I saw the above bike DTSF this past weekend so I inquired about it from a city official. The city bought 2 but not sure what they paid (they retail on other sites for about $4K without all the whizz-bang cop extras). A bike in this class should run you about $2,500 without police sirens.
The bikes come in 750 or 1000 watt, the city chose the 750 which I would assume would give you a longer charge because you are using less power. I would have just went with the 1000 watt to have that extra power and bought backup batteries for the bikes so you have a spare charged, you can even rig bikes with dual batteries.
It is pretty obvious to me this company uses ‘bike cop’ mantra to sell these units, but they are really no different then a regular E2.
With all the sustainability boloney floating around you would have thought the city would have had a big presser about the bikes . . . oh that’s right, you look pretty foolish telling people they can’t ride their E2s on the trail when you are riding your E2 on the trail (for the record I have only seen the bike on the street).
Obviously this is NYC and the traffic can be a little congested, BUT, if you are South of 41st street during rush hour, the street traffic is actually worse then NYC because of people’s speeds. But he makes a good point, where is it safe to ride a bike?
REI is proposing a Federal E-Bike rebate program, which I support. Some have said that this is a waste but when you figure there are similar rebates for electric cars, this makes sense;
If 15% of today’s carbon-emitting car trips were made by electric bicycles (e-bikes), America’s carbon emissions would shrink by more than 11 percent.
That’s because in addition to providing safe and convenient ways to get from place to place, battery-powered e-bikes displace carbon emissions from vehicles and lower pollution levels. E-bikes are increasingly popular for people looking to commute to work, run errands, or enjoy the outdoors without needing a car. But we need to make sure more people – of all income levels – can access and enjoy this form of low-carbon transport.
The E-BIKE (Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment) Act would offer a 30 percent tax credit of up to $1500 on the purchase of new e-bikes. It’s time to build support for this exciting new bill that can make climate-friendly transport more affordable for everyone.
It has often amazed me that we don’t give tax credits to people who are trying to improve the environment but turn around and give people child tax credits (which are actually contributing to pollution). We should tax the HELL out of gasoline and turn those dollars into ways to help people commute sustainably.
I have been working on a new re-write of the bicycling ordinance so it would allow electric devices with throttles to safely use the shared used recreational trail, this is what I came up with so far;
95.031 WHEELED VEHICLES
Wheeled vehicles in the parks and upon recreation trails shall abide by the ordinances governing the operation of such vehicles and need not be limited to paved areas. Trail Users shall operate their vehicles in a prudent manner and with due regard for the safety of others and the preservation of park property. Users must keep to the right on recreation trails unless passing someone. Vehicle operators will apply the “10-10 Rule” – wheeled vehicles are required to be traveling at less than 10mph when within 10 feet of pedestrians. Maximum speed on recreation trails is 18 MPH (29 KMH).
95.031.1 WHEELED VEHICLES
PROHIBITED ON RECREATION TRAIL.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive or operate any vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, any licensed vehicle, any vehicle with side-by-side seating or any vehicle designed specifically for road usage. Vehicle limitation and trail user etiquette and speed limit signs will be posted at each entry point on the recreation trail. This section shall not apply to or limit authorized vehicles on the levees for maintenance, patrolling, and flood emergency purposes.
I am opposed to a speed limit, but I figured setting it at 18 would be the most logical since most E-Bikes are set at that max speed.
As I have discussed with several councilors and the Active Transportation Board, the real danger on the rec trail is speed and those who cannot ride safely because of the speed. Most people who are using electric assist devices like E2 bikes are usually in that 70 year old range and ride responsibly. In fact over the past week I have been counting bike commuters on the trail near 26th street. Over half of the bikes are E2s.
Even the owner of a local bike shop commented at the meeting if people are using these devices on the rec trail, what does that say about the safety of riding these devices on our roads.
I’m not saying this will fix all the problems on the rec trail, but as the Parks Director pointed out at the meeting there hasn’t been any serious injuries on the bike trail in recent history. The current ordinance which restricts these devices has been on the books for 5 years, passed in the middle of winter, has never been noticed (until recently) and has never been enforced.
It is time to look at doing this differently, and the council is coming around. I do know that councilors Neitzert and Cole are working on a re-write that would lift restrictions and impose a speed limit.
I encourage you to email the entire council HEREand give them your feelings on the ordinance change. If you ride an E2 or different electric device let the council know why you ride it and why it is important to allow them on the rec trail.
While I have stopped riding my E2 on the rec trail, many others have NOT. Just today in a short one hour ride I saw ten E2s (all over the age of 70) an electric skateboard (he was over 50) and a one-wheel (teenager).
UPDATE: I decided to do an unscientific study today. I rode from 11:30 AM-12:30 PM on one of my one-speed bikes, 10 miles from Cherry Rock Park circling South to West 12th street. This is what I counted;
I found ZERO; One Wheels, Electric Scooters or Wheelchairs, Electric Foot Scooters or Electric Skateboards, E-I or E-III bikes or regular foot scooters (I have seen all of these vehicles in the past just not today).
Regular bikes (no assist or light weight for fast riding); 61
Walkers; 44
Children riding bikes; 12
Dogwalkers; 9
E-II (assist plus throttle); 8
Light weight road bike (riding over 20 MPH); 7
Baby Strollers; 5
Joggers; 4
Regular skateboard; 1
I found no surprises while I took this survey, most of the users are regular bicyclists and walkers which is normal. As for the riders of E-II bikes they were all in their late 60’s to early 70’s. It was 4 individual riders and 2 couples. They were maintaining a speed of around 20 MPH which is no surprise since that is the max speed setting on most E-II’s.
Yes, that is a picture of me riding my E-Bike on the bike trail. I had no idea Lalley was taking photos for his article until he asked my permission to use the photo. We will get to the nuts and bolts of his article in a moment, but apparently this line in his piece didn’t sit well with the SFPD;
The reality is that any law is only as good as the willingness of the government to enforce it.
(Looking at you, casual marijuana user.)
Or at least publicize it.
There is no guidance out on the trail system currently beyond the general rules of the road and ride at a safe and courteous speed.
So the SFPD responded to the article today on their favorite place to inform the public (I didn’t find one single comment that thinks enforcing E-Bike rules is a good idea);
It seems all you have to do is lightly mock the SFPD about enforcement of a useless ordinance and they snap into action. It is going to be fun watching officers hand tickets to grandparents riding E2 bikes pulling their wagon with Ms. Kitty in it. Will they also be giving speeding tickets to wannabe Lance Armstrongs for booking over 30 MPH on the trail on there 18 lb carbon fiber road bike?
The ordinance has been in effect since 2018 and I am pretty sure it has NEVER been enforced. There is also NO signage on the rec trail telling folks the speed limit or the restrictions of authorized vehicles.
In other words NO enforcement and NO notification . . . except on Facebook 🙂
When you get into discussions about the repealing the ordinances, councilors and other whiners in the bike community complain that it is complicated because of all these classifications, different emerging vehicles and technologies and the interaction with pedestrians.
But after reading over 90 comments with 99% of them in favor of eliminating the ordinance you wonder what kind of input the council got from the public when crafting this five years ago besides a handful of whiners? It’s time to start listening to the market on this. The E-Bike industry is one of the fastest growing in the United States, but once again the Sioux Falls attitude of go it alone, I know better then the rest of the country, is contributing to this.
There is also an attitude, especially at City Hall these days that climate change is NOT real and anything electric is bad. I often suggest to these people they should just run their homes on coal. If electricity is bad for a bike or car, isn’t it bad for your home? C’mon climate change denier, buck up, show us what you really think!
They are really overthinking it and only need to look at other communities for assistance. I would start with something very simple, get it on the books, and over the year study what needs to be tweaked and revisit it with changes;
Repeal all current restrictions, re-write from scratch
Post the speed limit of 15 MPH on the trail
Paint a white center line with pavement signage every 1/4 mile that says KEEP RIGHT
Allow Class II and Class III bikes, AS long as they maintain the speed limit, have pedals and only use pedal assist (NO THROTTLING). This is a simple setting on the bike.
Allow electric vehicles that CAN be ridden at a safe speed (this will be the hardest part of crafting the ordinance)
Have monthly enforcement on Saturdays where police hand out warnings for speed.
I know it seems laughable that an ordinance has been on the books for almost 5 years and there has been no public notification (signage) or enforcement. At least the person running the FB page for the SFPD was paying attention, better get them a challenge coin 🙂
With the weather getting it’s thaw on I have been trying to get my bike riding miles in, and it has been glorious. Yesterday I went on an extensive bike trail ride (my 4th in a week). While I like to bitch a lot about city services, the city deserves a gold star on plowing the bike trail. Don’t be fooled by winter. I have seen walkers, joggers, bike riders and pet enthusiasts on the trail and we are extremely fortunate to have the city plow our bike trail. Thank You!
