Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
As someone who has been cycling on Calgary pathways for over 40 years, the recent proliferation of ebikes and escooters has only increased the ######bag and annoyance factor. These things can easily do 30k, and the people driving them are even less considerate of others on the paths than cyclists are. On already crowded pathways, they’ve only made matters worse.
I’m not sure why we’re even allowing motorized vehicles on the pathway system. The distinction between an e-scooter or e-bike and a moped has become pretty much arbitrary. If we’re going to draw a line on what vehicles we do allow, it seems non-motorized is a pretty clear one. It’s like the reservoir. Want to know what kind of water vessel you can take on it? If it has a motor, you can’t. Crystal clear.
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It sounds more like you just don't like the increased volume. If the exact same people were on pure push pedal bikes, wouldn't that be worse? On pedal bikes they'd be cycling less straight, taking breaks, and going slower than the flow of bicycle traffic. Would these people be less of a nuisance to you? Unlikely.
And there are clear distinctions in terms of what is legal and what is not when it comes to E-bikes. E-bikes can be distinguished based on power and they are already divided into classes.
Personally, I'm all for any type of e-bike, scooter, or other similar vehicle being allowed on a bike trail for the purpose of commuting. Will existing cyclists have to accommodate slightly different personal vehicles and increased volume. Yes, of course. As we encourage more people to ditch cars, you're going to see more people clogging up bike paths, especially during "rush hour".
I don't see why there should be this distinction between non-motorized and motorized. It sounds like you're just trying to keep the trails emptier and reserved only for people of a fitness and biking ability that you deem satisfactory, as not to be a slight nuisance to you.