Everyone I know who commutes to work on a bike has been in an injury accident, ranging from bad cuts and bruises to broken bones and brain injuries. When you combine the basic lack of courtesy from car drivers, the inability to see bikes compared to cars, and the exposed nature of a bike rider compared to a car, the danger is simply too great for many people (myself included) to take.
Unless we get lots of dedicated bike roads where you never have to interact with cars, I don't see how this problem is solvable. As ebikes get faster and more powerful, the danger is going to increase rather than decrease. This is the same reason I don't ride a motorcycle; while it would be efficient and quicker to commute on one, they are simply too dangerous.
But I agree, more dedicated bike lanes would be great.
ETA: Oh! I see California now (as of last Jan. 1) allows 28-mph pedal-controlled bikes under the new "class 3" designation. Unfortunately, my bike still doesn't quite fit in this category, as it's throttle-controlled. Hmm -- it's not clear to me why that distinction is that important.
[0] http://www.nomadcyclespdx.com/electric-bicycle-conversion-sy...
We desperately need more of these. They exist in many places, but not nearly enough. They're also far cheaper to build & maintain than regular roads, needing less width or thickness, as well as zero paint, curbs, stop lights or most other things city streets require.
Especially given that I do not see how self driving cars could decrease traffic congestion problems. A self driving car takes as much space as a "regular car", so only ways I can imagine autonomous cars reducing traffic are:
1. People ride less with cars. 2. People share rides more. 3. Autonomous cars are significantly more efficient finding free parking spaces, so they reduce the amount of cars looking for a free parking spot. 4. They do not need to be parked, so parking space is given to moving cars (and this actually helps, not increases, congestion). 5. Autonomous cars can drive in less space and/or are smaller.
Of course, any of these claims being wrong attribute to increased congestion due to autonomous cars. And to be honest, I find it unlikely that any of those claims would be correct in the sense that it would materially reduce the congestion problems.
(Well, maybe one more option came to my mind that might actually help. If the autonomous cars would be able to increase the capacity of crossroads by somehow communicating with each others like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pbAI40dK0A )
How do cyclists and people walking handle that type of intersection?
And there is a limit how far uniform driving helps. If the capacity is full, it is full.
My girlfriend bought an electric bike four years ago, but that was a little too early, and when we moved to a place with stairs the electric bike had to go. But the person who bought it on Craigslist loves it and rides it to drop her kid off at daycare, then to work.
If you haven't ridden a pedal-assist electric bike, you should stop by your local bike shop and try one out. They're quite remarkable, but in a way that is difficult to appreciate over text. I personally don't need one and ride a Novarra Gotham (https://www.rei.com/product/888337/novara-gotham-bike-2016), but I see the appeal and think that these will eventually take off, maybe sooner than is widely expected.
There are various problems or trade-offs, which I'm sure people will point out in this thread, but the cost-benefit is there or getting there.