Author name: Steven Edwards

We look at four e-bikes, from the hi-tech to the conventional, to see which offers the best experience

It’s fair to say I learned two main things in trying to test out a series of commuter-type e-bikes over the past few months. One was more of a rediscovery: they’re fantastic fun. The other was a surprise: at the moment, they’re really hard to get hold of.
The coronavirus pandemic changed the UK in many ways, and one of the minor impacts was to spark an explosion of interest in e-bikes, as people sought out ways to return to work while avoiding public transport and traffic jams.
After months of back-and-forth emails with bike companies and PRs, I got hold of the four featured below. I wanted to test more models, and some cheaper ones, but it couldn’t happen.
Before I get into the details, there are three general points to make.

“If the Internet was a block of flats, would you want to move in?” asked London-based Jimmy Tidey on tech media site Hackermoon in 2017. An expert on Twitter tribes, Tidey argued that self-selection and algorithms separate people from information which disagrees with their viewpoints, leading to online polarisation.
His latest research delves into the divisive debates about London’s new “low traffic neighborhoods.” Using graphics to represent “filter bubbles,” he explores how a small number of individuals on Twitter can convince themselves and others—including councils—that their opinions are the truly mainstream ones.

Drivers could face a £3.50 daily charge to enter Greater London under proposals from the mayor of London to address the capital’s funding crisis.
Sadiq Khan has asked Transport for London to start feasibility studies for the plan to raise £500m a year.
The boundary charge would be levied on vehicles registered outside the capital crossing into the whole of London – an area almost 80 times larger than the central congestion zone.
An independent review into TfL’s finances, which have been badly hit by the loss of tube fares after the pandemic, suggested that road charging would be the best source of new revenue.
The review said cuts to bus services in outer boroughs, scrapping the night tube, and ending the subsidy for the “Boris bike” cycle hire scheme would provide potential savings but could inflict further congestion and economic damage.
The independent panel was commissioned by Khan during fraught negotiations with the government for emergency funding, after passengers were told to avoid public transport to help stop the spread of Covid-19.
Khan urged ministers to “play fair” by London to assure the future funding of the capital’s transport network, and to allow the capital to keep the £500m a year paid in vehicle excise duty by London-based drivers.

He said the money was spent outside London while TfL used fare income to fund maintenance of major roads in the capital.
The boundary charge could also reduce congestion and emissions and encourage greater use of sustainable transport. On an average weekday about 1.3m vehicles travel into London.

Among the criticisms levelled by the national cyclists’ charity are that the survey is designed around “leading questions” – ie ones that aim to provoke a certain desired response.
A number of those are related to cycle lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), initiatives that Fair Fuel UK has consistently opposed.
Just last month, the group was co-signatory to a letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group Fair Fuel for UK Motorists and Hauliers which called on Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to withdraw support for emergency cycle lanes and LTNs.

By Sam Jones Friday, 11 December 2020
Cycling UK today (Friday,11 December) has announced that through its Cyclists’ Defence Fund it is seeking urgent legal advice about whether councils’ decisions to remove schemes designed to promote walking and cycling are “unreasonable”.  This drastic action follows in the wake of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s removal of a well-used cycle lane on High Street Kensington in London last week citing the lanes caused congestion. According to BetterStreets4KC chair Justin Abbott “Levels of congestion were unaffected by the cycle scheme.” There are now no separated cycle lanes and there has been no discernible benefit in terms of congestion reduction. 

The maximum penalty for failure to stop after an incident is points and a 6-month custodial sentence. Causing death by careless/dangerous driving is between 5-14 yrs. The sentence for failing to stop after a fatal collision must be increased.

It’s classic chicken and egg because we get who we design for, but where we are used to designing for one group, we continue the cycle. This week, we’ve seen the debacle over the removal of a pretty basic, but incredibly effective cycling scheme on Kensington High Street, not for any data-led reasons, but because of lots of noise and selected attention by local politicians. 

Nine walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility groups have come together to call for rapid action to cut greenhouse gas emissions with less than one year to go until COP26 in Glasgow.
The group known as the Sustainable Transport Alliance is a new UK-wide alliance for green and fair transport to tackle the climate emergency and ensure inclusive transport for all.
Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, the alliance said rapidly reducing private car use is ‘crucial to safeguarding our climate and tackling air pollution’.

International cycling associations have reacted to the EU Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. The strategy is part of the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from transport, in order for the EU to become a climate-neutral economy by 2050.
The Commission’s commitment to improve the current European framework for urban mobility, will include policies and financial support that reflect the importance of urban mobility, including safe infrastructure for cycling and walking, and innovative MaaS concepts including shared bike services.