My electric scooter has been my salvation. At 60 I have become increasingly uncomfortable riding a bicycle in traffic but I am quite comfortable riding the scooter. The standing position with no bar between my legs makes me feel safer. For years I did most of my trips in a car while my bike languished in the basement. Last year I bought a scooter and it got me out of my car so much that I just replaced it with a faster one! The problem I'm seeing now is Street design. I think that when it was just cars and bikes it was easier to define space. The explosion in the last couple of years of small e-mobility seems to have made the roads chaotic. If the city doesn't get on this quickly I see it getting really bad. We are long past due deprioritizing cars here.
Hey Bruce, ebikes are a great adjunct to a car and can replace a second car. Read Lloyd's article carefully. Safe bike lanes are key. I have a trailer for my ebike: can definitely bring home our family groceries and other stuff no problem. Many are designed to carry kids too. Try one! They are so fun you will be looking for an excuse to ride it.
I was in downtown Phoenix this past Friday for a theatrical play and there were quite a few e-bikes whizzing by. Problem is, they're driving on the sidewalks at full speed, weaving in and out of pedestrian traffic and being very unsafe both to themselves and bystanders alike. I like the idea of e-bikes in certain places and for certain reasons, but when every young person with an indestructible mindset is on them acting irresponsibly, I have an issue with it. E-bikes come with their own challenges; it's not a panacea for reducing emissions and the number of vehicles on the road.
Making people aware of how much it actually costs to drive 5 miles to drop kids off at soccer practice, instead of taking a bike, could be part of a good messaging campaign. $4 vs 40 cents? Cost to get your kid an ebike and a bus pass vs a $15k car with insurance, etc? Ebikes can be an absolute financial game changer for middle class suburban families.
And an aging population should absolutely embrace ebikes, can give many more years of freedom if we invest in the infrastructure for safe riding.
I live near a cycle path (canal tow path) which I use both on my e-bike and as a pedestrian (dog walker). The dangerous, inconsiderate cyclists, who don't seem to want to acknowledge that it is shared space, are not usually the older e-bikers but athletic young(ish) men on ATBs with no warning devices, heavily encased in helmets and goggles, who seem to think they have priority and it's entirely up to the walker to get out of their way.
E-Bikes are very appealing. For all the many eco reasons. Unfortunately they are heavy and for an aging population may not easily be picked up. More importantly the risk of injury from motor vehicles precludes considering getting a pair for us. If there were dedicated bike paths separated from motor vehicles that would be fine, but for shopping (where do you put a trunks worth of groceries?) etc. that by nature requires exposure to public motor vehicle streets. Recreational use... possibly but for a replacement of a car not as a practical reality unfortunately.
My electric scooter has been my salvation. At 60 I have become increasingly uncomfortable riding a bicycle in traffic but I am quite comfortable riding the scooter. The standing position with no bar between my legs makes me feel safer. For years I did most of my trips in a car while my bike languished in the basement. Last year I bought a scooter and it got me out of my car so much that I just replaced it with a faster one! The problem I'm seeing now is Street design. I think that when it was just cars and bikes it was easier to define space. The explosion in the last couple of years of small e-mobility seems to have made the roads chaotic. If the city doesn't get on this quickly I see it getting really bad. We are long past due deprioritizing cars here.
Hey Bruce, ebikes are a great adjunct to a car and can replace a second car. Read Lloyd's article carefully. Safe bike lanes are key. I have a trailer for my ebike: can definitely bring home our family groceries and other stuff no problem. Many are designed to carry kids too. Try one! They are so fun you will be looking for an excuse to ride it.
Spouse and I both have eBikes and each put on 1200 miles this year. (Miles not on the car)
I was in downtown Phoenix this past Friday for a theatrical play and there were quite a few e-bikes whizzing by. Problem is, they're driving on the sidewalks at full speed, weaving in and out of pedestrian traffic and being very unsafe both to themselves and bystanders alike. I like the idea of e-bikes in certain places and for certain reasons, but when every young person with an indestructible mindset is on them acting irresponsibly, I have an issue with it. E-bikes come with their own challenges; it's not a panacea for reducing emissions and the number of vehicles on the road.
Making people aware of how much it actually costs to drive 5 miles to drop kids off at soccer practice, instead of taking a bike, could be part of a good messaging campaign. $4 vs 40 cents? Cost to get your kid an ebike and a bus pass vs a $15k car with insurance, etc? Ebikes can be an absolute financial game changer for middle class suburban families.
And an aging population should absolutely embrace ebikes, can give many more years of freedom if we invest in the infrastructure for safe riding.
I live near a cycle path (canal tow path) which I use both on my e-bike and as a pedestrian (dog walker). The dangerous, inconsiderate cyclists, who don't seem to want to acknowledge that it is shared space, are not usually the older e-bikers but athletic young(ish) men on ATBs with no warning devices, heavily encased in helmets and goggles, who seem to think they have priority and it's entirely up to the walker to get out of their way.
E-Bikes are very appealing. For all the many eco reasons. Unfortunately they are heavy and for an aging population may not easily be picked up. More importantly the risk of injury from motor vehicles precludes considering getting a pair for us. If there were dedicated bike paths separated from motor vehicles that would be fine, but for shopping (where do you put a trunks worth of groceries?) etc. that by nature requires exposure to public motor vehicle streets. Recreational use... possibly but for a replacement of a car not as a practical reality unfortunately.