not practical for many canadian cities – especially ones further north, with temps frequently around -30 degrees. Also not practical for disabled folks.
Also not practical in areas of higher crime, as we dont have secure ‘parking’ options.
I biked year round in Yellowknife. It was easier and faster than plugging in, then preheating, then driving in the winter.
At least for in town, I’d only bike into the bush in the summer, but then again I’d use the sled in the winter, not a car.
Disabilities is fair, but what about the 25% of Canadians who’s disabilities preclude then from driving?
Secure parking is also legitimate, but that’s an infrastructure choice; we subsidize fucktons of fear parking g all over the place already.
Ok look. Just because you’re part polar bear, likely covered in a thick coat of fur to withstand the frozen death tundra of the north, doesn’t mean us regular normies can do it.
The problem with this argument is it’s preventing infrastructure improvements for everyone else who CAN bike/walk/take the train/bus/whatever.
I don’t bike because it’s just not safe to do in my area due to car traffic and a lack of bike infrastructure. I would bike and take public transit more if I could.
The maybe 20% of people who are disabled or have other reasons to need a car (like moving large items) can continue using the now much less congested roads, while the rest of people are on alternative transportation.
Shifting to a bike-centric cityscape is a huge shift in infrastructure, if you start mapping out all the components that need to come together for it to happen at this stage. Like I live in Vancouver, where our council has for a few decades put a heavy priority on building segregated bike lanes and connecting paths that are pretty well totally removed from cars. I happily ride my ebike around the seawall during the spring/summer/fall a couple times a week. The weather is mild, albeit rainy, pretty well all year. The terrain is generally pretty darn flat. We’ve had local e-bike vendors for a long time. We have bike share stations provided by Rogers (formerly Shaw) along most major transit routes. That’s still not enough to make vancouver into a bike-primary transportation city. Hell, with reports of ebike batteries exploding periodically, one thing you’d need to add in is mandatory secure ebike parking in condo buildings (we recently had an apt building go up because of it, causing something like 24 people to become homeless) – which’d mean all the older buildings would need to retrofit things. The list just goes on and on.
And again, in the context of “change all cities in the country to preference ebikes and alternative transport” vs “build EVs in Canada”, the former is far more drastic. So if someone wants to put it forward as a realistic/plausible option, beyond just fantasy, they need to really spell out how it’d function, the cost variances / savings they claim would occur, and all that jazz. I’d love to see how it’d be economical for tiny towns in northern BC/Alberta to switch to e-bikes as a primary mode of transport, I just don’t think it’s realistic. It’s the more extreme position to take, so someone should back it up. And, like I said earlier, if they can do that they ought to pitch it to the greens.
not practical for many canadian cities – especially ones further north, with temps frequently around -30 degrees. Also not practical for disabled folks.
Also not practical in areas of higher crime, as we dont have secure ‘parking’ options.
I biked year round in Yellowknife. It was easier and faster than plugging in, then preheating, then driving in the winter. At least for in town, I’d only bike into the bush in the summer, but then again I’d use the sled in the winter, not a car.
Disabilities is fair, but what about the 25% of Canadians who’s disabilities preclude then from driving?
Secure parking is also legitimate, but that’s an infrastructure choice; we subsidize fucktons of fear parking g all over the place already.
Ok look. Just because you’re part polar bear, likely covered in a thick coat of fur to withstand the frozen death tundra of the north, doesn’t mean us regular normies can do it.
The problem with this argument is it’s preventing infrastructure improvements for everyone else who CAN bike/walk/take the train/bus/whatever.
I don’t bike because it’s just not safe to do in my area due to car traffic and a lack of bike infrastructure. I would bike and take public transit more if I could.
The maybe 20% of people who are disabled or have other reasons to need a car (like moving large items) can continue using the now much less congested roads, while the rest of people are on alternative transportation.
I don’t ride a bike because that’s stupid.
Shifting to a bike-centric cityscape is a huge shift in infrastructure, if you start mapping out all the components that need to come together for it to happen at this stage. Like I live in Vancouver, where our council has for a few decades put a heavy priority on building segregated bike lanes and connecting paths that are pretty well totally removed from cars. I happily ride my ebike around the seawall during the spring/summer/fall a couple times a week. The weather is mild, albeit rainy, pretty well all year. The terrain is generally pretty darn flat. We’ve had local e-bike vendors for a long time. We have bike share stations provided by Rogers (formerly Shaw) along most major transit routes. That’s still not enough to make vancouver into a bike-primary transportation city. Hell, with reports of ebike batteries exploding periodically, one thing you’d need to add in is mandatory secure ebike parking in condo buildings (we recently had an apt building go up because of it, causing something like 24 people to become homeless) – which’d mean all the older buildings would need to retrofit things. The list just goes on and on.
And again, in the context of “change all cities in the country to preference ebikes and alternative transport” vs “build EVs in Canada”, the former is far more drastic. So if someone wants to put it forward as a realistic/plausible option, beyond just fantasy, they need to really spell out how it’d function, the cost variances / savings they claim would occur, and all that jazz. I’d love to see how it’d be economical for tiny towns in northern BC/Alberta to switch to e-bikes as a primary mode of transport, I just don’t think it’s realistic. It’s the more extreme position to take, so someone should back it up. And, like I said earlier, if they can do that they ought to pitch it to the greens.