|
The numbers only do so much in explaining the reasons.
I lived in Royal Oak before, I biked to DT a handful of times for for a commute. The ride in is great, mostly downhill and I can get to work in less than 30mins even on a mountain bike. The ride back home is absolutely brutal as it's almost all uphill. You cannot bring a bike onto the train during rush hour which imo would deter a significant amount of people from trying.
Never lived in Richmond before, but 1) riding in Richmond, nuff said, 2) I don't fancy my chances of trying to cross the bridges, 3) the climb from South Van up towards DT. The bridges going into DT imo are a lot friendlier than the ones going to Richmond as I've crossed the Burrard, Cambie, and the Viaducts before via bike.
Past Burnaby I don't think the distance makes much sense to ride. Coming from Surrey seems like a shit show on a bicycle tbh. If I don't like the idea of crossing Knight Street or Oak Street bridges (crossing on/off ramps or being forced off the shortest route) I REALLY don't fancy riding on the Paltullo. I thought the Skytrain bridge from New West to Surrey was open to bike and foot traffic, but Google tells me to take the Pattullo.
No amount of pedal assist is going to make a 2h bike ride commute good compared to just an hour and a bit on the Skytrain.
|