If you're going to promote electric bikes at scale, there needs to be complementary investment in secure bicycle parking and charging
One of the biggest hindrances to electric vehicle adoption is the need for access to charging. Say what you will about gasoline, but it's easy and fast to fill up, and there are scads of gasoline stations.
One of the biggest problems with cycling take up, besides the fact that it's slower, so longer trips are less likely to be capturable--even so, 64% of all US trips are 7 miles or less--is secure bicycle parking. Sure there is bicycle parking, but most of it isn't secure.
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Bicycle Traffic as a system, diagram, German National Bicycle Plan, 2002-2012. Image.
I suggested a system for secure bicycle parking operating at the metropolitan scale a few years ago, based in part on the Parkiteer model in Melbourne. It's more imperative with the focus on electric biking.
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Note that most communities are providing larger credits based on income, to provide an equity element.
That matters for cheap bicycles when that's all you have to get around, that matters for expensive bicycles, and it really matters for electric bicycles, which can cost $3,000 or more. Lack of secure parking is a real problem.
And just like there needs to be electric charging for cars, the same will go for bikes. (I know that for the park I'm on the board of, I've been looking into this.)
This kind of bicycle parking won't cut it.
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Labels: bicycle and pedestrian planning, bicycle parking, car culture and automobility, public safety, theft, transportation planning
posted by Richard Layman @ 11:21 AM&Permanent Link
7 Comments:
Turns out injuries are a big deal too.
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/01/06/hospitals-schools-police-try-to-put-the-breaks-on-e-bike-injuries
Hospitals, schools, police try to put the brakes on e-bike injuries
A surge in e-bike accidents and injuries in the past year has prompted area hospitals, police agencies and city halls to beef up community outreach to educate riders about the dangers of the fast-moving bikes that have surged in popularity.
The bikes, which give a break on peddling for riders, have helped increase people’s ability to get around, especially those with mobility issues, fans say. People can travel greater distances with less exertion.
Electric bike also help keep people out of cars, as an alternative mode of transportation and a break for the environment, especially beneficial along the coast, some say, during busy tourist months.
... One difference is the type of injuries that can happen while on the electric bikes, which are often more consistent with motorcycle injuries than traditional bikes, said Dr. Tetsuya Takeuchi, Providence Mission Hospital’s trauma medical director.
In normal bicycle accidents, the most common kind of injuries are broken bones, specifically arms and shoulders. That’s still the case with e-bikes, with 60% of the people seeking care sustaining a broken bone.
“But what makes it a little different, what we see, is more head injuries and internal organs like liver and spleen damage due to more impact, higher speed during accidents or lack of control,” Takeuchi said.
It was in 2020 when the hospital started seeing a “statistically significant” rise in e-bike accidents, prompting administrators to start keeping stats on injuries. Many times, the injured are classified as “trauma patients,” indicating a potential life-threatening case that required urgent medical assessment.
Injuries continued to climb in 2021, and have yet to slow down, Takeuchi said.
... The lack of helmet wearing is also a trend seen in the hospital, Takeuchi said.
“What we see in the trauma cases that come to us, 40% of kids haven’t been wearing helmets,” he said, noting the law says anyone younger than 18 needs to wear a helmet. The stats for adult helmet wearing is similar, at about 40% to 50% of the time – and while not required, it should be, Takeuchi said.
Special repair service for e-bikes. Includes one roadside assistance trip. Add'l fees for hardened bike locks and theft insurance.
https://www.ridetempo.co/?rdt_cid=4805204168002327307
Electric bike programs are bringing costs down in some cities, states
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/10/05/ebike-rebate-voucher/
Programs in D.C., Tampa and Philadelphia provide ways for low-income residents to use e-bikes
https://reddit.com/r/washingtondc/s/glm7tAdJ6O
Think you need another car? Consider an e-bike instead.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/10/17/electric-bikes-cars-cost-testing/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/14/sweaty-after-a-bike-ride-hair-wrecked-by-the-rain-you-need-one-of-my-adult-changing-stations
Sweaty after a bike ride? Hair wrecked by the rain? You need one of my adult changing stations
What all major cities need – other than better social housing, affordable childcare, joined-up public transport and a compulsory living wage – is public changing stations.
As a cyclist – and someone who often commutes for meetings and events from far away – I am almost always caught having to wriggle out of a sweaty T-shirt and into a suit while crouched under the hand dryer of a burger chain’s toilet.
How much more civilised would it be to have a space – ideally free – in which you could change your clothes, dry your hands, put on your makeup, brush your hair or just swap bras without having to sneak into a pub toilet or beg a shop assistant to use their curtained-off area? Parents who have just been vomited on, freelancers who want to put on a pair of tights, anyone who has ever turned up to an event with chain-grease-stained trousers, rainwater hair or bird mess on their jumper – all would benefit.
These pods could be staffed, of course, and the staffers’ wages could be paid by some of the billionaire landowners carving up our cities. We could put in a couple of baby-changing tab
itibike bicycle sharing station being installed at Mets baseball stadium, Queens, New York City
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2024/03/15/fridays-headlines-finally-you-can-bike-to-the-mets-edition
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