Uncommon Sense

There's plenty of room on the sidewalks for both the bicyclists and pedestrians -- and of course, the bicyclist should defer the right of way to everything else. That universal law is observed by most sensible people everywhere -- unless some people make it their own private war to protect their "turf" -- but that happens in every arena of life, and are the unfortunate most visible and memorable encounters many have of others.

But by and large, bicyclists and pedestrians actually create the goodwill and aloha in Hawaii -- from their pleasant and respectful encounters with one another.

The problem IS that there is not too many people walking and biking -- and not that there are massive crowds fighting through to get anywhere -- like all the road rage on the highways and streets.

The simplest way to get more cars off the road is simply to share a ride -- which many more used to do back in an age in which although gas prices were much lower and even cheap back then, people valued everything and took less for granted. Now people think they have a right to a SUV and all the gas they want for free or as cheap as they want.

A lack of capacity is not our problem so adding more capacity (bike lanes, rail, boats, bridges, tunnels) is also not the answer. The answer lies in learning how to share and manage the resources that are already there -- in an intelligent manner that creates plenty and enough for all -- and not one person or group demanding exclusive use of the sidewalk, road, lane, and other community resources only for themselves.

That's the real progress in society -- and not simply fighting for the more.