E-bikes are very popular where I live. At first it was great to see people of all ages out biking everywhere.
But now everyone has started modifying their e-bikes to be overpowered and not require any pedaling. A lot of the cheap e-bikes have trivial procedures to unlock the power limit. Anyone who can search Reddit can figure out what to buy and how to do it quickly.
There's a multi-use pedestrian and bike path that parallels a road on my way to the office. In the mornings I commonly see e-bikes on the bike path going faster than the 30mph road traffic. I've been clipped by multiple e-bike riders who blew through stop signs or jumped from sidewalk to road. Last week I had to jump out of the way of an older woman on an e-bike who zoomed through a red light and turned right because she didn't see me in the crosswalk somehow.
A lot of these things are illegal, of course, but enforcement is non-existent.
It's weird to see it play out like this, though I should have seen it coming. I think even a small threat of enforcement and having modified bikes confiscated if used on public roads would make a lot of people think twice. For now, it feels like it's just an electric motorcycle free for all wherever we have a dedicated pedestrian and bike area.
I think this is unquestionably a problem in modern society. Too many interactions are purely transactional. People are isolated and lonely. Many people are only out for themselves. Community has definitely broken down
I don't know how to fix this and I'm definitely part of the problem, but I think it is a very big problem
If you know your neighbors, you are less likely to run them down on your e-bike.
And if you know your neighbor and maybe even rely on them somehow, it makes it much easier to accept certain behavior or opinions for example. It's much too easy to dismiss other people because they don't look like us or think like us, there is no downside because everyone only needs themselves.
It's sad but my hope is that the climate breakdown, wealth inequality for example will eventually lead to a "rebuilding" of a more localized society where we depend and help each other. Maybe hard times will come and give us a bit of a shake as a species.
Fat tire E-bikes, recommended by Bicycling magazine.[1]
1933 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.[2]
It is an electric motorcycle.
It would be better to treat the more powerful E-bikes as electric scooters. Lose the pedals, lower the CG, require license plates, turn signals, and helmets. That's standard practice in China, which encourages electric scooters but discourages high-speed E-bikes.[3] "Electric mobility devices" - e-bikes, Segways, hoverboards, etc. are limited to 20km/h and have size restrictions. China already had a huge scooter fleet, which is going electric, but e-bikes never really caught on. E-scooters did, instead.
[1] https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a33313406/best-fat-tire...
[2] https://www.rideapart.com/features/247168/rebirth-of-an-amer...
[3] https://www.pacificprime.cn/blog/scooters-and-mopeds-china-c...
The laws generally require that an e-bike must be under a certain power limit and the user has to pedal to keep it going. The power is for pedal assist only.
This is the difference between your links. The e-bike and the electric motorcycle have very different power limits and are controlled differently.
The unlocks remove the power limit and the mods can add a throttle so the user doesn’t have to pedal.
These turn it into an electric motorcycle under the law.
One is allowed on certain bike trails. An electric motorcycle is not.
Good E-bike vs. Motorcycle discussion.[3]
[1] https://bikexchange.com/electric-bike-classes/
In fact removing parking minimums would probably do 50% of the work of this whole list. Combine that with mixed-use zoning, more units per lot (including reducing FAR/height limits) and narrower streets, and dare I say you are 80-90% of the way there. It only takes a few high-impact changes.
While you're talking about how to transform a city more systemically.
It is kinda crazy to see parts of cities where hundreds of people are confined to sidewalks on a Friday night waiting to cross a street for the convenience of a tiny fraction of people who insist on driving. Every city has at least a few blocks that make sense to block off from cars.
Which is nice, but having experienced that in multiple cities, doesnt truly contribute in a larger meaningful way to "making it easier to build beautiful and walkable places" in the same way
(Ive had multiple family members who said this after I mentioned I didn’t have a car for 4 years while living in a major city)
It's one of the first things that stick out when I live somewhere walkable where I can walk to the corner shop for a can of beans and avocados on demand, and I can keep my fridge/pantry quite barren of perishable food.
For example, in the US, even buying a bag of ten apples from Costco means I'm probably going to eat five apples today. Versus picking up one apple on my walk back home when I feel for an apple.
It's not specific to the car issue either, it's many issues. They lie to your face and gaslight you for years on end as to their true motivations, while they slowly pry the door further and further open for their ideology, until they've finally garnered enough support that they can switch phases and now be open about their true goals.
I'm not quite sure what the end plan is, since they're forever burning bridges with people like me. I guess they plan on the newest generations having the viewpoint forced on them from a young age, overriding people like me who are quite disgruntled.