2 ms·
E-Bikes help people get out that don't usually get out, but "just because a little of a good thing is a good thing, it doesn't mean a shit ton of a good thing i
by exabrial 4y ago
E-Bikes help people get out that don't usually get out, but "just because a little of a good thing is a good thing, it doesn't mean a shit ton of a good thing is a good thing". The real problem is in America is most of our cities were developed at the same time as the automobile. I just spent a few weeks in Europe, where "right of ways" and density were necessary during the development of their cities. Cheap ebikes will help a few things, but too many will make other things much worse.
- laurencerowe 4y agoWhy would they be worse than car trips they replace?
- exabrial 4y agoGood question... a trip to a crowded Chinese city would probably change your mind. They're a good _supplement_ to public transportation, not a replacement. They can clog infrastructure, can be abandoned, parked in mass illegally, and have disposal lifecycle problems of their own. E-bikes themselves depend on toxic mining too right now which is a problem people gleefully ignore, and not to mention the energy cost of producing steel is net-negative at the moment. My preference would be trackless trollies and streetcars (5-10m intervals), followed by subway (15m intervals) and mid-distance electrified trains (30m-4hr intervals), supplemented with bikes. I'm still hopeful for fuel-cell cars and aviation in the next 20years, as that represents the ultimate connivence for the USA, as the vast majority of the USA it's _hours_ drive between major cities.