Pedal to the metal: Popularity of electric bikes growing on city roads and bike paths

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Electric bikes are growing in popularity around the world, including Metro Vancouver. They’re part of the overall increase in work and recreational bike trips which are linked to the growth i…

Things started to change when his wife Deb bought one about nine years ago. She decided it was the best way to conquer the hill to their home on West 10th in Vancouver.

Both David and Deb are 63 and very active. Not only do they ride their e-bikes, they swim, play tennis and golf. “You see a lot of older people, a lot of seniors, riding electric bikes,” said Mallory, who retired five years ago on disability. “We ride as much as we can. We’ll ride to Granville Island to pick up something and come back. It’s really been a huge thing for us.”

One example of the growth in e-bikes in Metro Vancouver is Cit-E-Cycles. Since opening its first location in 2011, the company has expanded to four outlets in Vancouver, Surrey, Langley and Victoria. Everyone from grandparents to college students are buying e-bikes, he said. One growing segment is parents buying large, extended “cargo” bikes to pick up their children from school.

Overall, the 2017 report card on walking and cycling said that “56 per cent of Vancouver residents are interested in cycling more often. Lon LaClaire, director of transportation for the City of Vancouver, believes electric bicycles have huge potential to create more cycling trips. • Bike sharing has spread around Metro Vancouver. Locations include Richmond, Port Moody, and Port Coquitlam, and soon in Burnaby. On the North Shore, the City of North Vancouver is part of an initiative with the District of North Vancouver and West Vancouver to introduce electric bike share by this June.In B.C., an electric bike is a two- or three-wheeled vehicle with a seat, functional pedals and an electric motor of up to 500 watts.

“We have to get more north-south and east-west bike paths in Burnaby,” he said. “We’re way behind Vancouver.” HUB calls them gaps in the map — specific locations where bike routes end abruptly without any safe alternative for cyclists.

 

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Pedal to the metal: Popularity of electric bikes growing on city roads and bike pathsElectric bikes are growing in popularity around the world, including Metro Vancouver. They’re part of the overall increase in work and recreational bike trips which are linked to the growth i…
Source: VancouverSun - 🏆 49. / 61 Read more »

Pedal to the metal: Popularity of electric bikes growing on city roads and bike pathsElectric bikes are growing in popularity around the world, including Metro Vancouver. They’re part of the overall increase in work and recreational bike trips which are linked to the growth i…
Source: VancouverSun - 🏆 49. / 61 Read more »