Cycling in Europe and North America has expanded dramatically in the past decade. Meanwhile, in Asia, and particularly in China, there has been a dramatic decline.
Streets have been overtaken by pollution belching motorised vehicles. Bike lanes have been turned over to cars or buses and cyclists have struggled to find their place in the changing transportation landscape. The bike has evolved, picking up an electric motor and battery to keep pace with the longer distances and higher speeds required in rapidly expanding cities.
The lustre of car ownership is now wearing off and drivers stuck in traffic are being drawn to these silent low-polluting two-wheelers getting to their destinations on time.
In just a decade, the e-bike population in China will go from near zero to more than 150 million by 2015 – the largest adoption of an alternative fuel vehicle in the history of motorization.
So what's not to like? Well, in China e-bike crashes are increasing, fast. This might be expected since there are so many new e-bikes on the road each year, but early observations show that e-bike crashes are increasing faster than their growth rate and are more severe than say, bicycle crashes.
E-bike riders tend to behave badly as well, for example, exhibiting only slightly better behaviour than car drivers at intersections.
Design standards were meant to address these issues, limiting the size and speed of an e-bike so it looked and acted more like a bike. Loose enforcement of design standards and road rules means that most e-bikes are more like scooters and many riders are fast and reckless.
In the west, e-bikes are gaining proponents and detractors. To many they are an untested technology that we're not willing to gamble on or toys for those who can afford them. Cycling purists think e-bike riders are cheating. Policymakers don't know how to regulate all the different styles; should they ride in bicycle lanes, for example?
On the other hand, e-bikes attract a group of people that might be uncomfortable cycling. The right types of e-bikes, hybrid pedal-electric or pedelec provide a reasonable amount of physical activity.
E-bikes carry riders farther and up hills to access jobs and services and they are the most energy efficient motorised commercial vehicle in existence.
Most major global cities have invested heavily in bike-sharing systems. Current systems are for people who are already inclined to ride a bicycle. Introducing e-bikes into schemes is among the most sensible improvements for several reasons.
While e-bikes have some problems, many of those can be mitigated in a bike-share system. E-bikes can meet acceptable safety standards such as speed and weight, and riders aren't inherently more dangerous than other cyclists. E-bikes that still induce some physical activity and health benefits can be chosen. Bike batteries can be effectively managed, with costs can be spread over the life of the bike and passed on to the user so it's not prohibitively expensive. E-bikes can add diverse choices to sharing schemes, which allow users to choose a bicycle or e-bike. In the end, e-bikes get more people on bikes and this is a primary goal of bike-sharing.
Christopher Cherry is assistant professor at the University of Tennessee.
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