> THE CURE FOR CONGESTION.
>
> USE AN ELECTIRC BIKE.
>
> NO EFFORT, NO HASSLE, NO PROBLEM.
>
>
>
> People drive cars because (a) they are convenient and relatively
> comfortable to travel in. (b) They are available to their owners
> 24/7/365 unlike public transport which generally only operates when
> and where there is sufficient demand and when things like Christmas
> holidays and industrial action don't get in the way. (c) There is, in
> general, no restriction on what you can carry in your car but try
> carrying a can of petrol or a lead acid battery or a tin of paint or
> some long planks of wood for DIY on a bus or train or tram and see how
> you get on.
>
> The downside of car travel is that you get caught up in traffic jams
> -- but so do buses but it is more comfortable to sit in a car
> listening to the radio or CD than standing in the wet at a bus stop.
> Most of the downsides of car travel don't really affect the individual
> motorist as much as they do society at large i.e. things like
> pollution and congestion. The basic bane for the individual motorist
> is finding a place to park the car and keep an eye open for various
> signs which restrict his freedom like speed limits and one-way
> streets.
>
> The long and the short of it is that people are not going to willingly
> give up using their cars. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages by
> such a long chalk.
>
> My solution is to combine car use with something else that causes less
> congestion. "Carry a folding bike in the boot and cycle into town
> from an edge of town car park", I hear the pundits say. Fair enough if
> you're fit and healthy and don't mind arriving at the office like a
> drowned or exhausted rat.
>
> My suggestion is to relax the law on electric bikes. Currently, if
> you have a pedal bike, you can fit an electric motor provided it is
> not more than 200 watts and cannot do more than 15 mph. (Electrically
> Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1981). You can then ride it with no
> insurance, no driving licence, no road tax, and no helmet as it is not
> treated as a motor vehicle. That's fair enough but it must retain its
> pedals which makes it bulky to put into the boot of a car. My
> suggestion is to abolish the requirement for pedals so that we can
> have small electric folding bikes which can easily fit into the boot
> of a car and which can travel at, say, 20 miles per hour which is what
> a fit cyclist can reach anyway. You carry this bike in your boot; you
> park your car at an out of town car park and ride into town with no
> physical exertion so that you arrive reasonably fit to start work. The
> bike's batteries could be charged from the car when in the boot and
> plugged into the mains when in the office.

>
> Such a small vehicle could even be carried on the train or the bus and
> ridden from the station or bus stop to your destination again with no
> or very little physical exertion.
>
> All it takes is the political will and a change in the law.
>
> --
> Alasdair.