In large parts of the USA cycling paths and roadways have been installed, making pedaling a good deal more pleasant. This is true even in Alaska, whose weather is often not conducive to hazard-free travel. I'm glad to see that happen and hope to see much more of it.

I use buses, not bikes. I haven't owned a car in more than 25 years nor have I had the routine use of one in more than 15 years.

I have a question, though: Where are the community assemblies in your cities that can be petitioned for redress? In Juneau, Alaska, where I live, we have brought about many changes.

For instance, when I arrived here just about 28 years ago, our bus service was hourly with no Sunday service and few covered bus stops. Now our buses run every half-hour, bus routes have been expanded into neighborhoods and almost all stops are covered and encased. "Three-step' buses have all been replaced with 'kneeling' curb-parallel new ones with ramps and tie-downs for wheelchairs on all buses. With a tax exemption card, travel for the elderly and disabled is free, students of all ages are either free or half the price of adults.

Our population is just over 31,000 with no outlying towns or cities so we are basically on our own but our services equal or exceed that of many larger towns. And we got it by documenting needs, getting our population on board, attending Assembly sessions and petitioning them. (If we don't like individual Assembly members we replace them through the voting process.)

We have successfully presented our (elected) City Assembly with a number of other problems. For instance, our public libraries are now open 7 days a week, when they were not before; that feat was accomplished by closing the facilities earlier on some days so that they needn't hire more workers.