When we talk about city planning and transportation, the conversation often turns into a battle of extremes—cars versus bikes, highways versus bike lanes, speed versus sustainability. But maybe we’re framing the issue all wrong. What if, instead of pitting one against the other, we thought of our transportation network the way we think about a track meet?
After all, no one shows up to a track meet expecting the sprinters to beat the marathoners at long-distance events—or vice versa. Each athlete shines in their own event because they’re using their body in the most efficient way possible for the distance and conditions. Transportation should be no different.
The Marathoner: Cars
Cars are the long-distance runners of our transportation ecosystem. They’re built for endurance, capable of handling long trips with relative comfort and speed. Need to travel across town, to the suburbs, or between cities? That’s a marathon—and the car excels. Like a long-distance runner who maintains a steady pace over kilometers of terrain, cars perform best when they can travel uninterrupted over long stretches.
But we don’t expect marathoners to be nimble in a short dash, and we shouldn’t expect cars to be agile in short, stop-and-go urban trips either. In dense environments, their size, speed, and storage requirements start to look more like liabilities than strengths.
The Sprinter: Bicycles
Enter the sprinter—the bicycle. Bikes are unmatched in short-distance speed and efficiency, especially in an urban context. Like the 100-meter dash, a bike ride across a neighborhood is quick, elegant, and often faster than driving once you factor in traffic, stoplights, and parking.
Bikes don’t need much space. They start and stop easily. They work well when things are close together, when the “track” is smooth, direct, and safe. In a compact city core or residential area, they’re the ideal sprinter—quick off the line, light on their feet, and capable of weaving through dense infrastructure with grace.
Designing the Right Track
Just like we wouldn’t ask a marathoner to run a 200-meter dash on a twisty, narrow track, we shouldn’t ask cars to dominate city cores—or ask bikes to survive on wide, fast roads built for speed and distance. Good transportation planning isn’t about declaring a winner. It’s about designing a city where each “athlete” has a course tailored to their strengths.
That means:
- Protected bike lanes and calm streets for short urban trips—the 100m dashes of daily life.
- Efficient arterial roads and intercity connections for longer trips—the marathons that keep the regional economy flowing.
- Seamless transitions between modes of travel—like sprinters handing off to distance runners in a weird hybrid relay (OK I stretched the metaphor too far 😆).
Playing to Our Strengths
The takeaway? Bikes aren’t a niche option for the hyper-fit or environmentally zealous. They’re the “sprinters” of the transportation world—ideal for quick trips, local errands, and everyday commutes. Cars still have a role to play—but let’s stop asking them to run sprints they’re not built for. And let’s stop designing our cities like every trip is a marathon.
Let’s give each mode the space to do what it does best.
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