway, Monday 19 April 2009.

In between the cars and in the bus lane, some got through though: The motorcyclists. My riding friends at work was at work after their ordinary 30 minutes commute. I have the same distance to ride every morning, but today I had to take the car. It took me close to two hours.

It goes without saying that mopeds, scooters and motorcycles are important and decisive parts to solve the congestion problems that are plaguing our cities. We cannot all rely on trains and buses - some need a personal means of transport to get us there and back. If more used two wheelers, we would solve great problems with regard to traffic flow, parking, road building and pollution.

Practical tests in my small city have proven that by scooting to and from work you easily save 50-60% of the time you'd use in ordinary traffic jam on a Monday morning. The time saving and the fact that the motorcycles use less fuel than cars are in themselves important contributions to a cleener and greener commute.

Then you have the parking problem. You can easily park four to five motorcycles on the same place that one car will occupy. And finally, you don't need expensive, large scale road building to accomodate riders. We're fine with the roads we already have. Just keep them in good order.

Some cities around Europe, e.g. Rome, Paris and London, have a progressive and positive attitude towards motorcycles because the city traffic administrators and planners see that the M/C commuters are important parts of the traffic solutions. Norway has still to see that point. Even if the climate can be somewhat challenging in the winter, you can still use the bike at least 10 months a year here in the souht. In the west and further south you can use it practically all year round.

So why doesn't more road authoritites- in particular my own in Norway - contribute to give motorcycles a more prominent place in the solution picture by stimulating people to buy and use them?

Beats me.

But the next time you're stuck in traffic in your car, remember to wave to the riders that pass you and give them a warm thought because they make the traffic run smoother by choosing two instead of four wheels.