Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
I want to be clear on one point. I am not opposed to e-bikes.
For older riders that would like something for errands, etc., I think they are great. And for a commuter, I think they would be great too. During summer, usually when I go to the grocery store it is a two mile one way trip on my old Bridgestone mountain bike that I use for errands. I use that instead of my truck for all kinds of errands when the weather is nice. But if I was physically unable to do errands on my errand bike I would prefer to have the option to ride an e-bike for that sort of thing.
But, I consider an e-bike to be comparable to an electrically powered moped or small motorcycle. And that is why I think they should be limited to operating only on roads. Not on bike paths or multi-use paths that were designed for muscle powered activities, often these paths are significantly narrower than a single traffic lane because they were designed without motorized vehicles in mind.
We can't stop progress though. As more municipalities struggle to make bike accessible infrastructure they aren't going to create yet a third tier route for e bikes that basically occupy the same operating needs.
Same with parks. If they provide bicycle accessible trails they aren't going to replicate all those trails for e bikes. If e bike use outpaces bicycles, and if parks provide access for the majority, would we be ok with banning traditional bikes because they slow down e bike use?
When we look at e bike access we should consider the shoe being on the other foot as they may become more popular and demand control of available resources. From their perspective traditional bikes may pose problems as well.