The latest streets and transportation news from Streetsblog USA.
Today’s newsletter brings you two perspectives on the e-bike boom.
One, from Felix Mariano, looks at the riders pushing their bikes to the limits, and where safety comes into play. “What we once saw as freedom is now criminalized,” Mariano writes. “And it didn’t have to be this way.”
The other, from Streetsblog NYC contributor Julie Lichtblau, processes the aftermath from being t-boned by an e-bikeshare rider on a protected greenway — and how that informs her role in the safe streets movement.
“I admit to being dismissive of e-bike complaints before. After being decked by a 60-pound e-Citi Bike rider, I can say unequivocally, yes, it’s different when it happens to you. So to my fellow Safe Streets activists, I want to say that if we let the most aggressive riders set behavior norms and dominate perceptions, we’re giving anti-bike reactionaries ammunition to blast us back to the bad old days with all the bad faith they can muster.”
It’s Woodstock for NUMTOTs — minus the mud and free love.
Sidewalks are too often neglected, but there are ways for cities to step up and fix these essential public spaces.
Law Professor Michael Pollack on who manages, owns and feels ownership of sidewalks — “America’s most overlooked resource.”
