<story><title>The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/08/business/e-bikes-urban-transit.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kevincrane</author><text>&amp;gt; Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies.&lt;p&gt;Which I think is misguided pushback btw (which I think you agree with based on the context).&lt;p&gt;I see it as a chicken and egg thing. The roads are unsafe for bikers, so the only people who bike are those who are super dedicated to it. Then when people ask for the roads to be safer, it gets pushed back as &amp;quot;only biking enthusiasts use the roads now&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Safer roads means more people will bike, which means biking will stop being seen as an elitist thing.&lt;p&gt;Edit: to add on, bikes are like 1-2 orders of magnitude cheaper than cars too, both in upfront and ongoing costs also. It’s super unfortunate that it still gets the stereotype as a “rich white people” activity when it’s really so much more financially accessible than a car.</text></item><item><author>paulgb</author><text>The thing that excites me most about e-bikes is that they change the politics around cycling. Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies.&lt;p&gt;With e-bikes becoming more common, I know a number of people who would not have touched a bike share but are using it as a replacement for Uber&amp;#x2F;Lyft rides. People can cycle in to work without breaking a sweat.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s a bummer that so much legislation aimed at reducing emissions subtly encourages the use of cars without throwing any bones to people who would like to ride bikes, electric or not.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jmcphers</author><text>&amp;gt;  It’s super unfortunate that it still gets the stereotype as a “rich white people” activity when it’s really so much more financially accessible than a car.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s true that a bicycle is &lt;i&gt;itself&lt;/i&gt; cheaper than a car, but housing within biking distance to job centers sure isn&amp;#x27;t. In my view this is the primary reason bicycle commuters are stereotypically rich folks. The bicycle itself isn&amp;#x27;t the expensive part; you need proximity, extra commute time, and infrastructure. That stuff just isn&amp;#x27;t accessible to many people.</text></comment>
<story><title>The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/08/business/e-bikes-urban-transit.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kevincrane</author><text>&amp;gt; Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies.&lt;p&gt;Which I think is misguided pushback btw (which I think you agree with based on the context).&lt;p&gt;I see it as a chicken and egg thing. The roads are unsafe for bikers, so the only people who bike are those who are super dedicated to it. Then when people ask for the roads to be safer, it gets pushed back as &amp;quot;only biking enthusiasts use the roads now&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Safer roads means more people will bike, which means biking will stop being seen as an elitist thing.&lt;p&gt;Edit: to add on, bikes are like 1-2 orders of magnitude cheaper than cars too, both in upfront and ongoing costs also. It’s super unfortunate that it still gets the stereotype as a “rich white people” activity when it’s really so much more financially accessible than a car.</text></item><item><author>paulgb</author><text>The thing that excites me most about e-bikes is that they change the politics around cycling. Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies.&lt;p&gt;With e-bikes becoming more common, I know a number of people who would not have touched a bike share but are using it as a replacement for Uber&amp;#x2F;Lyft rides. People can cycle in to work without breaking a sweat.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s a bummer that so much legislation aimed at reducing emissions subtly encourages the use of cars without throwing any bones to people who would like to ride bikes, electric or not.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cmos</author><text>Throw into this confusion a badly implemented public transportation system that you find in most US cities.&lt;p&gt;Public transportation and city bike rental systems should be free to ride.  We all pay taxes to keep roads maintained, we should all pay taxes to keep public transportation maintained.&lt;p&gt;Not charging would help busses keep their schedules with less queuing and waiting, tourists would be less likely to rent a car, and it could help that chicken and egg problem.
The problem with charging people with riding public transportation is you are taxing the very people we should be rewarding.  The people who are committing to taking up less space on the road and living with a smaller carbon footprint are being penalized for their hugely beneficial decision to society not to drive. 
Making public transportation better and free are the two 
things that can transform a city and make it more equitable. 
Poor people would have more money and more places available to spend it.  Every city benefits from its people having more money to spend and more places to spend it.</text></comment>