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The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

nytimes.com

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Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#201

Post by photojosh »

Johnny555 wrote: post #159
ryukafalz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The roads are unsafe for bikers, so the only people who bike are those who are super dedicated to it. Then when people ask for the roads to be safer, it gets pushed back as "only biking enthusiasts use the roads now". Yup. Bit like how it's hard to argue for building a bridge by the number of people swimming across the river.

Yup. Bit like how it's hard to argue for building a bridge by the number of people swimming across the river. It's even worse since the bridge will be built with connecting roadways on both sides so it will be instantly popular. But often a few bike lanes will be constructed in isolation,t then people will complain "Look, we built these expensive bike lanes to nowhere and no one is even using them!" It takes a rich n…

What compounds the problem is that the bike lanes are often built where it is easy and non-controversial to do so... and so the actually difficult spots get left until last... which are often the key points that dissuade people.

Key example [0], the difference between the north and south entrances to the Sydney Harbour Bridge cycleway, which are under different local governments. The North Sydney council is actively fighting an upgrade [1], whereas on the south side it's smooth access expanding into a network of bike paths.

In my city, the major conflict points are all short stretches of busy narrow road, while paths are going in elsewhere.

[0] https://bicyclensw.org.au/a-tale-of-two-sydneys/ [1] https://architectureau.com/articles/sydney-harbour-bridge-cy...

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#202

Post by ashtonkem »

scintill76 wrote: post #144
AutumnCurtain wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Texas "rolling coal" case shows you can attempt to murder a group of cyclists and face no legal repercussions if you are in the right political climate.

This one? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transpor... Charges were just filed.

There was also a similar case in Austin where a cyclist shot a driver who tried something similar; the cyclist was released without charged and the driver was charged with attempted homicide or similar. Personally I’m impressed the cyclist managed to hit the driver while biking, which seems like a very hard thing to do.

That being said, these are edge cases. The sad reality is that a driver must display extreme levels of negligence or malice before the state will step in to punish them. In NYC only 1 percent of drivers who injured a pedestrian or cyclist even got a ticket. Assuming the driver is sober and doesn’t flee the scene, neither cops nor DA’s really care about prosecuting negligent drivers who injure or kill anyone.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#203

Post by mike_d »

analog31 wrote: post #137
Spooky23 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a point, but the Lance Armstrong wannabes make everyone miserable. In my area, they “took over” a popular bike trail and now kids and more casual people are pushed aside. It’s like dealing with serious lap swimmers.

Time for a Critical Mass of casual cyclists. ;-)

Responsible bike riders should publicly condemn Critical Mass. They are the type of people that make drivers and pedestrians hate people on bikes, and go out of their way to escalate confrontations due to some bike rider victim complex.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflicts_involving_Critical_M...

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#204

Post by quadrangle »

DantesKite wrote: post #172

Bikes are too dangerous. Read too many stories about people breaking their face. Not a fan. But if they change the way cities are designed, it can perhaps be a bit more safe.

Bikes are not that dangerous, they are less dangerous than cars. So, yes, the danger is infrastructure that puts bikes next to cars instead of giving bikes their own space.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#205

Post by mrep »

wanderingstan wrote: post #192
mrep wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, the percentage of cyclists that disregard the rules of the road are an order of magnitude higher than car drivers.

When people mention this, I always ask what percentage of cars are following the speed limit—a rule of the road all the more important when piloting a vehicle which can easily kill. Cyclists disregarding the rules of the road are lower percentage, and primarily endanger themselves.

Fare: I agree that cars speed more than cyclists blowing stop sings/red lights but the latter is far more dangerous in my opinion and I see them do it constantly.

I had to slam on the breaks 3 weeks ago when making a left because of a biker completely running a red light in front of me.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#206

Post by TulliusCicero »

kristjansson wrote: post #158
TulliusCicero wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it would take that long, if there were the right policies. Especially if ebikes letting you go 20 mph were the norm, most suburbs aren't so low density that you couldn't have, say, bakeries or small grocery stores within biking distance. That would often require zoning changes, in addition to adding bike paths, but it wouldn't take a whole generation to get done.

We could have bakeries, small groceries, etc. within _walking_ distance right now, if zoning allowed them to be integrated into residential areas, and people didn't expect parking. Would that we could...

Depends on the surburb, I've definitely seen many where walking distance wouldn't work very well, there just flat out aren't that many people. You'll have a subdevelopment where there's 50-100 houses or whatever, and it's connected to a highway and otherwise surrounded by a bunch of green space. That's not enough people to support more than a kiosk's worth of retail, probably.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#207

Post by sideshowb »

darkwizard42 wrote: post #9

I wonder which mapping platform will start to improve routing for the e-bike user. I find that currently using an e-bike I don't get a very accurate ETA since the routes are calculated for regular bicycles (at least on Google Maps!). Also with an e-bike hills are no longer as large an issue as they would be to regular bikes so route decisions could be less roundabout.

Have you find any cases where hills are actually faster than an equal length flat route? I've been thinking it's at least theoretically possible as you could climb at the speed limit of the pedal assist then descend faster under gravity

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#208

Post by jmcphers »

kevincrane wrote: post #18
paulgb wrote: post #4

The thing that excites me most about e-bikes is that they change the politics around cycling. Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. With e-bikes becoming more common, I know a number of people who would not have touched a bike share but are using it as a replacement for Uber/Lyft rides. People…

> Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. Which I think is misguided pushback btw (which I think you agree with based on the context). I see it as a chicken and egg thing. The roads are unsafe for bikers, so the only people who bike are those who are super dedicated to it. Then when people ask fo…

> It’s super unfortunate that it still gets the stereotype as a “rich white people” activity when it’s really so much more financially accessible than a car.

It's true that a bicycle is itself cheaper than a car, but housing within biking distance to job centers sure isn't. In my view this is the primary reason bicycle commuters are stereotypically rich folks. The bicycle itself isn't the expensive part; you need proximity, extra commute time, and infrastructure. That stuff just isn't accessible to many people.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#209

Post by Maarten88 »

jackorange wrote: post #186
kevincrane wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. Which I think is misguided pushback btw (which I think you agree with based on the context). I see it as a chicken and egg thing. The roads are unsafe for bikers, so the only people who bike are those who are super dedicated to it. Then when people ask fo…

I think the issue goes further than that into being a societal problem. Majority of America is overweight, staring down at their phones day and night, and dread physical activity. They also like to flex their position and wealth to others, one of the reasons why pickup trucks and big SUVs sell in great numbers. These people are in no hurry to transition to riding bikes. The only way biking might work is if some popul…

I'd suggest starting with bike paths to schools. Kids don't have the problems you mention, they also don't have an alternative when they want to travel independently.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#210

Post by mike_d »

clairity wrote: post #64
paulgb wrote: post #4

The thing that excites me most about e-bikes is that they change the politics around cycling. Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. With e-bikes becoming more common, I know a number of people who would not have touched a bike share but are using it as a replacement for Uber/Lyft rides. People…

i'd personally like to see two policy changes (especially in a city like LA that's perfect year-round for biking): 1. convert curbside parking into dedicated and protected bike lanes (not everywhere, but extensively) 2. require bike parking (preferably covered and right next to entrances/foot traffic) and liability requirements anywhere that has a (car) parking lot this would put biking on par with cars and would enc…

3. Dedicated bike police enforcing bike laws.
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