Subsidize Bikes. Save The World.

Wouldn’t it be excellent if e-bikes (and bikes in general) were given tax incentives like those for cars like a Prius or Tesla? Subsidies for bikes? They take up less space and use less resources.

We don’t have time for generational change – the Netherlands is way ahead of us. ” Our car culture is a problem. They clog up our cities, they kill people through injury and air pollution, and they make us miserable and stressed. If we want to reduce our emissions and make our cities safe, healthy and fun places to live, then we have to change.”

“Supporting the uptake of e-bikes and cycleways is a way to start addressing this culture. And it’s hard to think of a more fun way to do it.”

Bikes are the new cars

“Four months ago we took what felt like a huge leap of faith and bought an e-cargo bike. The combination of three things tipped us over the edge: feeling the need to do something to reduce our carbon footprint, a fortuitous contract payment, and the excellent incentive of having no functioning car for the foreseeable future after someone drove into the back of it while it was parked.

It changed our lives. We were initially unsure how much we would use it; we use it all the time. In the four months we’ve owned it we’ve ridden it 1000km around town, averaging around 50km a week. Like most people in New Zealand, the majority of our trips are actually pretty short, within a 5-7km radius of our house: things like school runs, weekend shopping (yes, it fits groceries for a family of five), and taking our three kids to the pool, library, sports – you name it. ”

Want to know more:

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/20-10-2019/bikes-are-the-new-cars/?fbclid=IwAR1Cg0pu2N7L_Cq2iINh5n-WpazOJWY5GOHnh8GFBPfdw2O7Lph5ZOzwX58

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