Reclaim the Streets is a festival to stop traffic in one part of a city for a day, to make a point to the local government that the streets are congested and better public transport is needed

If you live in Sydney, New York, London or San Fransisco, go to the next 'Reclaim the Streets' festival; there's good music, dancing and political protest all at the same time

for more info go to
http://www.punk.org.au/reclaim-the-streets/
http://www.cat.org.au/rts/
http://www.active.org.au/sydney

And what gives you the right to block the average everyday citizen from reaching their place of work, their home, the hospital, etc? Or is this an organized affair with permits and whatnot, like the old SoFA fair in San Jose? Yes, there are traffic congestion problems in every major city, but you don't make any friends among the general public by getting in their way. What you should do is find the very routes that the political bigwigs take to their cushy jobs and block them. Otherwise you're only hurting innocent people who need to make a living.

Although, if I may ask, how are the petitions for mass transit improvements going?

And blocking off one street causes even more congestion on other streets. Especially if this is downtown, where a lot of streets are one-way, or already overcongested. The people that have to suffer this will no doubt begin to hate you and your cause.

This is a great idea. Cars waste our environment and take up 1/3 of the average worker's money. Let's show the world there's a way around cars.

And what gives you the right to block the average everyday citizen from reaching their place of work, their home, the hospital, etc?

What gives you the right to dominate the city infrastructure?

I can't stand people who complain about traffic. "Oh wah, traffic is so bad, wah wah! Won't someone please make the traffic stop! All this congestion, someone really needs to fix it! Why do so many people have to drive! Cruel world!"

Hey brah, you are the fucking traffic.

Take back the streets! Because we don't want you to drive so we can get places faster in our cars!

Hypocrites.

I don't have a car.

Nor do I.

Am getting a bit sick of having no place on the road for my bicycle and a murder attempt twice a day by car drivers...

I'm getting sick of watching us destroy our environment, and those who say cars aren't a huge part of this are delusional...

Plant trees on the roads!

I want a tank. A huge fucking tank. Not only would I crush and shell anything that was in the way, everyone would know that my penis is massive.

"And what gives you the right to block the average everyday citizen from reaching their place of work, their home, the hospital"
Not sure what you mean. the Australian constitution gives me the right to protest in the streets

"Or is this an organized affair with permits and whatnot, like the old SoFA fair in San Jose?"
Im not organising it - I just heard about it and thought it was a good thing to support - I can only assume the organisers recieved permission - the police don't try to stop them

"Yes, there are traffic congestion problems in every major city, but you don't make any friends among the general public by getting in their way. What you should do is find the very routes that the political bigwigs take to their cushy jobs and block them. Otherwise you're only hurting innocent people who need to make a living."
Makes sense.. and from where past festivals have been held - my guess would be that they have tried to do this

"And blocking off one street causes even more congestion on other streets. Especially if this is downtown, where a lot of streets are one-way, or already overcongested. The people that have to suffer this will no doubt begin to hate you and your cause."
That's half the point - there'll be worse conditions for one day, but then (hopefully) an improvment over the next 20 years.

hey roman. Just fit a gun onto an SUV. It's essentially the same thing

But all you'll do is drive the populace away from your cause. I'm not saying improved mass transit is a bad idea. Hell, I wish they'd improve it around here. (They complain about the lack of nightlife despite the clubs downtown, but the buses stop runnign at 6PM and the taxis are too expensive. So if you want to knock back some drinks but don't a have friend to be a desgnated driver, you're sunk.)

Your tactic, like "Critical Mass" assaults the people you claim to be trying to help and wins nobody over. Try a more intelligent approach.

Stop driving in your car and demand public transport. Now try to persuade others to do the same.

Nothing will change if you do nothing.

Come on...it is worth it. You can get drunk whenever you want.

But seriously I found going out here a problem. I'm used to having the nightbus to take me home. The perfect transport for a drunk. None of that here of course. I actually have never spend so much time in a car driven by drunk drivers than here in the US. I'm not suprised drunk driving is such a problem here. A lot of people see no alternative, no matter how irresponsible it is. And you can trust people to take the easy route most of the times. Even if that means being a total prick and drive drunk. Or get in a car with a drunk and stoned driver.

WE WANT PUBLIC TRANSPORT!!!!! Save our lives!

I wish South Africa had decent public transport. Most of it's minibus taxis, few of which are roadworthy.

You're missing my point, spurious. We need better public transportation, but clogging up roads that are already packed enough and pissing off the general public isn't the way to do it. It's not the goal I object to. It's the proposed means.

Your tactic, like "Critical Mass" assaults the people you claim to be trying to help and wins nobody over. Try a more intelligent approach.

I don't give a fuck about winning you over, it feels great to hold up traffic. Think of the critical mass as a great big fuck you, you tool.

But why do you consider me your enemy in this matter? I agree with your aim. It's your method I don't agree with. And I assure you, we motorists don't need pedestrians and bicyclists to hold up traffic. Motorists and road crews do that pretty well on their own.

Can a whole bunch of us motorists bring cattle prods? I say we drive these morons into the Sydney harbour to be eaten by sharks.

And you can bet the survivors, if any, will be the first to bitch and moan if the ambulances can't get through because other pedestrians and bicyclists are clogging up the streets.

You can bring your cattle poker if I can bring my shotgun :D.

But why do you consider me your enemy in this matter?

It's a pretty simple case of me v them. When I'm on my bike, all cars are potential enemies. Potential killers. And I'm powerless to do anything about 2k lbs racing about at 40 mph. But when enough of us amass together, not even the most crass of H2 drivers is gonna risk 60 bikers worth of points on his liscense.

I guess what I'm saying is I crit mass out of anger. :)

By the same token, though, we have a lot of country highways out here, and bicyclists use them frequently. These are posted 70 mph roadways and everybody knows this. Most cars, when coming up on a group of bicyclists, will honk to alert them, then, as the cyclists move into a single file, most drivers will pass wide so as to be sure nothing terrible happens. Unfortunately, some bicyclists are either wearing headphones (illegal here) or are simply not paying attention. They stay in a clump and then get all pissy when the car passes. One group, however, decided that a rolling roadblock was good idea against a car. These idiots actually fanned out in front of the guy, who couldn't slow down in time despite having decellerated to 55 prior to their dumb-ass move. The results were devastating. Fortunately for the driver of the car, he had witnesses to the cyclists' actions in the form of a couple of farmers. Unfortunately for the cyclists' families, they had loved ones to plant.

Also, a lot cyclists seem to think that red lights, stop signs, and other traffic laws don't apply to them. I had to ride my bike to work while my truck was laid up. I had no problem obeying the rules of the road, coming to full stops, walking my bike in crosswalks, etc. Knowing that cars outweighed me, I also kept an eye out for drivers, just like I would if I was driving. On busy streets, I had the luxury of being able to use the sidewalk, which I know isn't really possible in major cities, but I had to get across expressways and all. I just obeyed the rules of the road and stayed aware of my surroundings, just like I would if I was driving. The only situation I nearly got into was at a light when the car in front of me took off, then halfway through the intersection decided to land on her brakes. I almost rear-ended her! (I'll bet she would have claimed whiplash, too!) Granted, none of this is proof against bad drivers, but nothing is. Not even an H2.

Yeah, some drivers are dicks. My husband used to ride his bike to work and had more scrapes than he cares to remember. But who gives a second thought to the drivers that pass by uneventfully? I just keep my bike as high visibility as I can (LED taillights, halogen headlight, bright backpack, etc.) and I don't ride in the roadway if I don't have to. It's all I can do and leave the rest to fate. I have no right to make others use different transporation any more than they have the right to force me off my bike and into a bus (or an H2).

You live in Cali, don't you?

Yes, in Modesto. We're planning a move in a few years, though. Going back east.

What gives you the right to dominate the city infrastructure?
Transportation necessity.

California's a really liberal state. The drivers there are nice, too. A lot of drivers also bike, or at least, the mentality is that cyclists aren't things to run over.