A lot of these young people will change their tune when they get older and find out what a pain in the ass it is not having a car. As an older non-car owning bicyclist I can attest to it, but I love cycling even in the winter. Same age friends think i'm mad. I saw a huge dropoff in bike commuters and those frickin' e-scooter riders when the temperature started dropping. I frequently couple my bike rides with mass transit to get across town, and even though buses have bike racks I have a collapsible Brompton bike I can take on the conveyance with me, if the racks are full, which they rarely are.

The key is that you have to ride all year. If you let your tires go flat, no matter how much you have spent on a bike and the gear it's time to test drive a Subaru. As you age, getting back in the saddle after you haven't ridden for a while is quite painful on your nether regions. No giant tractor seat or special underwear can make it better, just a lot of riding.

DC has 5% of its population bike commuting supposedly. The workforce in Washington is pretty young, and I can attest that both driving and cycling there are a nightmare, as is parking. New York City has incredible bicycle infrastructure. There is a bikeway that runs aong the Hudson the entire length of Manhattan. Delivery people on cheap heavy e-bikes with stacks of metal cartons on them an inch away at 30 miles per hour. are quite terrifying though. They don't even consider traffic controls advisory. Mix in the share bikes and e-scooters with morons on them in the bike lanes, and sometimes I ride with traffic since it is safer.