Bicycling
Would pedal-powered cars bring more cycling or conflict?
A Loudoun man created a small pedal-powered car with battery backup, according to an article in the Washington Post. Is this "car" a way to adapt bicycling for the masses in a low-density suburban area, or will it run into the same road rage attitudes cyclists have encountered?
Image from the Washington Post. Click for photo gallery.
The two-seat car, by Leesburg resident and mechanical engineering student Nick Turner, has pedals at both seats to drive the car under most circumstances, while batteries provide some electric assistance going up hills. Its top speed is 23 mph.
Other residents who encounter it seem enamored: they smile, honk (apparently in a positive way), and even line up to get rides.
Reporter Susan Svrluga says Turner "loves cars" but started to feel guilty about his carbon footprint from driving so much. Some people respond to this impulse by starting to bicycle. That's not far from what Turner did: ultimately, his car really is primarily a 2-seat car-shaped bicycle. With battery assistance.
Does being car-shaped and having batteries make it more appealing than a bicycle? In downtown DC, being car-shaped would just make this bicycle hard to park, but in a place like Loudoun, it could bridge the gap between cyclists and drivers. It's great that a number of people in Loudoun and other very spread-out suburbs bicycle everywhere. But it's not easy for the average person there to start riding regularly.
For urban dwellers in dense communities, driving already has substantial hassles, especially parking, and there's a lot to reach from just a short bike ride. As I noted in my Washington Post op-ed, Capital Bikeshare got me biking a lot more. That was easy because I can reach a great many destinations with a one-mile bike ride.
If I lived in Olney or Chantilly, there'd be some, but far fewer. Running everyday errands requires traversing longer distances. Roads are engineered to be even less friendly to biking, and almost every store requires navigating a parking lot where people aren't expecting a cyclist.
Maybe a vehicle that's in between the car and the bike would give someone who drives everywhere an alternative that's not as intimidating. Hills aren't quite so difficult, but the driver gets used to pedaling and improves physical fitness. It's larger and therefore more visible to other drivers.
Being larger, though, it's also harder to pass. If these vehicles became more than the very occasional curiosity, will they change drivers' view of the roadway, or will they just become yet another source of angry conflict?
Newspapers are already replete with angry letters to the editor about cyclists riding on roads like Macarthur Boulevard that force drivers to wait instead of achieving any desired speed. Then there's the occasional column by someone who admits to wanting to actually assault cyclists because they get in the way.
It's easy to imagine the same conflict between drivers of motor vehicles and users of these pedal-powered cars. Drivers get irate if 2 cyclists are riding abreast; this car is always at least as wide as 2 cyclists. It can go faster than a bike, but still far slower than a motor vehicle.
If enough people drive both an SUV and a bike-car, maybe everyone on the road will just develop an appreciation for each other's point of view. First, though, bike-cars would have to go through a period of being a niche product for early adopters. Then we'll see if Loudoun residents continue to find them entertaining and fascinating, or if they turn into a nuisance, a point of conflict, and a punching bag for politicians who can't envision any kind of freedom other than driving a really large, high-horsepower car.
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
Comments
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by Matt R on Aug 29, 2011 11:01 am • link • report
by ah on Aug 29, 2011 11:10 am • link • report
by charlie on Aug 29, 2011 11:17 am • link • report
No one can really answer that except the people who end up 'driving' it. And that depends on whether they will continue to do the following which so infuriates responsible drivers:
1. Will they be able to keep up with the normal traffic speed of the roads they're using?
2. Will they zig-zag around established lanes of traffic?
3. Will they obey all stop signs and traffic signals?
4. Will they wait their turn at 4 way stops and other traffic control areas?
5. Will they keep off of sidewalks and not go the wrong way down 1 way streets (or use the wrong side of the road)?
I.e., If the folks who operate these vehicles operate them responsibly, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't garner the respect of other 'drivers'. No one has anything against cyclists. Most of us are cyclists at one point or another. The anger seen among drivers is agains bad cyclists. ... those who don't follow the rules of the road and those who put themselves into situations of being 'speed bumps' to normal traffic flow by operating in traffic conditions obviously not appropriate to cycling.
by Lance on Aug 29, 2011 11:38 am • link • report
I'm not sure that this will have a greater effect than general amusement, but I've also wondered what it takes to be a 'credible' road user in the eyes of a lot of motorists. I've always found when pulling a cargo trailer, that drivers would give me a bit more space, even on roads and at intersections that were otherwise difficult to navigate. I also think numbers help. I've observed far better motorist behavior as the numbers of cyclists have increased over the last year or so. The same can be said for the behavior of cyclists, I think.
by jeff on Aug 29, 2011 12:05 pm • link • report
by spookiness on Aug 29, 2011 12:15 pm • link • report
Whatever gains you get on the road, you lose it once you start taking up parking spaces (especially since you'll be impossible to ticket).
by David C on Aug 29, 2011 12:19 pm • link • report
But, the approach - were this to have a remote possibility of happening on a mass or near-mass scale - should be for the elected leadership of X suburb or county to get all stakeholders together and recognize each point of view, and then craft a solution, making sure that EVERYone, every last road user understands the new challenges and the reason for the solution. This has a much greater likelihood of occuring in the suburbs than the city.
It's about communication and competent leadership.
The bike wars are allowed to continue because of lack of leadership and especially communication.
(And this blog post, despite presenting a clean slate-case, does present the case in a slightly inflammatory way. I didn't really think there was any need for it.)
But there's really no use in discussing it much further IMHO.
by Jazzy on Aug 29, 2011 1:04 pm • link • report
I hear Marge from that old Simpsons episode where Homer's car get booted in NYC: "Homer, I don't want you driving around in a car you built yourself".
by Garry on Aug 29, 2011 1:27 pm • link • report
Seriously, though, I think velomobiles with a battery have a much better chance of wide acceptance than this thing.
by Falls Church on Aug 29, 2011 1:29 pm • link • report
by MrTinDC on Aug 29, 2011 1:48 pm • link • report
Clearly this guy has rarely or never cycled in this city, or else he'd know that even the most responsible cyclists are subject to being honked and yelled at by impatient drivers and even pedestrians. Even off-duty police officers following the rules of the road are not immune from the occasional love tap from a driver.
Perhaps drivers are angry at cyclists because they think cyclists are speed bumps to the normal flow of traffic -- even though cyclists and the infrastructure necessary for them to safely ride actually ease the flow of traffic.
As for this convoluted pedal powered car, a.k.a., golf cart/pedicab hybrid, variants of which have been around in some form or another for quite a while now... It seems to create more problems than it solves in that it brings with it most of the problems of a traditional car with very few of the advantages.
I'm sure this guy's neighbors love seeing him ride around in his pedal-car so long as they're not being forced to ride around in it or share the road with it.
by Scoot on Aug 29, 2011 2:26 pm • link • report
I'm the builder of this pedal car. My goal for this vehicle was to offer people a way to reduce their impact on the environment as much as possible while still traveling in a vehicle that offers more safety and practicality than a bicycle. Bicycles have numerous advantages, including maneuverability and parkability, but if it's raining outside or if you need to carry a lot of cargo, they aren't the best choice.
This pedal car would not be the best choice for many situations either, but then again, no car can do everything. I don't mean for this vehicle to be used in every situation a normal car is used in since it's slower than a normal car and it takes more effort to use than a normal car, but it makes up for these things in other areas like how it uses a fraction of the resources that a normal car would use in everyday usage and during initial production.
I now this car isn't perfect, since it was built in a shop under a backyard patio with nothing but a angle grinder, a welding machine, a chop saw, a vise, and two small magnets used to hold the metal in place for welding, but I plan on making it better in the future. My goal for it is to ensure that is much less impacting on the environment than a normal car and be able to mesh smoothly with traffic on roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less.
Even if it doesn't find it's place in traffic, this vehicle will hopefully do the same thing that hybrid cars have done. Which is to show people a different way of thinking and possibly a new direction to follow in terms of sustaining our way of life through reducing our usage of resources.
-Nick Turner
by Nick Turner on Aug 29, 2011 3:02 pm • link • report
by Scoot on Aug 29, 2011 3:41 pm • link • report
http://www.rhoadescar.com/factsheet/sportped-e-two.html
Except at 125 lbs., the one at the link is less than half the weight of this thing, and appears to be shorter in length. Otherwise, the main difference seems to be branding, i.e. "pedal-powered car" vs. "four-wheel bike."
In concept it's neither fish nor fowl; a bike lane won't really accommodate it, and I cannot imagine drivers responding well to the presence of these in auto lanes once the newness factor wears off.
by Roger on Aug 29, 2011 4:10 pm • link • report
by Amy on Aug 29, 2011 9:38 pm • link • report
by Lance on Aug 30, 2011 6:47 am • link • report
With the 500 watt motor, it does need more power in order to keep up with traffic on uphills, but I can assure everybody that the production version will be able to keep up with traffic regardless of the terrain. The steep hills in downtown San Francisco may pose a problem, but I plan on possibly having different versions to suit different places. Out in the desert it may have a solar panel to take advantage of the 300+ days of sunlight in places like New Mexico and Arizona. And in San Franciso it may have a power boost function to get up hills. Either way, my main goal is to integrate a "greener" car without causing problems for other drivers.
I plan on making a gasoline powered version with a 50cc engine. This will make it even easier to keep up with traffic. This isn't as "green", but it may be necessary. The good news is that it will still be much more "green" than any conventional hybrid vehicle since it's probably one of the lightest "cars" out there, besides the Peel P50.
This vehicle is narrower and longer than a Rhoades car, but this is because I wanted this vehicle to be used on bike trails. The gasoline version is for street use only, but the electric version is well recieved on the W&OD bike trail in northern Virginia. Not everybody gives a thumbs up or a positive comment, but I haven't heard anybody telling me to get off the trail. I'm sure that it's not everybody's favorite thing to see on the trail, but I may make a version without the body structure, which would more closely resemble the Rhoades car's "bare chassis" look and be more acceptable for other trail users.
The weight of the vehicle will not exceed 350 pounds. I can assure you of that. Hopefully it won't exceed 300 pounds, but I still have to put in all the body panels, windows, stronger wheels, seat belts, lights, and interior trimmings.
It is far from being finished, but I can assure everybody that it will not be a bother to other road users on roads with a speed limit of 35 mph or less and more than one lane per side. This doesn't mean that it will go 35 miles per hour, but something that is moving at the legal top speed limit (for small-engined quadricycles) of 25 mph is really not that much of a bother on 35 mph roads with 2 or more lanes moving in one direction. On roads where there is one lane per side, it may be more of a bother, but this is meant to be a city car and many cities and towns that I have seen have a decent sized network of 35 mph or less roads with more than one lane per side that can get you anywhere within the city. Leaving the city may be tricky since most cities are mainly connected by interstate highways but this car is meant to reduce the usage of large cars, trucks, and SUV's for errands around town. Where I live, there are multiple routes to get anywhere in the town via roads that this vehicle is suited for. The buyer of a vehicle like this would have to be familiar with the roads around them to see if they could make use of one.
by Nick Turner on Aug 30, 2011 9:06 am • link • report
vehicles?
by Jeff Norman on Aug 30, 2011 12:09 pm • link • report
:)
by oboe on Sep 1, 2011 4:27 pm • link • report
I'm a video reporter for the German news website Spiegel Online.
I would like to report about you and your car.
Could you email me your contact details:
sandra_sperber (at) spiegel.de
or give me a call? 202 460 1891
Thanks!
by Sandra Sperber on Sep 6, 2011 3:22 pm • link • report
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