Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

Post by Scubabear68 » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 1:57 PM UTC

d_sem wrote: post #106

Scubabear68 wrote: post #33

Just today I saw a crazy e-bike kid cruise down a major highway, going back and forth between the north and south lanes on the shoulder at intersections, narrowly missing several tractor trailers. And when I am in major cities I am regularly almost run down by scooter people. What are the stats on injury rates on these things?

Your anecdote mistakes electric motorcycles with e-bikes. In the USA, there are three legal classes of ebikes; with the fastest class having max legal speed of 28mph.

Post by zachkatz » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 2:23 PM UTC

chitowneats wrote: post #91

zachkatz wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a random main street in Denver: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7322582,-104.9861576,3a,75y,... Or another one: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7356145,-104.9873758,3a,75y,... ...or another one: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7383571,-104.9929042,3a,75y,... You can click around to pretty much any street in the city, and 100% of the space is dedicated to cars. A complete bike network that enables mass cycling…

If you're clicking around on random streets in Google Maps, it's clear you have no actual knowledge of the city. It's far less dense than any place you are comparing it to. Paris has been inhabited by city builders for thousands of years. Denver for about 150. It has such an uphill battle against its historical context as a Western U.S. mining town. Before that, the area was sparsely populated by Native American hunt…

Post by bobbylarrybobby » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 2:45 PM UTC

avianlyric wrote: post #47

jupp0r wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The major issue is safety. Bikers are much more (3.4x to 11.5x) likely to be fatally injured per mile travelled compared to people driving cars [1]. Better bike infrastructure is needed. [1] https://bicycleuniverse.com/bicycle-safety-almanac/

Yet despite that, the improvement in fitness from commuting by bike rather than car, is so great that switching to bike will statistically increase your lifespan in just about every city in the world. That’s after including the negative impacts of increased exposure to air pollution, and higher likelihood of being fatally injured while commuting. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cycli...

Post by dghlsakjg » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 4:19 PM UTC

Tempest1981 wrote: post #121

zachkatz wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a random main street in Denver: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7322582,-104.9861576,3a,75y,... Or another one: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7356145,-104.9873758,3a,75y,... ...or another one: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7383571,-104.9929042,3a,75y,... You can click around to pretty much any street in the city, and 100% of the space is dedicated to cars. A complete bike network that enables mass cycling…

Can bikes ride in the dedicated bus lanes? (Shown in the streetview links) I know there's no raised dividers, but they look empty.

Post by dghlsakjg » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 4:48 PM UTC

bradleyjg wrote: post #138

lm28469 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe they mostly solved that through regulation, ebikes can't provide power if you're not actively pedalling, they're caped to 25kph (~15mph) and can't exceed 250w, if they go faster or provide power by another mean they're considered like 50cc mopped or motorcycles depending on the speed/power which means you need an insurance and a license plate

I believe something like this is technically the law here as well. But it goes completely unenforced.