itom987
Senior Member
I remember when bicycles used to be affordable, now people are willing to fork out thousands just to shave a pound off the bike. E-bikes cost as much as scooters.
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- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
TAS
Senior Member
True. I still think there are lots of different price points and some used bikes for great prices, too.
Garneau2Go
Active Member
I was wrestling with this exact thing a while back and ended up building an e-bike. Given the choice between the e-bike and a scooter, I think the e-bike wins if nothing more than you can use bike lanes/cut through the river valley parks and don't have to fight traffic while only having 50cc to play with, plus insurance.
As an aside, there's a YouTube channel called Fortnine and the host made a point it's not that fuel efficient for a 3000lb car to move a single 200lb man without any cargo. That efficiency calculation gets real compelling when an e-bike only weighs 70lbs and requires minimal assist from you. E-bikes aren't cheap, but they can put a decent size dent in the need to pull a car out for commuting at least.
TAS
Senior Member
Just received an email from Michael Janz that 2023-26 budget is grim and includes no money for active transportation.
Anyone interested in attending a virtual meeting he is hosting on Monday Nov. 7 at 7pm can do so here:
www.michaeljanz.ca
Anyone interested in attending a virtual meeting he is hosting on Monday Nov. 7 at 7pm can do so here:
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Making the Bike Plan A Reality. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Join City Councillor Michael Janz and special guest presenters for a walk through the four year capital budget and learn how you can use your voice to make the bike plan a reality. Volunteers are needed, so please share this invitation with a friend or on your social media. Background...
trevorhayden
Active Member
You can't spend money on active transportation when you're building a big box recreation shed inaccessible to 90% of the City and suburban road expansion.
thommyjo
Senior Member
Bike lanes are such a cheap investment and carrying huge ROI. We have to prioritize them this cycle! So quick and easy to create vs all other infrastructure types.
TAS
Senior Member
Exactly, and the city also has an important target (with environmental and economic implications) of transitioning to 50% of all trips as active transportation and public transportation combined as part of the City Plan. We need the infrastructure in place to support that. And with our population expected to grow significantly, we need other transportation options or vehicle traffic and congestion will get worse, commute times increase - not to mention all the parking spaces required.
Gronk!
Senior Member
Project adds hundreds of kilometres of bike paths to Google Street View
With the help of funding from a Community-Based Budgeting Project created by two city councillors, Eugene Chen has added more than 500 kilometres of bike paths to Google Street View. Now he is hoping to keep the project going by enlisting the help of community groups and volunteers.
edmonton.taproot.news
Gronk!
Senior Member
TAS
Senior Member
Wow, Montreal is really going full steam ahead with their already superior bike infrastructure - looking to add another 200km of lanes and 10 bike highway routes.
www.mtlblog.com
Montreal Will Get 200 km More Bike Lanes & 10 Bike Highway Routes Under Mayor Plante's New Plan
There were 20% more cyclists on the road this year.
www.mtlblog.com
BrettB
Active Member
Montreal has done a lot of work on their bike network, and one aspect I really like is that their primary network is treated as a form of urban cycling highway - designed to get people around quickly to places they want to go. If I had one criticism of Edmonton's bike plan (which I generally like), it would be that cyclists are too often shunted off to secondary roads that may not be fast or lead to where the cyclist wants to go.
Interesting that the article points out people who question priority given to cyclists in Montreal:
Interesting that the article points out people who question priority given to cyclists in Montreal:
Gronk!
Senior Member
Edmonton set to build $100M in bike lanes as city council votes to amend capital budget
BASE
Active Member
Any ideas what the plan looks like for this, any main routes laid out as priority? I do wish there would be more effort to this ongoing in the planning of new neighborhoods and it should be a big part of the neighborhood revitalization.
TAS
Senior Member
BASE
Active Member
Can someone run the numbers for me on that? Quick and dirty I see 100 mil/ 4 years = (25 mil/yr)/~1mil ppl = $25/person/year?
I think it's important to be careful with the wording around this stuff as it is an option that many folks don't even have be it due to disability and many other valid reasons. Having a solid and safe bike network will certainly induce demand which is great for so many reasons, I just hesitate to get into arguments around using numbers as a justification as I don't think that is a winning argument in the end (but happy to be proven wrong).