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The world's 280 million electric bikes and mopeds are cutting demand for oil far more than electric cars
(theconversation.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2023
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Yeah, the way forward here is not simply more efficient cars, people actually have to try out different modes of transportation and incorporate them into the mix.
We'll never get rid of cars, they solve important problems obviously (how tf are you gonna bike in the country), but if you're living in a city and you can bike to all your usual destinations, consider just getting a bike (electric or otherwise) and using it, and so on.
Or, better, don't get in your car every time you need to hit up the corner store across the street for a gallon of milk thinks angrily about several people I know
If you like, we became a car culture for reasons that had as much to do with property values, the real estate industry, and oh yeah, racism, that developed after WWII, as with any kind of actual economic development. White flight from city centers, funded with various federal programs and the GI bill, required building out large amounts of suburban real estate, which mandated the expansion of transportation infra and forced more people (especially white people) to buy cars to do exactly the same things they used to do before without cars in the city centers they used to live in. This led to the development of an entire way of life that revolved around individuals having to own cars, and then the real estate industry liked the suburban development model, and now here we are.
And, of course, the whole time the auto industry was laughing all the way to the bank and helping sculpt American norms around the idea that you weren't really independent or free if you didn't pay out the nose for a car + insurance + maintenance + gas
Not only are bikes a great way to get you killed on roads near me, ebikes are illegal on roads here. I would totally commute on one if I could.
Yeah, like I kept pointing to in my comment, it's a policy problem as much as an individual choice problem. I'm well aware alternative transportation isn't a feasible option for many, I even acknowledged as much in my comment. What is your point?
In your comment you speak of policy but your only way forward is putting it on the individual. The individual must try alternate methods of transportation. The individual must not drive to the corner store. I'm saying this individual cannot do those things. You didn't propose any policy changes, you just said you're angry at individuals who don't do the things you want them to do. Being a jerk to people who can't do the things you would like them to do isn't going to convince them to try harder.
Different places have different problems, so stating it is all policy or all individuals is both wrong. If you live where ebikes are not legal, then there is a policy problem. If you live where ebikes are legal, but they are not safe to use then there are policy problems. If you live where their are safe bike paths but they don't connect to anything you have a policy problem. If ebikes are legal and safe, but people think they are not safe/legal then there is an individual problem.
Get a mountain bike?