Feb 28, 2023·edited Feb 28, 2023Liked by Sam Deutsch
Great writeup Sam! We need to be building up to increase density, and building infrastructure to connect those dense population centers. E-bikes within the city, trains between cities. When we reduce the need for EVs to fewer use cases, we'll see a new wave of interest in car sharing. We need to both accelerate our adoption of EVs, but substantially reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
Completely agree. I envision a future where the average city-dweller does not own a car, but has easy access to car sharing for occasional day/weekend trips, hauling furniture, etc.
Thanks for mentioning e-bikes. Regrettably, you failed to mention pedal bikes. Clearly, both e-bikes and pedal bikes are good for the built environment, the natural environment, and the climate. I was also pleased to see that you acknowledged the critical importances of dedicated bicycle infrastructure (i.e. protected bike lanes) but you didn’t mention the necessity of calming traffic on minor streets. Transforming the transportation system to make it safe, convenient, and efficient to get around by bicycle wlll require a complete, interconnected network of re-engineered streets. Regrettably, the funding at the federal and state levels for bicycle network improvements is equivalent to pennies on the dollar to what is needed. Check-out the National Association of City Transportation Officials document entitled Designing for All Ages and Abilities. It’s worth an article in Better Cities in its own right.
Pedal bikes are great too, e-bikes are just a newer technology that has higher rates of replacing car trips, which is why I highlighted them.
And completely agree with you on calming traffic more broadly, there are tons of great ideas that I left on the cutting room floor in the interest of brevity since I didn't want this article to become a laundry list of policies haha.
Great writeup Sam! We need to be building up to increase density, and building infrastructure to connect those dense population centers. E-bikes within the city, trains between cities. When we reduce the need for EVs to fewer use cases, we'll see a new wave of interest in car sharing. We need to both accelerate our adoption of EVs, but substantially reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
Completely agree. I envision a future where the average city-dweller does not own a car, but has easy access to car sharing for occasional day/weekend trips, hauling furniture, etc.
Totally agree! We're trying to make this more possible in smaller towns and cities over at Rotor (www.movewithrotor.com)
Thanks for mentioning e-bikes. Regrettably, you failed to mention pedal bikes. Clearly, both e-bikes and pedal bikes are good for the built environment, the natural environment, and the climate. I was also pleased to see that you acknowledged the critical importances of dedicated bicycle infrastructure (i.e. protected bike lanes) but you didn’t mention the necessity of calming traffic on minor streets. Transforming the transportation system to make it safe, convenient, and efficient to get around by bicycle wlll require a complete, interconnected network of re-engineered streets. Regrettably, the funding at the federal and state levels for bicycle network improvements is equivalent to pennies on the dollar to what is needed. Check-out the National Association of City Transportation Officials document entitled Designing for All Ages and Abilities. It’s worth an article in Better Cities in its own right.
Pedal bikes are great too, e-bikes are just a newer technology that has higher rates of replacing car trips, which is why I highlighted them.
And completely agree with you on calming traffic more broadly, there are tons of great ideas that I left on the cutting room floor in the interest of brevity since I didn't want this article to become a laundry list of policies haha.