In cities at least, e-bikes make more cultural and consumer sense
NotJustBikes had a recent video about why “just one more lane” will never be the solution, ending with the refrain: “there is no solution to car traffic, except viable alternatives to driving”.
While this article isn’t immediately about car traffic, the author correctly states the fact of the matter, that electric cars would only replace existing fossil-fuel cars. At best, this would continue taking up space in urban areas, and at worst would exacerbate all the ails causes precisely by automobiles.
Ebikes would be a major part of an urban solution, being the most adept to “plug-and-play” in areas currently blighted by car-centric development. Not that cars will entirely disappear (for good reasons though; see video), but it’s important to right-size transportation to meet everyone’s actual needs, not those imagined.
https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-more-lanes-are-still-a-bad-thing/
NotJustBikes had a recent video about why “just one more lane” will never be the solution, ending with the refrain: “there is no solution to car traffic, except viable alternatives to driving”.
I watched that yesterday, and that really was the takeaway point.
It maddens me to know that other cities have successfully solved this problem, and made their cities SO MUCH BETTER in the process, yet the rest of us are stuck with MOOOAAAARRRRR LANES!!
It’s indeed very aggravating, especially when viewed through the economics lens, as quoted from Upton Sinclair in the video:
It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it
That dedicated transit lanes, rail corridors, raised/separated bike paths that go somewhere useful, or even just basic sidewalks, are never big-ticket projects, but somehow every road/highway project is, is indicative of the lopsided focus by US state DOTs everywhere.
One could argue that electric cars are a continuation of covering up for the lack of vision and foresight by these administrators of public funds, a vain attempt to breath a semblance of urban relevance into overbuilt, concrete monoliths dedicated to suburbia.
In case you see the paywall: https://archive.ph/mBCxM
