US encouraging electric bike use on public land

Electric bikes are rapidly growing in popularity and governments are now slowly developing legislation and codes that will more accurately state the rights and usages of Ebikes.

In the United States, legislation has recently been put through in the form of Order 3376. While this sounds like something to do with a squadron of stormtroopers sent from the Empire, it is actually to do with new rules for eBike usage on public land. These rules were put in place in an attempt to simplify and solidify where you can and cannot use an electric bike.

Order 3376 was put forward by the Department of the Interior of the United States who recognised the  health benefits that come with operating an eBike, along with providing aid to those dealing with issues of age, illness, and disability. This new order has united all eBike regulation across the four sub-departments that deal with public land. This order intends to clear up many of the inconsistent policies that regulated eBike usage previously. Order 3376 basically puts eBike usage on the same level as regular bike usage. However the new rules will not apply to any lands managed by the US Forest Service.

What are the main changes?

A 3 class system has been adopted in order to classify them more clearly. The three classes of are as follows:

Class 1 electric bicycle: An electric bicycle with a motor that provides assistance exclusively when the rider is pedaling, and that does not provide any assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour of without pedalling.

Class 2 electric bicycle: An e-bike with a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the bicycle, and that is not capable of providing assistance when the bicycle achieves the speed of 20 miles per hour.

Class 3 electric bicycle: An electric bike with a motor that gives assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and that stops providing any assistance when the bike reaches the speed of 28 miles per hour.

This 3-Class system classifies an electric bike as a bike that has a motor and fully operable pedals with a motor of 750W or below. For any bike greater than 750W, they fall under the same restrictions as non-highway motor vehicles. This classification reduces the previous confusion where some electric bikes where being considered motor vehicles. Under new regulations, electric bikes will be classified as traditional, non-motorized bicycles when ridden on lands managed by the Department of Interior. 

In short, eBikes shall be permitted where traditional bicycles are permitted. The one significant difference is that eBikes that adhere to the three class system will also be allowed for usage in areas restricted for use for motor vehicles only.

Electric bikes have to be ridden with the same attention and care as traditional bicycles and requiring the same equipment. Any piece of equipment that is required for traditional bikes is also required with electric bikes on a state basis. A failure to follow these regulations will follow the same punishments as failing to operate a traditional bike.

Even admit the Coronavirus pandemic, US is passing legislation to confront the increasing demand for electric bikes and incorporate them safely and effectively into the current infrastructure. The UK appears to be very far behind in this department, allowing private companies to instantiate the change and giving them free reign with various alternative transport models, the main issue current being electric scooters, and then frantically and inefficiently retroactively passing incomprehensible and ill-conceived rules and regulations.

Will the UK begin to recognise the influx of electric bikes and start to sensibly work out a way to incorporate them into our daily lives?

URBAN ELECTRO is dedicated to bringing you the best deals for electric bikes on the market, from brand new, high powered E-MTBs to B-stock bargains

New Harley Davidson Electric Bike: Looks To Die For Or Overkill?

The king of heritage, Harley Davidson has announced it’s new brand, Series 1 Cycle Company, dedicated to electric push bikes. With this announcement came images of a new bike, which may or may not be put into production (but we really hope it does!). Its name is a reference to the oldest-known Harley, the Serial Number One, which was built in 1903.

This bike is definitely a head-turner, but may not be for everyones tastes. This bike was designed with the classic and memorable image of early Harley Davidson’s in mind. Unfortunately, it is not completely clear whether the final product. Harley Davidson claims this bike is “a styling exercise, not necessarily intended for mass production.”

Looking over the bike, it is a mid-motor bike with a carbon belt which is going to inevitably put it in the upper price bracket. The hydraulic disk brakes, brooks saddle with springy suspension and the integrated battery, headlights and taillights offer this bike a slick and modern look, keeping up with the current electric bike style trends we are beginning to see. It is likely that we will see some changes in the model if it ever goes into production; The white tyres, while looking amazing, would be ruined within minutes of riding and the overall relaxed styling makes this bike appear to be more of a boys toy, rather than a legitimate form of transport. The  Serial 1 Cycle Company is predicted to release its models in March of 2021, but a countdown on the company’s site suggests it plans to reveal more details on November 16.

Currently, no price tag has been released, but we estimate this bike could be asking £8,000+ when it goes on sale March 2021, if it will even be available in the UK

Voi suspends electric scooter trial due to "Britain’s antisocial behaviour issue"

Certain counties in the UK have suddenly found themselves submerged beneath a tidal wave of electric scooters. Electric scooter hire company, Voi have introduced a micro-mobility rental system into many towns and cities throughout England.

They charge a fixed base £1 to unlock the scooter and then a variable rate per minute depending on the time of day, availability and location. This electric scooter scheme was considered a big step forward in sustainable urban mobility, but like every electric scooter scheme across the globe, the UK is not exempt from the common problems and the mentality of the British is not comparable to our European neighbours.

Voi

Within five days of its introduction, Voi has announced that they have been forced to suspend their hire services in Coventry due to the misuse of their vehicles. There has been reports of riders weaving in and out of traffic and swapping between the road and pavement in an erratic way. Voi said the primary cause was “Britain’s antisocial behaviour issue” with Voi's general manager commenting  “We haven't seen this level of antisocial behaviour in any other market”

Voi hit the UK streets, pavements, roads, streets, alleys (and wherever else they fit) on 3 September and users have taken over 45,000 rides and travelled more than 98,000km. 

In response to this suspension, Voi are now looking to implement to new set of rules and ideas:

• Double Voi ambassadors out on the streets and help reinforce rate safety, monitor activity and respond to questions.

• Further collaboration between local police forces and ambassadors to combat problems and issues faster. They are currently in discussions how to increase enforcement activity, paid for by Voi.

• Find more ways to separate pedestrians and riders; Voi are revising the no-ride and slow-ride zones.

• Attempt to improve their geofencing, which is a GPS technology that creates virtual boundaries.

• Number plates are soon to be introduced, to help the public report unsafe and inappropriate riding.

• Improve riding education by giving incentives to those who complete training courses.

• Helmet giveaways: They are not compulsory but Voi have already given hundreds away.

Voi

Is the UK the correct market for electric scooter hire systems? Are they even a good idea in the first place? Dockless rental systems have caused chaos across the globe with California having to impose a strict policy on them due to them being left in piles on the sidewalk, completely blocking off access to pedestrians. A criticism of the hire systems is the he cheap hire rate and the lack of personal ownership encourages more reckless behaviour. Perhaps a more nuanced view on personal ownership and legislation would be the more appropriate route?

URBAN ELECTRO has a selection of electric scooter that we deem of a higher quality to rental scooters. Unlike many drop-shipping scooter companies we can ensure your warranty as we have our own dedicated repair workshop.

Courier companies encouraged to switch from vans to cargo bikes

Delivery companies across the UK are being asked to consider changing to cargo bike schemes in an attempt to slash carbon emissions, reduce traffic and congestion and improve air quality 

The Local Government Association, which represent councils across England and Wales, is calling for couriers to start adopting environmentally friendly cargo bikes, which provide the benefits of being cost-effective and zero-carbon options for, what is now being coined as, “last mile logistics” which is the last stretch from hub to home. This call comes as recent figures display that light commercial vehicle traffic, which include online shopping delivery vehicles, is back at pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, with more shopping being online due to COVID-19, this is only likely to increase further.

A new report released by the LGS, Transport decarbonisation by travelling less, claims that changing to cargo bikes will assist in addressing concerns about the rise of diesel delivery vans operating in urban areas and residential streets, leading to further air quality issues and congestion.

The report says that courier bikes could potentially replace up to 10% of conventional vans in areas where the final route is under 2km, without jeopardising the overall network efficiency. By adopting a cargo bike they could reduce current urban delivery emissions by 73% of the course of a courier vehicle’s life span.

Incorporating cargo bikes would also help solve some issues such as the clogging up of roads by vans parked on pavements as they make deliveries in tighter residential streets. Councils across the UK are already trying to promote the use of electric cargo bikes by purchasing fleets for rental by local businesses or by using the electric bikes themselves:

• Devon County Council intends to use 13 electric cargo bikes in the city of Exeter in order to support sustainable travel as an alternatives to car and van use. Two of these 13 bikes will be used by the local hospitals social care teams.

• Cambridgeshire plan to deploy 30 electric cargo bikes to cover first-mile deliveries, a ‘try before you buy scheme’ and pool of electric cargo bikes to encourage residents and businesses to take them up.

• Nottingham City Council is putting together a fleet to be used by the council in an attempt to replace journeys around the city and parks. These bikes will also be made available to local delivery firms and local businesses?

How Cities Across The Globe Are Tackling Traffic And Pollution

Cities across the globe have seen a massive decrease in fossil-fuel powered cars on the streets, and a significant amount are considering to keep it that way.

As global lockdowns continue to keep people working from home, our once congestion-crammed, pollution-populated roads have suddenly transformed into silent streets. This massive education is vehicles, mainly the car, has contributed to a significant drop in emissions of CO2, NO2 and other fine particulate matter. Some cities have responded to this by converting some of the spaces into walking and cycling-only zones to allow socially distanced exercise and commuting.

Milan - the centre of Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, declared it would alter an enormous 35km of its streets to promote cycling post-lockdown. This pandemic may catalyse many countries to make a movement towards clearing the streets of traffic and towards cleaner air.

The impact of the pandemic has had staggering effects on the environment. Emissions for carbon based fuels are looking to a record 5.5 - 5.7% annual drop. Between mid-January to mid-February, the carbon giant China’s emission output fell by approximately 25%. In Delhi, a city that is often sited with the worst air quality on the globe, predominately from PM 2, reduced by almost 75% as congestion fell by 59%. Shocking figures such as this could be seen across the globe: Paris cited a reduction of 70% of NO2, Milan’s NO2 levels dropped by around 40% and London quoted a decrease in toxic emissions by almost half

Milan’s NO2 levels dropped by around 40% and London emissions by almost half

However, with a decrease in car usage has also come a decrease in public transport usage. Where public transport usage has been dwindling, bicycle riding has been taking the slack. Throughout March use of bike-sharing systems grew by nearly 150% in Beijing and 67% in New York.

Many cities have responded to this change by installing temporary cycle lanes and have even closed off entire streets to cars. Cities such as Budapest, New York, Dublin and Berlin have seen miles of pop up bikes lanes rapidly installed and governments across the world have allocated funding for more. Brussels have decided to make the entire city core a priority zone for cyclists and pedestrians from May.

All this change is excellent progress towards a more ecologically sustainable world but there are large concerns that an avoidance of public transport will leads more people than ever to private cars, leading to further congestion and pollutions once restrictions are fully listed. Cities in China such as Shanghai and Beijing and already seeing this.

With this fear in mind, Milan has announced a plan to make significant changes post-pandemic that will support alternatives to driving. As restrictions are slowly lifted the government will begin building the cycle lanes, taking up space from the cars, alongside reduced speed limits and widened pavements. Paris has promised to make every single street cycle-friendly by 2024 and reduced on street parking by 72%. This plan has also been accelerated in response to combat the crisis. Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, has made it clear that the air quality improvement should not be temporary effects and that combating air pollution should be an ongoing challenge.

Developments are also taking place at a national level, with the government recently publishing a strategy for reducing car use to tackle climate change, to achieve the country’s goal of net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.

URBAN ELECTRO wants to help our country and county continue to be mobile during this pandemic and to make electric transport accessible to all price points which is why we have some of the more affordable bikes on the market and also a selection of B-grade bikes with minor damages at reduced prices. We are also committed to quality so strive to find a balance between affordability and quality.

The New Law That Might Kill Scooter and Bike Share In California - And How It Might Come For Us

The new proposal entitled, Assembly Bill 1286 would functionally ban scooters, electric bikes and all other electric-assisted transport from the road unless it is contested.

The Golden State is on the brink of passing a bill that could kill bike and scooter share in the state and could cause other states to follow, potentially changing crash-liability laws for the worse. Bill 1286 would make it illegal for electric bike, e-scooter and other electric mobility transport rental companies to require their users to sign a liability waiver as part of their terms of service. However, this ban would not affect car-rental or taxi companies which currently require them. This change would make the rental company liability for almost all rider injuries, even in cases of driver misconduct and rider negligence, as well as poor road designs on behalf of the state. Currently, the waiver means that the users acknowledge the risk associated with the transport and accept responsibility for any damages.

If AB 1286 passes, it might undo years of work towards creating a sustainable and ecological transport system by making the private automobile the only realistic mode of transportation. This is because without liability waivers, liability-insurance companies won’t be able to insure scooter and e-bike rental companies — and because Californian cities require micromoibility companies to carry that type of insurance, Lime, Bird and all other rental micro mobility rental companies would be forced to shut down.

A letter from Apollo Syndicate management, an insurance company,  indicated that as a direct effect of AB 1286 they would not be able to insure any of the California micromobility industry for the foreseeable future including Lime, Bird, Razr, Spin, Jump and more. Industry leaders say, contrary to the claims of the bill’s proponents, there are not any insurance companies that would cover a micromobility company that fails to secure rider waivers, even if the company agrees to pay more for its policy. This proposal comes at a difficult time for California who are currently struggling to contain the single largest Coronavirus outbreak in the US. With thousands of residents nervous about taking public transport, California had planned for micromobility to be a solution to the mobility issues caused by COVID-19.

Another concern of AB1286 is that it appears to benefit ambulance chasers and injury lawyers who are increasingly flocking to the micromobility sector and scrutinising it for potential payouts. The bill would require mobility providers attain at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance for “each incident”. This is only if these companies could even acquire this figure, which is double the current amount. 

Without advocates displaying support for micromobility, experts say it could completely disrupt the national discussion about who we should hold responsible for traffic violence.  However, supporters stressed that they believe micromobility should bear some responsibility for keeping both road and rider users safe

Study Shows Electric Bikers Ride Further And More Often Than Regular Bikers

In 2020, with the largest surge and increase of electric bike sales ever recorded in history, some people still consider electric bikes ‘cheating’. This is an antiquated and dated notion that needs to disappear in order to promote electric bikes as a form of genuine sustainable and effective transport.

Its important to view electric bikes and regular bikes as two different vehicles and that electric biker often cycles more regularly and go longer distances so get just as much exercise as regular biker. A brand new study has also indicated just how much more electric bikers ride, and the numbers are surprising. This study doesn't just boast impressive figures about riding but also shows that e-bikes are actually replacing cars more than bikes.

The researchers for this study, Hanne Beate Sunfør and Aslak Fyhri studied the before-and-after habits of people who purchased electric bikes in Osla, Norway. These bikes were the European style pedelec bikes, which the rider has to pedal for the motor to assist. These results were then compared to a group who were interested in buying an electric bike, but had not yet committed. They did this by asking these questions:

1/ If purchasing an electric bike is related a change in their total distance covered in kilometres than short term access

2/ If purchasing an electric bike is related to a change in cycle share than short term access

3/ If the study outcome is dependent upon the choice of the comparison group.

The Results

Those who purchased electric bikes head increased their bicycles use from 2.1 kilometres (1/3 miles) to 9.2 kilometres (5.7 miles) on average per day; an enormous 340% increase in distance. The e-bike also took up a large portion of their total transportation use, from 17% to 49%, where the users decided to e-bike rather than drive, walk or take public transport.

The researchers are labelling this the “e-bike effect” but are concerned that the reason maybe due to excess riding because of the novelty of a new item. However, the concern was negated as it was revealed people rode their electric bikes mode the longer they had them "it confirms previous findings indicating that people tend to go through a learning process where they discover new trip purposes for where to use the e-bike.”

But you can’t compare Norway to the USA or the UK?

Many in North America are likely to suggest that it is not reasonable to compare Norway to America. However the researchers note that Norway should not be confused with The Netherlands or Denmark and that Norway doesn't share the same bike culture as these countries and in Oslo, the cycling share usage is very low.

Norwegian cycling culture has been predominately based on recreational cycling in the recent decades. Therefore the context of Norway in terms of bikes can be similarly compared to the US where studies up until now have indicated a shift from cars to cycling following the increased availability and public knowledge of electric bikes.

So, what are the conclusions?

From this study, the authors have come to the conclusion that electric bikes are rapidly becoming an essential part of a modern urban transport system and will be an important component of reducing the environmental impact by shifting people away from polluting motorised transport. “We find that the increased cycling is not just a novelty effect, but appears to be more lasting”. “If we really want to see a permanent uptake in the use of e-bikes, we need policy measures that provide a safe place to ride and a secure place to park.”

URBAN ELECTRO sells a wide range of affordable electric bikes ranging from powerful E-MTBs to compact commuter bikes. Drop by on Saturday from 10am-4pm and see what we have for you.

Brighton and Hove City Council launch eCargo Bike Accelerator Project

Brighton & Hove City Council launch eCargo Bike Accelerator Project

On September 22nd Brighton & Hove council are launching the eCargo Bike Accelerator Project as part of World Car-Free Day. This will be celebrated with an event that will feature all of the cargo bikes and display their benefits and opportunities.

The event will feature:

• Display of cargo bikes operated by local businesses

• Demonstrations of the cargo bike capabilities

• The chance to speak to retailers and electric cargo bike experts

Tuesday 22 September, 2020 / 10:00-14:00 / Jubilee Square, Jubilee Street, BN1 1GE

About the project

In an effort to support local businesses and organisations, Brighton & Hove City Council are encouraging them to use electric-cargo bikes (e-cargo bikes) as part of their daily operations such as servicing and delivery. Electric cargo bikes are typically two - four wheeled electrical assisted pedal cycles that incorporate increased storage capacity. The electric motor provides power to the wheels to provide assistance to the pedal effort. This means goods can be transported up hills and difficult terrain with ease and can also navigate tight city street with minimal effort. Below are some benefits of electric cargo bikes.

Benefits of e-cargo bikes

Business benefits of using e-cargo bikes include:

• More affordable operating and initial purchase costs vans and cars, including electric vehicles

• Easy parking in congested urban areas

• Zero emissions and usage of car-free areas (which are on the increase)

• The opportunity to brand your e-cargo bike and be promoted by the Council, as well as having a positive eco-friendly brand image

The council is offering various avenues of support including:

• Impartial advice on the best cargo bike to suit your needs and budget

• Free rider training

• Subsidies for the purchase of the bike

• Marketing opportunities from the council displaying how your business has made movements towards sustainability

The Council is searching for businesses who are potentially considering using cargo bikes as part of their operation. If you are interested in your business or organisation potentially using e-cargo bikes, please send an email to transport.projects@brighton-hove.gov.uk.