10 ms·

Riding a bike doesn't need to be the only or primary way that people get around in every city, all the time, for it to drastically improve quality of life for p

Riding a bike doesn't need to be the only or primary way that people get around in every city, all the time, for it to drastically improve quality of life for people living in cities the world over. Most people are capable of riding a bike - especially an e-bike - to get to where they're going. It's cheaper than a car, it can be faster than driving a car, and it is obviously better for both the global climate and the local environment. More than half of all daily trips in the US are less than 3 miles[1]. If cities give people the option to ride a bike for those shorter trips without feeling unsafe, a lot of people will ride bikes to complete those trips. That's shown over and over again. Change is hard, but a future with less cars and more trips by bike and public transportation is better, and possible. [1] https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1230-march-21-2022-more-half-all-daily-trips-were-less-three-miles-2021 https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1230-marc...

woevdbz 4y ago
> Most people are capable of riding a bike - especially an e-bike - to get to where they're going. Citation needed? If I think of my own family, the ones without kids in their teens, 20s, 30s, 40s are ok, but the ones older than that, and the ones with young kids, I would not put on an ebike. [EDIT] Not sure why the downvotes. I'm cycling a lot myself and am a big proponent of cycling. But am no longer able to make this my only means of transportation now that I have kids that are both too old to fit on a baby seat and too young to be going around town on their own. Family members that have respiratory and cardiovascular health problems cannot do sustained even moderate exercise. Populations are aging worldwide. Thus I don't really know that the statement is true and would like to learn more from actual data.
- henryfjordan 4y ago
  You could use a golf-cart sized vehicle, max speed ~20mph, and fit right in with the flow of bike traffic. So much safer for everyone involved than a car. Would be nice if more cities optimized for golf carts alongside bikes.
  - ryukafalz 4y ago
    One city has, in fact: https://youtu.be/pcVGqtmd2wM https://youtu.be/pcVGqtmd2wM
  - nradov 4y ago
    You can buy a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle today and drive it on many city streets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle?...
- Kim_Bruning 4y ago
  Would you give them a bakfiets? * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je1ThOYD8Ic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je1ThOYD8Ic * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQhzEnWCgHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQhzEnWCgHA
  - woevdbz 4y ago
    Maybe? Good luck charging one of those in an apartment building
    - Kim_Bruning 4y ago
      Depends on the apartment building I think? A lot of apartments I've looked at come with some form of lockable storage space on the ground floor.
- akvadrako 4y ago
  Plenty of people in their 50's and 60's can ride regular bikes and e-bikes just make it easier. It doesn't have to work for 100% of people. Kids below about 10 indeed fit better in a bakfiets then on their own.
- googlryas 4y ago
  In my city (Boulder), e-bikes are essentially banned on bike-friendly trails. A bunch of 70+ year olds are mounting a campaign to get that overturned, because they want to be out there on ebikes and access the trails like everyone else, even if their physical capabilities are a little bit lower than younger people. Also, you can put "car seats" on many cargo bikes. You can tote around a kid safely on an ebike starting from about 1 year of age. How many people do you suspect aren't capable of riding an e-bike? Clearly there will always be some people it doesn't work for, but that is pretty much the case for any kind of accomodation.
- Melatonic 4y ago
  There are lots of tandem like addons that work great for medium sized children - I remember using one extensively with my mother when I was around that age. People with cardiovascular issues could probably still ride a low speed ebike or electric scooter.
Eji1700 4y ago
I do think this is a more complex problem than people give credit. I've seen bike lanes added to roads, and almost no one is happy. There's always idiot drivers and bikers and every now and then someone gets hurt or killed. Bike paths make infinitely more sense (especially since they dont have to follow roads and can take more direct paths), but cities seem loathe to adopt them vs just painting some lines on a current street. Finally climate plays a huge part as well. I live where it gets over 100f in the suummer routinely. Even a 3 mile bike ride at that point means you're drenched in sweat, which is just not acceptable in a majority of environments. Showers can be added but water is already a resource we're flippant with when we really shouldn't be. Finally its not a great solution for the elderly and has some risks. Yes they can ride an e bike, but when you screw up at 20 mph in a sedan you wind up with a very expensive bill and an insurance premium hikes. When you crash on a bike, even with saftey gear, you can wind up pretty seriously injured. None of this isnt to say we should not build more bike paths/trains/subways/busses, but I dont think its a one solution fits all sort of thing.
- simne 4y ago
  > There's always idiot drivers and bikers and every now and then someone gets hurt or killed. Consider, how safe will be world with self-driving bikes of 5 level! Unfortunately, even cars still does not reach 3 level, but why we should bother such tiny nuances..
- wlecometo 4y ago
  > Finally its not a great solution for the elderly and has some risks. it's not a great solution either to have elderly people in a car where one of their mistakes couuld kill people; but it is more accepted this as a "fatality". btw there are lots of solutions of mobility for elders that do not include a car.
- jonas21 4y ago
  I think that's their point. Even if bicycles aren't a solution for all, everyone can still benefit from more trips happening by bicycle. The elderly or those with a commute that would leave them unacceptably sweaty can still drive, and they will enjoy less traffic, cleaner air, and an easier time finding parking thanks to the cyclists.
nradov 4y ago
I am capable of riding a bike, and I even enjoy it. But I seldom use a bike for transportation because I'm scared it will be stolen. Bike theft is rampant, locks are ineffective (especially when it comes to attached accessories like lights and pumps), and the police don't bother to investigate. In the Bay Area we have some nice bike paths along the creeks, but the local authorities have allowed those to turn into homeless camps. Guadalupe River Park in San Jose is probably the worst. There are literally tents obstructing the paths. I know several people who have been accosted by aggressive homeless camp residents and are now afraid to travel through. And judging by the bike parts I see scattered around, many of the camp residents are prolific bike thieves. As long as the local authorities refuse to enforce the law, I have to assume they don't take bike transportation seriously and are only paying it lip service for virtue signaling.
- blacksmith_tb 4y ago
  One alternative solution to that problem is a folding bike, then you can just take it inside with you. Some even fold into something like wheeled luggage, if you needed to take it inside a grocery store and not just your office.
  - nradov 4y ago
    So now I need to buy yet another bike (good quality folding bikes aren't cheap), fold and unfold it at every stop, and drag it around in the store with me? And how am I supposed to carry a load of groceries on a little folding bike without a big basket or panniers? Come on, that's just not a realistic solution for any but the most dedicated cyclists. I absolutely want to see more motorists switch to riding bikes. The only way to make that happen is though a combination of infrastructure improvements and effective law enforcement.
- akvadrako 4y ago
  Just get insurance; it shouldn't be more than $10 a month for a reasonably priced city bike.
  - 4y ago
peoplefromibiza 4y ago
> Most people are capable of riding a bike - especially an e-bike - to get to where they're going. I'm getting an electric moped or motorscooter at that point. They are more durable, require less maintenance, are safer and handle adverse weather conditions better, can be more easily insured and are harder to steal. Also they usually cost the same or less than a good e-bike. Problem is the main path to move around a city with a vehicle is still, and will still be in the future, a road. We will simply switch to more eco-friendly vehicles. People will still want to move and carry other people and heavy stuff around without exercising, that is a modern obsessions, but not actually so common as one can imagine. Yes people own bikes, yes they do casually run them once a week or every 2 weeks (especially because kids), but except some notable (small and completely flat) exceptions, like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, in Europe Berlin comes third with 13% usage. And Berlin is considered a bike friendly city. Truth is that if numbers were reversed, 13% of the people used a car in Berlin, we would be saying that __only__ 13% of the people are using a car. In London, a 9 million people city (10x Amsterdam), only 2% of the people use a bike. It means that anyway there are more people using a bike everyday in London than in Copenhagen. I think what we really need, especially in oversized-for-no-reason USA, are smaller cars, like the Citroën Ami which I personally love. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami_(electric) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami_(electric)
- joshlemer 4y ago
  Have you thought about something like a RadRunner https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrunner-electric-utility-bike https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrunner-electric-ut... ? It is an ebike but is pretty cheap (less than 2k Canadian Dollars) and has a passenger seat as well. Also has a throttle so you don't have to exercise at all if you don't want to.
  - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    When I'm not walking or using public transport, there are good options for car/scooter sharing here for about 20 cents per minute. Scooters are all electric, like this one https://www.cooltra.com/en/ https://www.cooltra.com/en/

woevdbz 4y ago

> Most people are capable of riding a bike - especially an e-bike - to get to where they're going. Citation needed? If I think of my own family, the ones without kids in their teens, 20s, 30s, 40s are ok, but the ones older than that, and the ones with young kids, I would not put on an ebike. [EDIT] Not sure why the downvotes. I'm cycling a lot myself and am a big proponent of cycling. But am no longer able to make this my only means of transportation now that I have kids that are both too old to fit on a baby seat and too young to be going around town on their own. Family members that have respiratory and cardiovascular health problems cannot do sustained even moderate exercise. Populations are aging worldwide. Thus I don't really know that the statement is true and would like to learn more from actual data.

henryfjordan 4y ago
You could use a golf-cart sized vehicle, max speed ~20mph, and fit right in with the flow of bike traffic. So much safer for everyone involved than a car. Would be nice if more cities optimized for golf carts alongside bikes.
- ryukafalz 4y ago
  One city has, in fact: https://youtu.be/pcVGqtmd2wM https://youtu.be/pcVGqtmd2wM
- nradov 4y ago
  You can buy a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle today and drive it on many city streets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle?...
Kim_Bruning 4y ago
Would you give them a bakfiets? * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je1ThOYD8Ic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je1ThOYD8Ic * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQhzEnWCgHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQhzEnWCgHA
- woevdbz 4y ago
  Maybe? Good luck charging one of those in an apartment building
  - Kim_Bruning 4y ago
    Depends on the apartment building I think? A lot of apartments I've looked at come with some form of lockable storage space on the ground floor.
akvadrako 4y ago
Plenty of people in their 50's and 60's can ride regular bikes and e-bikes just make it easier. It doesn't have to work for 100% of people. Kids below about 10 indeed fit better in a bakfiets then on their own.
googlryas 4y ago
In my city (Boulder), e-bikes are essentially banned on bike-friendly trails. A bunch of 70+ year olds are mounting a campaign to get that overturned, because they want to be out there on ebikes and access the trails like everyone else, even if their physical capabilities are a little bit lower than younger people. Also, you can put "car seats" on many cargo bikes. You can tote around a kid safely on an ebike starting from about 1 year of age. How many people do you suspect aren't capable of riding an e-bike? Clearly there will always be some people it doesn't work for, but that is pretty much the case for any kind of accomodation.
Melatonic 4y ago
There are lots of tandem like addons that work great for medium sized children - I remember using one extensively with my mother when I was around that age. People with cardiovascular issues could probably still ride a low speed ebike or electric scooter.

Eji1700 4y ago

I do think this is a more complex problem than people give credit. I've seen bike lanes added to roads, and almost no one is happy. There's always idiot drivers and bikers and every now and then someone gets hurt or killed. Bike paths make infinitely more sense (especially since they dont have to follow roads and can take more direct paths), but cities seem loathe to adopt them vs just painting some lines on a current street. Finally climate plays a huge part as well. I live where it gets over 100f in the suummer routinely. Even a 3 mile bike ride at that point means you're drenched in sweat, which is just not acceptable in a majority of environments. Showers can be added but water is already a resource we're flippant with when we really shouldn't be. Finally its not a great solution for the elderly and has some risks. Yes they can ride an e bike, but when you screw up at 20 mph in a sedan you wind up with a very expensive bill and an insurance premium hikes. When you crash on a bike, even with saftey gear, you can wind up pretty seriously injured. None of this isnt to say we should not build more bike paths/trains/subways/busses, but I dont think its a one solution fits all sort of thing.

simne 4y ago
> There's always idiot drivers and bikers and every now and then someone gets hurt or killed. Consider, how safe will be world with self-driving bikes of 5 level! Unfortunately, even cars still does not reach 3 level, but why we should bother such tiny nuances..
wlecometo 4y ago
> Finally its not a great solution for the elderly and has some risks. it's not a great solution either to have elderly people in a car where one of their mistakes couuld kill people; but it is more accepted this as a "fatality". btw there are lots of solutions of mobility for elders that do not include a car.
jonas21 4y ago
I think that's their point. Even if bicycles aren't a solution for all, everyone can still benefit from more trips happening by bicycle. The elderly or those with a commute that would leave them unacceptably sweaty can still drive, and they will enjoy less traffic, cleaner air, and an easier time finding parking thanks to the cyclists.

nradov 4y ago

I am capable of riding a bike, and I even enjoy it. But I seldom use a bike for transportation because I'm scared it will be stolen. Bike theft is rampant, locks are ineffective (especially when it comes to attached accessories like lights and pumps), and the police don't bother to investigate. In the Bay Area we have some nice bike paths along the creeks, but the local authorities have allowed those to turn into homeless camps. Guadalupe River Park in San Jose is probably the worst. There are literally tents obstructing the paths. I know several people who have been accosted by aggressive homeless camp residents and are now afraid to travel through. And judging by the bike parts I see scattered around, many of the camp residents are prolific bike thieves. As long as the local authorities refuse to enforce the law, I have to assume they don't take bike transportation seriously and are only paying it lip service for virtue signaling.

blacksmith_tb 4y ago
One alternative solution to that problem is a folding bike, then you can just take it inside with you. Some even fold into something like wheeled luggage, if you needed to take it inside a grocery store and not just your office.
- nradov 4y ago
  So now I need to buy yet another bike (good quality folding bikes aren't cheap), fold and unfold it at every stop, and drag it around in the store with me? And how am I supposed to carry a load of groceries on a little folding bike without a big basket or panniers? Come on, that's just not a realistic solution for any but the most dedicated cyclists. I absolutely want to see more motorists switch to riding bikes. The only way to make that happen is though a combination of infrastructure improvements and effective law enforcement.
akvadrako 4y ago
Just get insurance; it shouldn't be more than $10 a month for a reasonably priced city bike.
- 4y ago

peoplefromibiza 4y ago

> Most people are capable of riding a bike - especially an e-bike - to get to where they're going. I'm getting an electric moped or motorscooter at that point. They are more durable, require less maintenance, are safer and handle adverse weather conditions better, can be more easily insured and are harder to steal. Also they usually cost the same or less than a good e-bike. Problem is the main path to move around a city with a vehicle is still, and will still be in the future, a road. We will simply switch to more eco-friendly vehicles. People will still want to move and carry other people and heavy stuff around without exercising, that is a modern obsessions, but not actually so common as one can imagine. Yes people own bikes, yes they do casually run them once a week or every 2 weeks (especially because kids), but except some notable (small and completely flat) exceptions, like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, in Europe Berlin comes third with 13% usage. And Berlin is considered a bike friendly city. Truth is that if numbers were reversed, 13% of the people used a car in Berlin, we would be saying that __only__ 13% of the people are using a car. In London, a 9 million people city (10x Amsterdam), only 2% of the people use a bike. It means that anyway there are more people using a bike everyday in London than in Copenhagen. I think what we really need, especially in oversized-for-no-reason USA, are smaller cars, like the Citroën Ami which I personally love. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami_(electric) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami_(electric)

joshlemer 4y ago
Have you thought about something like a RadRunner https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrunner-electric-utility-bike https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radrunner-electric-ut... ? It is an ebike but is pretty cheap (less than 2k Canadian Dollars) and has a passenger seat as well. Also has a throttle so you don't have to exercise at all if you don't want to.
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago
  When I'm not walking or using public transport, there are good options for car/scooter sharing here for about 20 cents per minute. Scooters are all electric, like this one https://www.cooltra.com/en/ https://www.cooltra.com/en/