どうも。
さっそく行きます。
Bikingest Workplace (3)
SUMMARY
Ueda says bike-to-work campaigns have encouraged more people to choose bikes for their commute. He adds that New York is focusing on bike safety as part of its Vision Zero campaign, and intends to build 50 more miles of bike lanes each year. Grace says that contrary to popular belief, statistics show that biking has become much safer.
VIGNETTE
Lidia Grace: New York is leading the way with innovations like bike lanes between curbs and parking spots. Many other cities have copied that.
Ueda Shota: And bike-to-work promotional events have played a big role in getting more people to choose bikes as a commuting option. New York City is focusing on bike safety as part of its Vision Zero campaign to eliminate traffic fatalities. The city plants to build 50 more miles of bike lanes each year. That includes 10 miles of protected bike lanes.
Chuck Salmans: That sounds like a step in the right direction. I hadn't heard of Vision Zero, though. Please tell me about it.
Ueda Shota: The program was started by the mayor's office in 2014 with the aim of reducing traffic fatalities by 50 percent by 2025. It's based on a program of the same name in Sweden. The basic idea is that many pedestrian deaths are due to poor street design.
Pat McMillan: But biking in a crowded, hyped-up city like New York is still pretty dangerous, isn't it?
Lidia Grace: Many people think that. But statistics show that biking has actually become much safer. Fewer cyclists are being killed or severely injured in crashes with motor vehicles, even though bike ridership has risen sharply.
WORDS AND PHRASES
lead the way with ～で先頭を行く
Go first in some endeavor; do something before others providing an example. Someday we'll say, "Company X led the way with the first truly autonomous car, or Company X led the way with the first drone delivery service".
ビニエットではlead the way withを「率先する/先鞭をつける/先頭を行く」という意味で使っている
ただ「先に行く」という意味で使う場合もある
let me lead the way
私が先に行きますから後からついてきてください。オフィスの中をご案内します
curb 歩道の縁石
Grace uses this as a noun meaning the edge of the sidewalk closest to the road. It can also be a verb meaning limit, restrain, hold back. "The company has curbed spending on research and development". Or "The government is trying to curb cybercrime".
動詞として:curb 抑制する
Bike-to-work promotional event 自転車通勤促進イベント
Up at the top, Ueda says, "And bike-to-work promotional events have played a big role in getting more people to choose bikes as a commuting option".
A step in the right direction 一歩前進/正しい方向への一歩
A move in a desirable direction; heading in a good direction. The idea is moving toward a big goal, you know, even more measures can be taken. Things like "The Company's ban on overtime is a step in the right direction". Or "Their expanded maternity leave is a step in the right direction".
This is a step in the right direction.
これは正しい方向に一歩踏み出したことになる
though でも/しかし
However; nevertheless. As in "The restaurant served excellent food, though the portions were small".
with the aim of ～を目指して/～を目的として
Ueda says the program was started with the aim of reducing traffic fatalities by 50 percent by 2025. It was started for this purpose; to try to achieve this goal. We also say "in a bit to". "The company's closing several stores in a bit to survive". There's sometimes I read text like "The law aims to eliminate harassment in a workplace". I would change that to "The law is aimed at eliminating harassment". Because "the law" is not a person. It's not taking an action on its own. People created the law to do something.
poor street design 貧弱な街路設計/お粗末な・下手な街路設計
hyped-up テンションの高い/興奮した
Very excited or wired. We also use this without a hyphen. Things like "I had 4 cups of coffee in the last hour. I'm a little hyped up on caffeine".
statistics show 統計によると～である
Down at the bottom, Grace says, "statistics show that biking has actually become much safer". Statistics illustrate; they demonstrate this point. Statistics show that voters oppose higher taxes. Or "Statistics show that the job market is improving". We also say "Surveys show", "Researches show", "Opinion polls show".
statisticsも単数・複数両方に使う。「統計学」という意味では単数で、「統計上の数字/統計表」といった意味では複数として扱う
be killed or severely injured 死亡したり重傷を負ったりする
motor vehicle 自動車
bike ridership 自転車の利用者/利用者数
In this case, the suffix "-ship" refers to the group of people or a number of people doing a certain activity. So home ownership can refer to the group of people who own their own homes. "Home ownership dropped due to the recession". Or "The magazine's readership has been rising". The number of people who read the magazine.
-shipという接尾辞が意味するのは、a group of people doing a certain activityということ
membership 会員/会員数
parking spot 駐車スポット
Grace says, "New York is leading the way with innovations like bike lanes between curbs and parking spots". A parking spot is a location for one car to park as opposed to whole area which will be a parking lot or a parking area. You could say "It took me 30 minutes to find the parking spot or 30 minutes find the parking place".
1台分の車/自転車をとめるためのスペースのこと。
parking lot 駐車場
WORD WATCH
traffic fatalities
交通事故の死亡者/死亡者数
ゴガクルの解説より:「fatalitiesと複数形にして、｢(事故、災害、戦争などによる)死者(の数)｣を指す。airline fatalities (航空機事故による死亡者(数))、highway fatalities (ハイウェーでの死亡事故者(数))、civilian fatalities (戦争中の民間人の死者(数))のように使う。｢死傷者(数)｣の意味ではcasualtiesやtollという語を用いる。多数の死傷者(数)はheavy casualtiesあるいはａ heavy tollと言う。」http://gogakuru.com/english/phrase/105056
SAY WHAT YOU MEAN
promotional プロモーションのための/促進のための
An activity that increases interest in something or demand for it is a promotional activity. Such as "We launched a promotional campaign for our new beverage today".
poor (ad.)劣った/低品質の
This vignette uses the adjective poor to mean inferior, low quality. For example, "The service of that restaurant is very poor".
sharply 大幅に
If something changes suddenly and by a large amount, it changes sharply. Things like "Our sales have dropped sharply from last year".
QUOTE UNQUOTE
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. - Oscar Wilde (Irish poet, play wright and novelist)
一貫性とは、想像力に欠ける者たちの最後のよりどころである - オスカー・ワイルド (アイルランドの詩人、劇作家で小説家)
大幅に遅れていますが、残りも必ず。