[SustainableTompkins] Bicycle definition

Sat Jun 28 08:39:58 PDT 2008

On Fri, 6/27/08, David McCobb <dpm9 at cornell.edu> wrote:

Tim and Tony, This is, to my knowledge, the last word on the legality of electric bikes in the US, superseding NY state laws (attached). Despite this document, there is still some confusion about whether states can impose additional safety restrictions, and that seems to deter quite a few people from riding, as well as some bike dealers from selling. 
David,

When dealing with regulations I like to quote the official source.  Attached is the page out of the Code of Federal Regulations (16 CFR Pt.1512) with the definition of bicycle.  The definition is at the bottom of the left column.

It looks like it's small enough to laminate and stick right in the wallet.

I don't have time at the moment but somebody should go the New York state website and find the definition of bicycle in the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, if there is one.  It would be good to know exactly how the cops and the judges would define bicycle as well.

There are several options for getting off the various hills and down to the flats laid out in the Town of Ithaca Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan adopted in 1998.  I'm not a Town of Ithaca resident, nor am I a Party member, but maybe somebody who is a Town resident and a Party member should be buttonholing the Town supervisor and Town Board members and asking them why after a decade the plan is still not being implemented.

George Frantz 

--- That's really unfortunate! 

I have several bikes available for test riding for anyone interested. I live in Ecovillage.
David McCobb

On Jun 26, 2008, at 7:59 PM, Tony Del Plato wrote:

Thanks Tim & David. I'd seen Tim cruise around and at red lights, buzzing around Ithaca. I have only recently seen the electric powered bikes at the Ithaca fest parade. Didn't realize how many electric bikes are in the neighborhood. I bike the 3 miles to work and back each day I use my bike but could use the boost to go downtown & rarely to the mall and back up the to Commonland on east hill. I'd like to find out more about both electric & gas boosters for bikes.
Thanks
Tony Del Plato

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 7:22 PM, Tim Joseph <tim at longhousecoop.org> wrote:

David,

I live at Longhouse Cooperative, right next to you, and had a similar experience.  I wanted to bike for years, but couldn't face the hills as a daily commute.  Then I got a bike with a motor and spent the next two years bike-commuting.  Mine is a small, 4 cycle, gas engine.  Not as green as electric, but I calculate I get about 100 miles per gallon and was only using the motor for about a quarter of the biking time.  The gas motor has a bit more power than any electric I've seen, which helps with the section of Elm St. right above where you probably turn.  It wasn't a real choice though, just what I happened to come across.  I too have spread the word and know of at least one person who bought an electric bike as a result.

However, you should know that these bikes are illegal on NY roads.  Anything with a motor must be licensed and insured.  But these bikes cannot be licensed or insured.  Catch 22.  The odds of you actually being ticketed are  pretty slim, but because of where I work, I can no longer bike-commute.  And even though the chances of someone stopping you are pretty low, the penalties for unlicensed, uninsured operation of a motor vehicle are pretty severe.  Sooner or later someone will get slammed.

We should be pushing for a change in the law that recognizes the reality of power boosted bicycles.  Some states and other countries define a category of motor assisted bicycles, with a limit on either power or speed, and define them as bicycles, not motor vehicles.  It's time for NY to do the same.

Tim

Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:28:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: "David Peter McCobb" <dpm9 at cornell.edu>n
To: gjem5760 at yahoo.com, gail at kitchenchairmusic.com,
       tonydelplato at gmail.com, info at sunnywooddesign.com,
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Subject: [SustainableTompkins] Electric Bikes
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Fellow Bikers, I bike-commuted to Cornell from NE area for 8 years prior
to moving to Ecovillage, but was stymied for 5 years by the hills between
West Hill and CU...until I put an electric motor on my bike. I have been
doing it by electric bike for over a year now, and loving it. I am working
hard to spread the word; these things make biking in downtown Ithaca seem
like the easiest, least-fuss and most satisfying way to travel possible.
They require gentle exercise at a level that is nothing-but-fun, and
invite more physical input. At stoplights, I love sliding up the edge to
the front of the pack, and being able to accelerate out of the way when
the light turns green; I think it makes intersections safer, as well as
less annoying for bikes. The best part for me, of course, is the range
extension; on a single charge I can get to CU, loop up to the mall area if
needed (rarely!!), and swoop and climb back home. Every time I head down
from W. Hill (Elm St. extension is pretty quiet) I get a smile on my face
about how fun it is to be so free. And my fitness has improved, without
the brutality of Ithaca Hills.

I am working hard to spread the word, as I think this compromise transport
is ideal for this town. I claim to have gotten 12 electric bikes on the
road so far, through my coaching, brokering, and selling activities.
People of every possible sort have had their curiosity piqued by this, to
the point that they have either begged or been cajoled into test riding. I
have quite a variety of models in my garage, and have an open invitation
for all to try them all. The cost of adding this to an existing bike is
around $500 (fewer than 10 fill-ups at the pump at current gas prices),
and battery recharge  costs less than ten cents, I reckon (~0.5 KWatt
hours).

I call them EZbikes, for a good reason (technically short for electric
zippy bikes). I also call my yellow one the "cheatah"; Perhaps Ithaca is
ready for this cheaters-version of biking. I think if they were to catch
on, this town could absorb several thousand, and set an example. At least
I am having a blast trying to make the case!

David McCobb
dpm9 at cornell.edu

> Tony Del Plato wrote:
>
> I've been a commuter cyclist for over 50 years, both here and in NYC,
> and frankly, as much as bike lanes would be nice, we simply need to
> take to the road and be present and very visible.
>
> **************
> Tony,
>
> I agree wholeheartedly.  It is a rare day when I see another bicycle
> commuter on my daily commute between West Hill and downtown and back,
> even now when the fair weather bikers have taken to commuting by bike.
>
> Yesterday morning however I did pass some 60 cars in the 3-4 minutes
> it took for me to get from my house down to the corner of Buffalo and
> Taughannock.  (By the way 7 out of 8 of those cars, Priuses included,
> contained a single occupant.)  Generally on my commutes I share the
> road with myself and about 400 cars and trucks.  In other words I
> represent about one-quarter of one percent of the morning commuter
> traffic traveling to work via Cliff Street.
>
> If I don't see any evidence of substantive, sustained reliance on
> bicycle as a means of transportation on my daily commutes then I'm
> sure Common Council, Board of Public Works and planning and
> development Board members certainly can't see it from behind their
> steering wheels.
>
> One thing that has not changed in my 25 years in the public planning
> realm is that politicians may speak otherwise, but when it comes down
> to a vote they do not respond to logic or the interest of the
> environment and the public health and welfare.  They respond to
> constituencies and the money behind them.  That is as true here in
> Enlighten City USA as anywhere else.
>
> Frankly, there is no real constituency for serious bicycle
> transportation infrastructure here in Ithaca.  We are a fringe
> element and treated as such.  That's why hundreds of thousands of
> dollars are being sunk into recreational trail blackholes such as the
> Cayuga Waterfront Trail and the Bridge to Nowhere linking two
> segments of a future Trail to Nowhere at the south end of town, at
> the expense of real improvements to bicycle transportation
> infrastructure.
>
> That's why a decade after the Town of Ithaca adopted a plan for a
> 28-mile network of bicycle and pedestrian paths a mere .75 mile
> segment has been built and some three miles of potential future
> bike/ped paths won't happen because the Town Board and Planning have
> ignored the plan and let developers pave over the mapped routes.
>
> That's why in 2005 the Town of Dryden Town Board cut out about ten
> miles of proposed bicycle and pedestrian paths from their new
> comprehensive plan.  Because nobody spoke up for the bicycle
> pedestrian transportation component, but once enough people got
> organized to mount an opposition, it got cut.
>
> The fact is that here in Ithaca, as is the case through the US, the
> bicycle is viewed as nothing more than a recreational toy, simply
> because that is how 99 percent of bike owners use their bikes.  No
> amount of Bike to Work days or Cyclovias to the Farmers Market are
> going to change that perception..
>
> The only thing that would are hundreds of bicycle commuters on the
> streets of Ithaca, on a daily basis, rain, shine or snow.  It can
> happen, and has happened in places like Toronto, Seattle and
> Vancouver, but those are three very compact cities where distances
> between home and work are short enough to make biking competitive
> with the automobile
>
> That environment does not exist in Ithaca.  Given the deeply
> ingrained sprawl mentality here, as exhibited in the negative
> responses to my arguments for a more compact Ithaca, it doesn't have
> much chance of happening here, either.
>
> But I'm still not giving up hope.
>
> Stupidly tenacious.
>
> George Frantz
> gjem5760 at yahoo.com
>
>
> George,
>
> Believe it or not, lots of folks are afraid to ride their bicycles in
> traffic. No matter how much you might think they are sissies, they are
> real people with real fears of being clobbered by two tons of metal. At
> the cyclovia I attended a couple of weeks ago, many of the attendees
> expressed a fear of traffic and appreciation for the handholding and
> support that the cyclovia event provided. I agree that we all need to be
> riding our bikes on the roads with cars and I do this every day. But the
> best way to get more folks doing it is to help them, encourage them, and
> hold their hands if need be, not to berate them or discount them.
>
> Gail Blake
> gail at kitchenchairmusic.com
>
> I agree with George. We need to focus exclusively on creating bike routes
> through the flats for people who live/work downtown. I don't care how
> people
> choose to get into town - that's their problem. Commuting up/down the
> hills
> is just not going to happen - ever. I bicycle commute every day from Fall
> Creek to the west end. I'm pretty brave on a bike and I can totally see
> why
> the average person would never bike downtown in the current situation. My
> observations are:
>
>     1. The roads are narrow with lots of on-street parking (doors swinging
>     into your path are extremely dangerous).
>     2. Like George, I rarely see another commuter - perhaps a couple times
> a
>     week. I do see other cyclists but these are typically kids on
> sidewalks or
>     darting out across traffic. Although I frequently use the sidewalks
> myself
>     near fulton as it is much easier and allows me to get to work faster
> than if
>     I drove (as I pass by all those single occupant cars waiting at the
> lights).
>     3. I rarely see pedestrians either. I'd be curious to know how many
>     millions of dollars are spent on sidewalks that are rarely used - at
> least
>     roads are heavily used.
>     4. I find it very easy to navigate north/south on any street downtown
> at
>     any time of day. I own those roads!
>     5. East/West is another story. Each street has pluses and minuses..
>        1. State street is really narrow and parking on both sides is
> normally
>        pretty heavy. Traffic is very slow with frequent traffic lights and
> I can
>        easily stay in the middle of the lane and keep up (no need for a
> bike lane).
>        State street businesses absolutely need those on-street parking
> spaces to
>        survive (Gimme, Mama Goose, Bishops, etc.). Let's not be too
> dramatic and
>        think state street could ever have a bike lane - that's just plain
> stupid
>        and as George pointed out 0.25% has little sway so don't even
> bother
>        fighting that one. It's bad enough that the commons is closed to
> traffic,
>        stretching that out further makes no sense.
>        2. Green street is actually a great route despite the faster
> traffic.
>        There are no stops until Cauyga and the street is pretty wide.
> There is
>        on-street parking but it is never very heavy because most
> properties are
>        commercial along this street with their own off street parking.
> Residential
>        also have their own off street parking. Personally, I think this
> is the best
>        candidate for a dedicated bike lane heading east. Removing
> on-street parking
>        along the north side would have few if any complaints (Time Warner,
> Fire
>        Station, Ithaca Journal, DP Dough, etc.). These people have their
> own
>        parking lots and should not care too much if a couple dozen
> on-street spaces
>        are removed.
>        3. Seneca on the other hand has a lot of properties that probably
>        depend on the on-street parking. I don't think you could remove
> parking
>        continuously from either side of this street without a lot of
> controversy.
>        4. Buffalo and Court always seem to be crazy at commuting times - I
>        avoid these as much as possible. Way too many stop signs and
> every stop sign
>        or traffic light is a potential bike-vehicle conflict. I much
> prefer a
>        straight shot.
>        5. Cascadilla is the best all around route. There is one stop sign
> at
>        Geneva and it's wide open with lots of visibility. Very little
> traffic on
>        this street and I can zip across town very quickly. I will go
> out of my way
>        on either end of town just to take this route. Would love to see
> a sharrow
>        on this street (not a dedicated bike lane). Once I get to Fulton
> I take the
>        west sidewalk. I feel bad about being a cyclist on the sidewalk
> but until we
>        have more cyclists and more signage I feel a lot safer and it's a
> lot
>        quicker.
>     6. Another thing to consider is bike routes should not have traffic
>     lights. The stupidest feeling I have ever experienced on a bike is
> when I'm
>     stopped at a red light with nobody in sight and a cat sleeping in the
>     road. This is bad enough when you're in a car but I'm not a threat to
> anyone
>     in this situation, I'm not in any danger of being hit by anyone yet
> the law
>     says I have to stand there for 30 seconds or more feeling like an
> idiot. And
>     then a kid comes up on his bmx and liesurely rides kitty-corner
> through the
>     intersection. In general we need to get rid of a lot of traffic
> lights.
>
> Noah
>
> h 607.273.3029
> c 607.262.0305
>
> 405 E. Marshall Street
> Ithaca, NY 14850
>
> www.deviron.com
>
>
> --
> Elan Shapiro
> Sustainable Tompkins Community Partnership Coordinator
> Sustainable Living Associates, Principal
> Frog's Way B&B
> 211 Rachel Carson Way
> Ithaca, NY 14850
> 607-275-0249    607-592-8402 Cell
>
> "We must be the change we want to see in the world"
>                   Mohandas Gandhi
>

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-- 

"Justice is what love looks like in public."
~ Dr. Cornel West

David P. McCobb, PhD
Associate Professor
Neurobiology and Behavior
W153 Mudd Hall
Cornell University 
Ithaca, NY 14853

607 254-4321
dpm9 at cornell.edu