Are Cities Ready For E-bikes? Major problems and Progress

Are Cities Ready for E-bike and electric vehicles? it is a big question that comes to our mind while thinking about purchasing an E-Bike for our daily activities. Some horrible pictures appear in front of our eyes and sometimes our move seems Environment-friendly. In this article, we EV Observed are discussing a few significant problems, progress, and possible solutions we can easily observe around us.

With the COVID-19 epidemic forcing many Americans to rethink about transportation medium to move around, it is no surprise that people have turned to bikes and e-bikes. Bikes and e-bikes usages electric motors to do all or most of the work for riders. It is a popular option for those who want to ride a bicycle without sweating. That’s why bike sales increased by 50% in 2020.

While riding my classic bike and dreaming about the E-bike I want to buy, I observed something about the future of mobility: Our cities are not currently sufficiently ready for the e-bike revolution but there are some major headways in the right direction.

Spike in Bike and E-Bike Sale

Recently, I went to New York, and there legalized battery-powered two-wheelers were frequently used by the distribution or delivery workers. Electric motors are now available on consumer-facing bikes as well as shared options such as City bikes.

Gocycle a folding bike manufacturer says “We sold all its electric bikes produced in 2020“. Whereas VanMoof, a Dutch e-bike maker recently announced that “The company saw the largest jump in recent years“.

This makes sense because e-bikes are faster, more convenient, have better safety features, and can give inexperienced riders the extra power they need to get to the next hill or avoid a fierce accident.

Riding Bike in Cities is still not Easy

But riding bikes and e-bikes, whether it is New York, London, or anywhere in the whole world, is not easy, as riders have to face various obstacles, sometimes deadly obstacles which include roads blocks, delivery trucks, police cars, narrow streets, unsafe streets, tourists opening taxi doors, deadly bumps, and traffic laws that favor drivers.

To encourage safer, more accessible biking, a professor of urban geography at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Brian Doucet suggests building lanes with better protection for bike & e-bike riders and cyclists. Wider, shielded, continuous bike lanes with intersections will be beneficial for all riders, not just e-bike riders.

Using more robust dividers and blockers, building bike parking corridors at intersections, and adjusting the traffic light time to prioritize cyclists can discourage the use of automobiles while helping cyclists.

Development and Improvement

If we talk about progress in other parts of the world then there are some really positive changes, such as

• In 2017, Beijing saw its first lift in shared bike traffic, with an average of 6 million rides per day.
• In 2019, the Chinese capital opened its first cycling highway, an eight-mile protected bike lane designed to connect several cities.
• The e-bike-friendly bike lane is currently underway in Berlin, where leaders plan to build 10 new bicycle highways to encourage commuter biking and reduce travel time by eliminating obstacles such as stop signs and cars.
• In New York, city officials added 28 miles of bike lanes in 2020, taking the total number to over 1,300 miles.

Bike Parking= Headache

Now, after safety and lanes, another big issue that needs a solution is “parking”, because you can’t park these in your apartment that is not on the ground floor. These are still heavier than some PEVs and that’s why most bikers lock their e-bikes on the roads and expect the best.

As per the source “Bike theft has increased by 27% but fewer arrests for bike robbery compared to last year, bikers cannot expect to recover their stolen bikes, and bike theft can be both disheartening and expensive”.

Safe bike parking is becoming important as more people depend on e-bikes for their daily activities like reaching work or school. But a report states that there is more than one vehicle parking spot per vehicle registered in the city, however, there is only one bike parking spot on every 116 bikes.

Solution

Publicly shared Citi bike system installations will help encourage short-distance trips, but it is still not the best solution for people like delivery or distribution workers.

The bike parking startup “Oonee” is trying to resolve that issue with its pod system. It is a modular, security-focused parking structure that can be installed in one day and equipped with security cameras, lights, and features such as benches and green roofs. Startup’s aim is to improve bike parking for everyone, it will help the city’s most vulnerable cyclists feel safe and secure whenever they have to leave their bikes outside.

With an epidemic exacerbating current economic disparities between communities, adding bike lanes and improving bike parking condition, especially in low-income communities, the lack of safe or other forms of public transit – appears like a simple fix.