I rode a Swapfiets bike from Maarssen to a meeting in Amsterdam yesterday, as an experiment.
The result was not good. I exhausted both the battery, and myself, over the course of just 16 miles. I also have some giant calluses. The problem was the limited speed and limited motor of the e-bike. It’s designed for short trips within a city.
This means Swapfiets, and Dutch e-bike standards, have no place in the American market. A 16-mile ride in Atlanta only gets you from Decatur to the top of the Beltline, and back. It is not a long ride, and you haven’t left the northeast section of town. My Edison can do 20 mph on the motor.
But there are many vehicles around Utrecht that can make that Amsterdam trip easily. The “fat tire” bikes kids here ride to school can do it. These “Class 3” e-bikes have a maximum speed of 28 mph, and many have comfortable, motorcycle-type seats.
Then there are motorcycles themselves, which also use the bikepaths. They’re faster, they have enormous range in comparison to e-bikes. You need a helmet and a license. They’re also loud.
Remember. People want to go fast.
Meet Felyx
Here’s the problem. An e-bike takes up no more space than a regular bike, although you want a railing to secure it, and railings are sometimes in short supply around the city center. But a fat tire bike takes twice as much space, and a motorcycle even more. What happens when these gain in popularity, as they will, as is already happening?
Pressure on Utrecht streets will grow with yesterday’s relaunch of Felyx, an e-moped rental service. Think of Swapfiets, only for electric mopeds. As you can see from the picture, the Felyx is big. I count no more than a dozen here. They take up the space of 50 bikes. They also don’t fit in the bicycle “parking lots” going up at Utrecht’s station and elsewhere.
What is Utrecht going to do? The longer the journey, the greater this imperative becomes. Felyx isn’t doing business in Utrecht yet, and it’s easy to see why. But can they be kept out? I don’t think so.
To get around the Netherlands, you need something like Felyx, unless you want to pay for trains everywhere. Can I stop for a coffee with a Felyx in Utrecht? How about 50 of my Felyx riding friends?
The Netherlands is conducting an experiment in transportation right now. Segregating bikes from cars, and pedestrians from bikes, building designated bike paths everywhere, it’s all designed to give you an alternative for your transportation needs.
But the size of that alternative grows as your distance of travel grows. Will there be enough space, or will Felyx have to buy its own parking lots near the train, and make its customers walk the rest of the way?
Stay tuned.
