The Trouble with E-Bikes

Walking and bicycling in conflict on the Beltline

A month ago, I bought an e-Bike for the family. The Lectric 3 is a great value at $1,000. It folds to fit into a trunk, gets 20 miles of hills on a charge. It can do our shopping, my son’s commute, and even get me back to Stone Mountain next year.

Meanwhile, one of Atlanta’s city councilmembers has introduced an e-Bike rebate program. It’s an effort to accelerate uptake, which barely needs the stimulus.

But before the revolution, we need to talk. There’s trouble coming to River City.

You can already see it if you ride the Beltline, which Atlanta advertises as its ticket to the future. The Beltline is a long sidewalk that sits on old railroad right of way. By the end of the decade, it’s supposed to run all the way around intown Atlanta, 22 miles in all.

I love the Beltline. I love the idea that the city is building paths leading to the Beltline. I love the idea that e-Bikes could force planners to assume less inner-city car traffic.

But…

I have ridden my bike on the east side Beltline, which is already lined with giant condos, bars, and shopping. Except for a few weekday hours it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because walking and biking aren’t nearly as compatible as they seem. You’ve got people with dogs, strollers going side-by-side, and toddlers who run across the path. A road bike going 10 mph can’t navigate the space.

It doesn’t get better with e-Bikes. Yes, you ride lower to the ground and it’s easier to maneuver around obstacles. But e-Bikes can reach speeds of 20 mph, easily. That’s 6-10 times faster than walking traffic. The only way to make it work is to impose, and enforce, a strict speed limit, which may be slower than what’s comfortable for an average road bike, and slower than many e-Bike riders want to go.

There are going to be accidents. There are going to be crashes. There are going to be casualties. We can act now to limit the damage but make no mistake. There will be damage. A toddler will get run over, an old lady will get knocked down, some idiot will crash at 20 without a helmet and break their head.

Want to make things worse? OK, some people already want to rip this up for light rail. The track’s only wide enough for one-way traffic and you can’t get more right-of-way.

The Beltline is a disaster waiting to happen. It’s a disaster that will do terrible damage to the e-Bike movement.