Only a nobody walks in L.A.

[sara]

Oh, this is neat: so, this weekend, the 405 freeway in L.A. is being shut down for roadwork; this is being referred to as "Carmageddon." Jet Blue has been offering $4 flights from Burbank Airport to Long Beach for $4 for the duration, as a publicity stunt.

But would it be faster just to bike? Never mind the lesser environmental impact.

Tune in tomorrow -- or perhaps later today -- and find out....


ETA: Victory for bicycles and public transit! From dragonfly:

Places:

1. The bicyclists, 38.4 miles in 1 hr 34 min.
2. The public transit riders in 1 hr 44 min.
3. A rollerblader in 2 hrs 40 min (her start location and time was unwitnessed, so we should call her unofficial *g*).
4. Airline commuters, 2 hrs 54 min.

Slate article wrapping up the #flightvsbike race

[dragonfly]

http://www.slate.com/id/2299432/

But the moment of folly seemed to provide an aperture for new thinking. In the face of this fanciful idea (a traffic-busting flight!) it became possible to demonstrate that cycling, often taken as a non-serious or marginal or even annoying (to some drivers) form of transportation in the U.S., could seem eminently reasonable: Not only the cheapest form of transportation, not merely the one with the smallest carbon footprint, not only the one most beneficial to the health of its user, but the fastest.