How to make a city safer for e-Bikes? Think infrastructure

tech.hindustantimes.com:

The invasion of Ukraine has put the US and Europe on a wartime mission to abandon Russian fossil fuels. This series looks at speeding up zero-carbon alternatives by lowering political and financial barriers. 

Electric bicycle use has been booming in the US over the last two years. Demand surged during the early days of the pandemic as people looked for new ways to travel safely and again this spring as rising fuel prices sent commuters looking for cheaper alternatives. Policymakers searching for ways to reduce demand for fossil fuels in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might also find e-bikes handy. 

With battery-powered motors that assist riders as they pedal, e-bikes enable a broader range of people to make more and longer trips than traditional bikes. And they are cheaper, more efficient, and less resource-intensive to manufacture than electric cars. (The battery pack of a GMC Hummer EV is about 350 times heavier than a typical e-bike battery.) The combination of utility and efficiency makes e-bikes a powerful tool for lowering emissions.

One recent study found that boosting e-bike use to account for 15% of miles traveled per person annually in Portland would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from passenger transportation in the city by 12%. A single e-bike, according to the study, would yield an average reduction of 225 kilograms of CO2 per year — enough to shave more than a percent from the per capita emissions of the average US citizen.

There is no great mystery in how to get more people to ride e-bikes (as well as traditional bikes). Rebates and other incentives can help, but even making e-bikes free wouldn’t be enough to get people to ride them on streets where they don’t feel safe. In polling commissioned by