I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion on this topic tonight with David Byrne (yes, David Byrne of the Talking Heads), Congressman Earl Blumenauer, New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, and Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution. I also had the opportunity to raise the subject of electric cycling with them directly.
Along with a book signing for David Byrne’s recent book Bicycle Diaries, this event launched Cities for Cycling, a National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) project aimed at fostering bicycle-friendly street design.
The discussion took place in a glass-walled 7th floor conference room in Washington DC’s Newseum with a fabulous view of the Capitol. The room was packed. (It’s hard to say if it would have been quite as packed without Mr. Byrne.)
Each member of the panel made a short presentation. Mr. Byrne’s focused on urban design and how it can work well or poorly for bikes. Congressman Blumenauer, founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus spoke of cycling-friendly provisions in the next highway bill, and asked his essential cycling question: How many people are stuck in traffic right now on their way to the gym so they can ride their stationary bicycles? Commissioner Sadik-Khan highlighted cycling-friendly improvements she has helped push through in New York City as well as her work with NACTO and Cities for Cycling.
My principal comment for the panel was that they were preaching to the choir in that room full of transportation planners. Well less than half of American adults actually cycle, and fewer still actually cycle for transportation from point A to point B. In addition to improving our physical infrastructure, we need to look for strategies to get more people cycling. A quarter of all bikes now sold in Holland are electric-assist bikes. For aging baby-boomers and others an electric assist may make the difference and help get folks out of their cars and on to their bikes.
The most interesting response was from Commissioner Sadik-Khan. She emphasized the need for safe routes for cycling in the first place, but also expressed support for electric cycling. That gave me an opportunity to point out that electric cycling is currently illegal on public streets in New York, and that we really need national guidance to ensure that electrically-assisted cycling can be part of the solution nationwide. (We spoke afterwards. She understands the issue and expects it to be resolved in New York “very soon”.)
I was glad to be able to get the words “electric bicycle” into this national conversation. We’ll clearly need to do more, but it’s a start. Please share your own thoughts on this in our discussion forums at http://ElectricCyclist.com/forum.
Charlie