You mean "private transportation"? I'm an avid bike rider, and it's not the lack of a motor that holds me back from promoting it as anything like the "perfect solution" for anything - the reality is bikes do expose you to more danger of getting injured, aren't great in wet weather, and unsuitable for longer distances or when carrying bulky loads. But for any journey that those aren't the primary concerns, regular push bikes are pretty close to perfect. I can see e-bikes being handy in hotter/hillier climates or for riders with physical conditions that exclude them from maintaining the leg strength (and/or aerobic capacity) to provide their own pedal power. I can't help thinking a large number of e-bike riders who are young and able-bodied are eschewing a good opportunity to keep themselves fit.

> the reality is bikes do expose you to more danger of getting injured, aren't great in wet weather, and unsuitable for longer distances or when carrying bulky loads.

No I do in fact mean public, because a properly put together pedelec bike is fairly cheap compared to even the cheapest car, and that is the primary driver for a whole lotta people when it comes to transport, especially in urban environments. Its the reason motorcycles are super popular in Europe, where owning a car is more expensive despite the lower danger.

Non-ebikes are slow, and require effort to actually pedal, which is out of reach for a lot of people. Stick a motor on it, and suddenly you can get to work in a reasonable time (sometimes faster due to having the ability to go off-road onto paths), and without putting in effort.

A bus is public transportation. A train is public transportation. A bike-share program is, tentatively, public transportation.

Price is not a factor here- motorcycles are not public transportation because they are cheap. Bicycles are not public transportation because they are yet cheaper. Personal conveyance is not public transportation.

"Out of reach" how though? For less effort than walking you can still move at 20k/h (assuming flat/paved uncrowded paths). If "a lot of people" aren't capable of that I'm not sure the problem is with the bike...