As much as I want ebikes, I think the money is better spent on infrastructure like bike lanes. People can’t do anything on infrastructure, only government can. This also works for normal bikes too.
Ebikes also really save people money over a car, so I don’t think it’s something we need to finance. There can be the first initial purchase hurdle for some, but let’s find something different than subsidizing everyone like low/no interest loans for low income.
The city of Austin set up proper bike lanes, not just markings on the road. They are great. Unfortunately that bike theft problem got out of hand and pretty much killed the e-bike commuter idea before it could grab hold. COVID-19 and the shift to WFH was pretty much the nail in the coffin.
So people leave the car at home when they have a ebike but not when they have a normal bike?
Well yeah, it’s easier to travel to begin with, and makes traveling longer distances significantly easier and faster.
Not to mention it also makes it possible to actually carry heavy things like groceries or goods.
It’s more that ebikes go a bit faster than an untrained rider, which effectively doubles the number of people who can use one to replace a car on a lot of their trips
I did bike commute to a degree with a normal bike but I do so far more often now with the ebike. What’s interesting to me is that my fitbit says I’m actually getting more exercise per week now since I ride more consistently, even if the intensity is not as great as it once was.
With the regular bike, I could get so wiped after one day that I’d be too tired/sore to ride the next. And there were other factors that would affect whether I would ride. Is there a stiff headwind today? Is it a heat wave or is the air quality low? Might I have to make a side-trip in the middle of my work day that will wear me out even more?
The ebike changed all that. It also changed the route I take to work. Now I ride through a ravine park I used to avoid because of all the climbing it would entail once I need to leave it. So it’s a much more pleasant experience being far from traffic, which encourages me all the more. Honestly, I had no idea how transformative getting an ebike would be?
I could see this. I have a good transit system and at one point had a great pattern of riding in morning and brining my bike on the train on the way back. If I went both ways It was like you said the next day and sometimes even the day after. So the motivation was way down going both ways.
Well no because the point that is made is that the ebike replaces the car so the normal bike wouldn’t be used. In this case the normal bike would be left at home…
