By Charles Pekow — A study from China suggests that traffic flows more smoothly when bike lanes are widened to accommodate ebikes.
“We investigated current safety situations and the unique cycling characteristics of electrified bicycles in China, and found that simply widening the non-motor lanes would increase the corresponding traffic capacity exponentially, as well as decrease potential traffic conflicts and promotes safely cycling behaviors,” reports “The Need for Wider Non-Motor Lanes: A Study on the Bicycle Electrification Process in China,” from researchers at Zhejiang University, published in the Journal of Transport and Health.
In China, ebikes seem to have caught on more than they have in the United States. In some cities where local governments promote ebikes, they can comprise up to 95 percent of bike traffic on some bike lanes at times, the study reports.
