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| We talked about the mechanic shortage on the latest Guitar Ted Podcast. |
I've done some research into the reactions to this article, and I mentioned some of those comments in the podcast episode posted last week. (HERE)
The article resonated with me on several levels. I wanted to address some of this here and also give my considered opinions on the fate of local bike shops (LBS) in the future.
The issues facing bicycle shops are very difficult to overcome due to, in large part, our overall perceptions of bicycles, the size of the USA, and by our climate. These three barriers to cycling participation present a bar so high that, as I've always thought and said, will not allow the USA to be anything like Europe when it comes to cycling.
Briefly then: Weather changes with the seasons, severe weather occurrences, and American's aversions to be subject to the whims of weather are insurmountable as long as we have automobiles to insulate us from the onslaught of oftentimes difficult weather conditions for cycling. Be that heat, cold, wind, or precipitation, all are huge hindrances for many folks when cycling is suggested as a transportation alternative.
The sheer distances Americans have to travel to get basic goods and services is another huge barrier to cycling. As an example, citizens of Waterloo, Iowa's East and North reaches have to travel upwards of four to five miles, one way, to get to a grocery store and this is in a town of 70,000 folks. While this seems like nothing to some of you, cycling that distance is difficult for many people now. Yes - there are solutions to this issue, however - in concert with the weather issue, this becomes a mountain too tall to scale for many.
The final issue is how bicycles are perceived here. If you "have to ride a bike" this generally puts you in the criminal categories. "Oh! This person must have gotten too many Driving Under the Influence (DUI's) tickets to drive", or they are too poor to own a car, etc. Bicycles are only ridden by 'normal citizens' for recreational purposes. Then we get into the entire infrastructure issues and most folks won't even consider riding a bicycle.
Example: I dropped my vehicle off Friday at a body shop for an adjustment to the end gate. I planned on riding home after I dropped of my vehicle. It's 4 miles from my home. The lady at the front desk of the auto body shop was amazed I would even consider riding and tried to talk me into taking a ride. This is pretty representative of how people think about bicycles, at least around here.
All of these issues affect mechanics. If the vast majority of people think like the lady at the body shop, (and I am pretty convinced most folks do), then why would anyone ride a bicycle outside of primo recreation days found in Summer, maybe Fall, and late Spring? Late Fall through early Spring are completely dead times. Keeping a mechanic well-paid through those months is next to impossible for many shops. Lower pay? Maybe the shop will keep you around with severely reduced hours for six months. You surely are not going to get ahead of monthly bills being a bicycle mechanic in the Mid-West.
Of course we have poor infrastructure for cycling, people do not value cyclists as humans when they are riding, and bicycles are getting far too complicated. Add in the ever increasing "innovations" which require new tools, knowledge, and experience, and it is easy to see how we got to this point And the pay? Ha! It's horrendous. Why would any young person want to consider being a bicycle mechanic? It's a curious, dead-end career with little upside and it has been this way for decades.
And we wonder why mechanics and LBS are disappearing?
I agree with perceptions being a barrier. Size of US is a problem because of our government’s subsidization of the auto industry (fuel, roads) which promotes sprawl. Climate becomes a problem when people have little to no alternatives during bad weather.
ReplyDeleteWho knew you can ride a bike after sunset? The other un-mention is the carrot dangle in what used to be gold mines of university towns, programs which incentives the use of rental bike. Anyone with grants, certain credit unions, medical and social services have reduced to free fair fee access. Now the rental agencies have separate maintenance shops setup and employees to service those bikes. There is no fear of theft or repair cost to the user. Why buy a bicycle?
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to live in coastal California where weather is seldom a barrier to cycling but I'm sure weather is a major disincentive in most parts of the US.
ReplyDeleteHowever I think the major issue is how much Americans love their cars. I know people who will literally drive one block and are astounded when I suggest walking. That love has also dictated the design of most communities built here since WW2 - everything is widely separated and there are no safe paths for bikes or in some cases even pedestrians. It's no surprise to me our most bicycle friendly areas are older urban areas (along with the special case of college towns where most students don't own cars).
Finally there's the problem of theft. There aren't many places in this country where you can leave a high value, easily transportable bike out of your sight without a good chance of losing it. That's why I do my errands on foot - I've never had my shoes stolen.
It seems odd that there should be a shortage of the size mentioned in the article. That's a lot of mechanics! So if there is a shortfall it suggests we're probably just not paying mechanics enough money. But why is that?
ReplyDeleteYear round demand for mechanics is the key I think. As Mark says, it's at best a seasonable role in many places currently. And again, why is that?
Mark says his town is 70,000 residents. If just 10% of those cycled one short journey each week, that's 7,000 bike trips (and 7,000 bikes that need maintaining). What about one short journey a day? 49,000 bike trips.
How many bikes can one person service a day? Five? Ten? That would be 25-50 bikes a week. You'd think there'd be plenty of work for a mechanic.
So the question becomes - how do you encourage people to cycle regularly year round (or at least a lot more than now) to build that demand?
Having ridden in the Netherlands this year I've seen what's possible and geography, climate and space are not the barriers you might think. All practical objections to cycling fade in towns and cities where people mostly live and cold, wet and wind are not phenomenom exclusive to the US.
What I'm actually talking about is great cycling infrastructure as the pre-requisite for most people that don't currently cycle to change their habits.
People should question why so often efforts to build what's needed are blocked, stymied or derided, because these are category errors that are holding back communities and businesses.
In fact, many (most?) societies make these same errors. The UK is the same. There is persistent foot-dragging to sensible improvements and everything becomes a tedious issue of identity politics.
Fix the infrastructure and more people cycle. More people cycle and you get more shops and businesses supporting them. More shops and you get more mechanics.
In the UK we are making some (slow) progress especially in London, but nothing like places such as Paris and Barcelona that are keen to close the gap to the Netherlands. Our progress remains contingent whereas the Dutch have shown - just get on with it. More makes more.
In order to just get on with it though it needs to stop being a political issue of identity. Just like people don't question fitting buildings with gas, water and phone lines, why should building protected lanes and bike parking anything other than normal.
There's your challenge! But it will solve the mechanic shortage for sure...
Infrastructure is for sure a key issue. However; whatever gets done with infrastructure for cyclists will take a back seat to what is needed for automobiles. People here are up in arms about poor street conditions and if you want to piggy-back cycling into the upgrades these folks throw a hissy fit. The resistance is massive.
DeleteSure, the "build it and they will come" thing has proven successful, but you have to get people to agree to even include cycling upgrades first. That is a HUGE hurdle here.