Riders of electric and non-electric bikes alike agree that they would ride more if they felt safer on city streets, signaling a need for an increased focus on bike infrastructure.

“With battery-powered motors that assist riders as they pedal, e-bikes enable a broader range of people to make more and longer trips than traditional bikes. And they are cheaper, more efficient, and less resource-intensive to manufacture than electric cars.” Like electric cars, e-bikes require infrastructure improvements to make their widespread use practical and safe.
“There is no great mystery in how to get more people to ride e-bikes (as well as traditional bikes),” writes Ira Boudway in Bloomberg. “In polling commissioned by the advocacy group PeopleforBikes in 2018, nearly 70% of respondents across eight U.S. cities said that roads are not safe enough for families to bike and, of those, 63% said they would ride if they felt safer.” Research shows that “In city after city, when protected bike lanes are added to roadways, ridership increases.”
New bike infrastructure doesn’t have to be expensive, notes Boudway. “Fortunately, thanks to decades of spending on road and highway building, the infrastructure needed to create these networks already exists. Cities don’t need to pour asphalt; they just need to commandeer some of the surplus of streets from cars.”
Boudway points out that a majority of Americans support more bike and pedestrian infrastructure when polled, yet progress remains painfully slow as city leaders give in to the NIMBY minorities who protest loudest.
FULL STORY: How to Make a City Safer for E-Bikes? Think Infrastructure

Houston Apartments To Be Demolished for Freeway Widening
Despite a federal hold on the controversial freeway widening project, the Texas Department of Transportation is pushing ahead with the demolition of an apartment complex in downtown Houston.

San Francisco Just Ended Single-Family Zoning
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to Tuesday to eliminate single-family zoning, but pro-development advocates say additional changes are needed to unleash a wave of construction.

Land Banking to Prevent Transit-Oriented Displacement in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will implement a new land banking program to mitigate gentrification and displacement around future transit lines.

State Reports Seeks To Guide Warehouse Development in New Jersey
With demand for sprawling e-commerce warehouses growing, New Jersey’s State Planning Commission has released a series of documents outlining best practices for cities examining warehouse proposals.

Manhattan Congestion Pricing Could Start in 2023
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has resubmitted its environmental impact assessment to federal officials, who sent the agency over 400 additional questions earlier this year.

Whitefish ADU Ordinance Could Ease Housing Crunch
Recently approved revisions to the city’s accessory dwelling unit regulations prioritize long-term rentals to increase housing affordability for local renters.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
City of Rolling Hills Estates
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
City of Apache Junction
City of Helena
Gallatin County, Montana
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.