This post is inspired by me seeing an ambulance in the bike lane by the apartment building opposite of mine.
By this point, I’m sure we’ve all had just about enough of anti-urbanists and NIMBYs claiming in bad faith that bike lanes and bus lanes will be obstructive for emergency vehicles, and as such cannot be built.
You’re probably well aware that exactly the opposite is the case - cars are the principal obstruction for emergency vehicles, and emergency vehicles can actually make very efficient use of bike and bus lanes to shorten response times.
I propose that we flip the argument on its head by rebranding bike and bus lanes as Emergency Vehicle-lanes, which just so happen to afford permission to buses and bikes when not in active use by emergency vehicles (which is of course already the case, everyone is required to yield any space to emergency vehicles, at least where I live).
This way, we kill this particular argument against bike and bus lanes in its crib, and expose the opposition as being actually against emergency vehicle mobility, in favour of having more lanes to drive their cars on.
Let me know what you think!
Your first mistake is assuming NIMBYs are arguing in good faith. They will simply keep arguing the point, or find another one. They don’t even have to argue on a basis of truth, as long as they keep screeching loud enough for everyone to go “FINE, baby. Have it your way” because they don’t wanna deal with it anymore.
Do not appeal to or argue with NIMBYs, instead present your case to politicians and participate in your local politics.
“We can’t have dedicated emergency lanes, that would imply our neighborhood is unsafe”
Won’t someone think of the property values?!?
Op specifically said the nimbys argue in bad faith so it’s weird you’re Johnny on the spot to correct them on that one
Well, this is kind of a bad faith rebranding from my side, isn’t it? Seeing as I’m primarily interested in having safe and efficient space for bikes and buses, with emergency vehicle mobility being a mere side effect.
I don’t think we should be afraid to “stoop to their level” - they play dirty, we should play just as dirty.
You can argue with them until the cows come home. It’s not about playing dirty or keeping your hands clean, it’s about not wasting your time with rotting lead-brained boomers. You can do that if you think it’s fun, but it’s not gonna achieve anything.
I don’t know that I agree. When the other side speaks, they aren’t trying to convince us, really - they speak to the people on the sidelines who may be swayed either way. As is the case when we speak - we already know that these people are arguing in bad faith, and they’re not going to be won over by what we say.