Research in Planning Assignment

Current Events and Safety Concerns for Bicycle/Scooter Planning

Bibliography included

Caitlin Chan

Bicycle/Scooter planning: Safety Concerns and Current Events

During the pandemic lockdown Goldbaum (2020) reports people would take advantage of the open roads and dangerously speed down lanes. This spike of speeders and racers has caused a rise in accidents and fatal incidents involving deaths of drivers, passengers, and motorcyclists. New York City’s MTA system is faced with budget cuts due to the pandemic therefore as services decline more people are buying cars, bikes and scooters. However, as more people are shunning public transit this calls for more protected bike lanes and restricted traffic in order to create safe and functional city streets for all. While people are getting back to their regular schedules, people forget they should not neglect road laws and safety regulations especially in busy urban areas. OECD and The International Transport Forum (2015) claim in order to develop a strategy for powered two wheelers, there must be a “consensus regarding the

vision for motorcycling’s role in the transport system, and its safety, in particular, an agreement

to the scope of the strategy-its timelines, coverage, the level at which the strategy is aimed, strengthening the social processes and individual or organizational capabilities to support their role in road safety management, and increasing community and media interest in the issue and the need for evidence-based solutions.” Similar to the example in NYC, there’s a need for a plan

that accommodates all riders and pedestrians, everyone’s safety should be accounted for in every

situation. Reported in the Journal of Engineering (2018), Motivate International announced they will add 250 e-bikes to San Francisco’s Bay Area. In hopes of making San Francisco “more

livable and reduce congestion and household transportation costs.” Vish Palekar, CEO of GenZe,

states “Our e-bikes can go anywhere a conventional bicycle can go, including shared lanes and cycling paths - allowing riders to commute greater distances with no traffic and zero emissions.”

To be able to use the e-bikes there’s a fee and each ride has a limit of 60 minutes. Motivate has a

system in NYC called Citi Bike that is located throughout the 5 boroughs. Not everyone is willing to try bike riding as a primary mode of transport, cars are still preferred due to its faster speeds and better protection from what’s going on around them. The pandemic is not the only global issue that is alarming, reducing carbon emissions is still a problem cities are facing, the potential benefits of using vehicles that leave no trace on the environment is endless. Having more two wheeled and powered two wheeled vehicles can battle traffic problems and

environmental problems but the only obstacle is how to provide efficient protection for each individual. I googled bicycle and scooter planning, results showed NY Times had an article published about recent accidents involving traffic deaths in NYC and their ways of solving the issue. Using the UB Library database I typed in bicycle and scooter planning, results showed a book from OECD and ITF about how to find the correct strategy that will improve safety for motorcycle, scooter, moped riders. I used UB library again and an academic journal from the Journal of Engineering came up stating Motivate’s implementation of e-bikes in San Francisco.

Electric vehicles: Benefits and Safety Measures

Environmentally friendly vehicles are over time becoming more accessible and preferred due to its nature of reducing carbon emissions. Morris (2020) helps to clarify certain electric vehicle myths people spread around that are not true. EVs (Electric Vehicle) are not made with polluting minerals, EVs use lithium but if that is a problem then all the electronics currently running on lithium batteries should also be reconfigured. Compared to lithium, the oil spills are more of a factor contributing to the destruction of our environment. EVs are not a fire hazard, “Let’s look at the figures. China has ordered more EV safety checks, but that was after only 40

EV fires in 2018. This was across a fleet of 1.2 million EVs in China in 2018, in one fire for every 30,000 vehicles. Putting that in perspective, in the US, from 2014 to 2016 there was an average of 171,500 highway vehicle fires according to a report by FEMA. There were around 269 million cars in the USA in 2016, meaning that one in 1,569 fossil fuel cars caught fire in 2016 - nearly 20x as many as EVs in China in 2018.” EV batteries can last for many years, “Data

gleaned from lots of Tesla owners has shown a mere 10% average battery degradation after over 160,000 miles. Most fossil cars are on the scrap heap long before that kind of mileage.” EVs are expensive but they are more durable in the long run, “The Tesla Model S has the highest residual

value of any used car in Germany, for example, retaining 9% more value after three years than any other brand, with a whopping 58.5% retention. As a result, since decent EVs have only been around for less than a decade, the cheapest end of the second hand market doesn’t even exist

yet… So you will pay more up front, but you will save loads after that, and when it comes time

to sell, you’ll get more second hand value back than a fossil fuel car.” Electric cars are different

compared to cars that run on gasoline but there are also hybrid cars that can use both and should

be accounted for. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment provides their conclusion “Overall, gaps in existing environmental assessments of EVs (Electric Vehicles) are significant.

Given current understanding of a transportation system including significant use of EVs it appears that in connection with low-carbon electricity systems, BEVs (battery electric vehicles) and PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) offer the potential of reductions in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions when compared with conventional ICEVs (internal combustion engine vehicles), however their relative position in terms of GHG emissions when compared to other advanced vehicle technologies such as high efficiency ICEVs or GI-HEVs (gridindependent hybrid electric vehicles) is less clear.” Electric vehicles are still being developed and

improved over time to eventually become the primary choice of personal transportation. Reported by China Weekly News, patent inventors Yubo Lian, Heping Ling, Fanliang Meng, Yanfei Xiong, and Weiqiang Chen, quoted “...a conventional hydraulic brake system is essential.

In addition, an anti-lock braking system and an electronic stability program can hydraulically brake a single or multiple wheels on the basis of the hydraulic brake system, so as to achieve an effect of speed reduction.” Safety measures for electric vehicles are still necessary as to protect its passengers and people outside the vehicle. I googled electric vehicles and a Forbes article showed an entry from Morris about certain myths that should be addressed about electric vehicles. Using the UB Library database I found a journal from The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, it provides the comparison of different hybrid and electric vehicles and their impacts on the environment whether it is negative or positive. Using the UB Library again I found an article from China Weekly News of a patent issued for the brake system and method in electric vehicles.

Bibliography

Goldbaum, Christina. (2020). 9 Major N.Y.C. Roads Get Lower Speed Limits as Traffic Deaths Surge. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/nyregion/nyc-trafficdeaths-coronavirus.html

Motivate Announces e-Bike Pilot Program to Launch in San Francisco in April 2018. (2018, January 22). Journal of Engineering, 1045. https://link-gale-

com.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/apps/doc/A524002790/AONE?u=sunybuff_main&sid=AONE&xid=5d c08b92

OECD (2015), "Developing and implementing an integrated road safety strategy for powered twowheelers", in Improving Safety for Motorcycle, Scooter and Moped Riders, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi-org.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/10.1787/9789282107942-11-en. Morris, James. (2020). 4 Myths From Electric Vehicle Haters-And Why They’re Wrong. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmorris/2020/08/29/4-myths-from-electricvehicle-haters--and-why-theyre-wrong/#74c6534a7d2c

Patent Issued for Brake System And Method For Four-Wheel Drive Electric Vehicle And Electric Vehicle. (2020). In China Weekly News (p. 1066-). NewsRX LLC.

Hawkins, T., Gausen, O., & Stromman, A. (2012). Environmental impacts of hybrid and electric vehicles-a review. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 17(8), 997-1014. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-012-0440-9