From warren at ebikernetwork.org Mon Aug 3 13:36:14 2009 From: warren at ebikernetwork.org (Warren (E-Biker Network)) Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:36:14 -0400 Subject: [1000 E-Bikes] E-Bike News Update Message-ID: <4A77200E.2000004@ebikernetwork.org> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From warren at durhamebikeassociation.org Fri Aug 7 00:09:54 2009 From: warren at durhamebikeassociation.org (Warren (DEBA)) Date: Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:09:54 -0400 Subject: [1000 E-Bikes] [Fwd: An Open Letter to Dalton McGuinty respecting E-bikes in Ontario] Message-ID: <4A7BA912.9010703@durhamebikeassociation.org> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From warren at ebikernetwork.org Sun Aug 9 09:50:51 2009 From: warren at ebikernetwork.org (Warren (E-Biker Network)) Date: Sun, 09 Aug 2009 09:50:51 -0400 Subject: [1000 E-Bikes] New Strategy: E-Bike Regulations E-mail Campaign Message-ID: <4A7ED43B.70409@ebikernetwork.org> All, My open letter to Dalton McGuinty certainly seems to have hit a nerve. Thanks to all who have responded with words of support. I have now posted this letter on "The E-bike Rider Experience" where you can make public comments if you wish. [http://ebikernetwork.org/wordpress/archives/167] My letter has prompted me to rethink the approach that I have taken in working with all of you and the MTO to get to the end-point. My approach so far has been to act as a communication channel between you and those with the responsibility for this project at the MTO. This isn't working, because, perhaps naively, I was expecting that the MTO would do their job. After writing my letter, I realized that the MTO has not been doing their job and they don't appreciate what the impact that not doing their job is having on e-bike riders and vendors. [I am slow but I eventually catch on . . .] Here is my new strategy: I provide everyone with the means to write to MTO directly with requests for information as to the status of the regulations. I am asking everyone to write an e-mail to the project lead and/or the Minister of Transportation every day (until we start getting answers) asking questions along the following lines: Why is the MTO thinking of banning scooter-style e-bikes? What is their basis for banning scooter-style e-bikes? Why is it taking so long to come up with regulations? What are the issues that are holding up progress? Why are we looking to the Europeans and not the other provinces for guidance? [and other questions related to the 'proposal'] How many people at the MTO have actually ridden e-bikes as part of the project? etc. Guidelines: - e-mail addresses are given below - focus on the project lead (Teepu Khawja) but periodically cc the Minister (James Bradley) and the other players - periodically send message to the James Bradley directly, - don't write more than once a day (unless you get a response) but do write every day if you can - don't copy my questions verbatim, write them in your own words - ask different questions in different e-mails - offer to come and meet with them to discuss issues (make sure you can follow-up if they take you up on it) - tell them about yourself and how you have benefited from the e-bike; - tell them what impact their delays are having - try to remain polite - don't cc me on the e-mails but do keep me up to date on what is happening. Here are all of the players and their e-mail addresses: Direct responsibility: The project lead at the MTO is Teepu Khawja: Teepu.Khawja at ontario.ca Also involved but not sure of her role (possibly admin assistant): Lea-Ann.Strileski at ontario.ca The Minister of Transportation, Hon. James Bradley: jbradley.mpp at liberal.ola.org Indirect responsibility: Premier of Ontario: Dalton McGuinty : dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org Transportation Critic (PC): Frank Klees: frank.klees at pc.ola.org Also: John O'Toole : john.otooleco at pc.ola.org Transportation Critic (NDP): Peter Tabuns: tabunsp-qp at ndp.on.ca Look up other (MPP) e-mail addresses at: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_current.do?locale=en&list_type=all_mpps&go=go Go get 'em. Warren From warren at ebikernetwork.org Sun Aug 9 17:56:45 2009 From: warren at ebikernetwork.org (Warren (E-Biker Network)) Date: Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:56:45 -0400 Subject: [1000 E-Bikes] Some News stories Message-ID: <4A7F461D.2040301@ebikernetwork.org> All, I found the Saturday Star to be filled with articles relevant to e-bikes and cycling. Thought I would share: * Cyclists and the rules of the road * More letters on cyclists * Woman, 56, dies after sidewalk crash with cyclist, * The BionX Man, * Green: Slow road to electric driving * Strange behaviour on the world's roads My apologies if this appears Toronto Star centric but that is what I read. However, here is an article in the Cambridge Times written by Norm Dykstra-Swain who stays in touch with me through the E-Bike Rider Network. Thanks Norm. * http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/opinions/article/184066 Warren -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From warren at durhamebikeassociation.org Tue Aug 11 21:39:07 2009 From: warren at durhamebikeassociation.org (Warren (DEBA)) Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:39:07 -0400 Subject: [1000 E-Bikes] FYI: Change to Durham E-bike Association Membership Rules Message-ID: <4A821D3B.9050801@durhamebikeassociation.org> All, Just thought that I would let you know that on Monday night the membership of the Durham E-bike Association (DEBA) voted amend their constitution so that membership criteria is more flexible. Both the requirement that members must attend at least one DEBA meeting and event per year and the requirement that members must reside in Durham have been removed. Anybody that owns an E-bike can now be a member of DEBA. Find out how to become a member at the following link: http://home.durhamebikeassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=49 Thank you to the DEBA membership who attended Monday night's meeting and made this happen. Warren Christiani President, Durham E-Bike Association From warren at durhamebikeassociation.org Wed Aug 12 23:16:45 2009 From: warren at durhamebikeassociation.org (Warren (DEBA)) Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:16:45 -0400 Subject: [1000 E-Bikes] To Hon. James J. Bradley: E-Bike Rider Concerns about E-bike Regulations] Message-ID: <4A83859D.30108@durhamebikeassociation.org> All, FYI. Here is my e-mail for today. You will note that I have also added John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment and Toby Barret, Environment Critic for the PCs on the cc list. Peter Tabuns is both environment and transportation critic for the NDP. Remarkably, I have already received a reply and it looks like this: "Thank you for your e-mail. It is important to the ministry and has been forwarded to the appropriate ministry office for review. Once again, thank you for bringing your concerns to Minister Bradley's attention. He always appreciates hearing from members of the public." Hmmm. Now where have I seen this before? Also, Charles Jonah of Jademark in Ottawa has provided me with the following update on the woman e-bike rider in Ottawa: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Egan%20Scooters%20cyclists%20over%20right%20trails/1882926/story.html Warren -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: To Hon. James J. Bradley: E-Bike Rider Concerns about E-bike Regulations Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:53:54 -0400 From: Warren (DEBA) Reply-To: warren at durhamebikeassociation.org To: Jim Bradley (Lib) CC: Frank Klees (PC) , John O'Toole (MPP) , Tabuns - QP, Peter , Toby Barrett (PC) , jgerretsen.mpp at liberal.ola.org, Dalton McGuinty (Lib) Aug 12, 2009 Dear Mr. Bradley, It has been over a month and a half since I wrote to you requesting information about the budget allocated to developing E-bike regulations and for a clarification as to what the Mininstry was intending in this regard. To date I have not received any response to my questions, which leads me to believe that the Ministry has in fact allocated no resources to the successful completion of the e-bike pilot. As a consequence the Ministry is creating anxiety and confusion about e-bikes among e-bike riders, potential e-bike riders and e-bike vendors. While neglect may be the normal approach that the Ministry takes to issues that do not involve big money or big business, this approach is completely unacceptable given this government's apparent emphasis on going green and getting people out of their cars. How can a government that has promised to pay $10,000 to anyone willing to buy an electric vehicle from a dying company, not even commit $10,000 to evaluating electric vehicles (power-assisted bicycles) that consumers have already demonstrated that they are willing to buy with no need to resort to bribery. For $10,000 the Ministry could have purchased two or three e-bikes and had money left over to do whatever traffic testing they required. The delays in promulgating final regulations for e-bikes represents government negligence of the most insidious kind. By this e-mail I am asking you to ensure that the Ministry provide an immediate statement as to what the final regulations will look like and whether they intend to ban or place additional regulations on any particular style or weight of e-bike. If the Ministry is unable to make such a statement then I ask that you provide details as to what aspects of e-bikes are troublesome. As an experienced e-bike rider I can assure you that any issues should be resolvable with an afternoon's discussion. Warren Christian President, Durham E-Bike Association 39 Millstone Cres. Whitby, ON L1R 1T4 (905) 430-9700 (Home) (905) 435-4273 (cell) -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: To Hon. James J. Bradley: E-Bike Rider Concerns about E-bike Regulations Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:26:24 -0400 From: Minister of Transportation Correspondence (Web Account) To: References: <9765DF0B3CF8F648A85FCC14508CF62F09D8CA86 at SCRATCHY.liberal.ola.org> Thank you for your e-mail. It is important to the ministry and has been forwarded to the appropriate ministry office for review. Once again, thank you for bringing your concerns to Minister Bradley's attention. He always appreciates hearing from members of the public. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* Warren (DEBA) [mailto:warren at durhamebikeassociation.org] *Sent:* Wednesday, June 24, 2009 11:37 PM *To:* Bradley_James-MPP; McGuinty_Dalton-MPP-CO; ahorwath-qp at ndp.on.ca; bob.runciman at pc.ola.org *Subject:* To Hon. James J. Bradley: E-Bike Rider Concerns about E-bike Regulations June 24, 2009 An open letter to Hon. James J. Bradley Minister of Transportation of Ontario Dear Mr. Bradley, This letter is being written to you on behalf of E-bike riders across Ontario who have been earnestly participating in the E-Bike pilot by purchasing and actually using E-bikes. I am writing directly to you because we are concerned about the haphazard approach that the MTO is taking to taking to establish regulations for e-bikes on conclusion of the pilot. In its recent document posting for public comment---"Electric Bicycle -- Summary of Proposal"---the MTO makes the following statements: "This government is a strong champion of initiatives that expand mobility options for Ontarians, improve air quality, and promote green technologies. Safe integration of new vehicle types with pedestrians and other vehicles is a key consideration before any new type of vehicle will be permanently allowed on Ontario roads. "On October 3, 2006, the province began a three-year pilot to evaluate whether power-assisted bicycles ("e-bikes") could be safely integrated with other vehicles and pedestrians. Since that date, e-bikes have been able to legally operate, unless prohibited by municipal by-law, on Ontario's roads and highways where conventional bicycles are currently allowed. This three-year pilot test treats e-bikes like conventional bicycles with two important exceptions, namely, that riders must be 16 years of age or older and all riders must wear an approved bicycle helmet. "Overall, the feedback received to date on the e-bike pilot has been positive. The main safety concerns raised to date have been related to the weight, width, braking and pedal-less operation of certain types of e-bikes. To minimize these safety concerns, a new regulation is needed prior to the pilot's expiry to specify additional equipment and operating requirements." The document then proceeds to make *no clear proposal *as to what the MTO thinks are appropriate regulations. Worse, it goes on to ask questions that suggest that the *MTO has done no research* *at all *on this issue at all. Our concern with the statements in this document indicate that Ministry is planning on establishing regulations based on a perceived risk rather than demonstrated risk and as such the ministry will, using unsubstantiated bases, enact regulations that discourage the use of this low energy and low emission alternative for personal transportation. Such discouragements would include the added cost of requiring licensing and insurance, the costs passed on to the consumer by manufacturers required to perform testing above and beyond those required by Federal regulations or just simply a decision to exclude the popular "scooter-style" e-bikes from vehicle permitted on the road. I drive a scooter style e-bike myself. Should this happen, the Ontario government will going against a trend to encouraging the use of e-bikes that is happening world wide, and will be demonstrating (some might say, once again) that they are in fact a */weak /*champion of "initiatives that expand mobility options for Ontarians, improve air quality and promote green technologies." Here are the publicly available facts of this situation: ? In 2001, after scientific testing and evaluation, Transport Canada published a definition for a "power-assisted bicycle" that established that these vehicles (when the met requirements of the definition) were equivalent in performance to conventional bicycles and as such could be treated in law as equivalent to bicycles. ? Subsequent to the release of this vehicle definition, British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Manitoba have confidently adopted this definition and have allowed these vehicles on the road with minimal regulation, and without any identified need for a pilot project. Alberta will, ON July 2, be harmonizing their definition of a power-assisted bicycle with that of Transport Canada. ? In 2006, the MTO undertook a three pilot project to evaluate their use on the roads of Ontario. ? After nearly three years of this pilot project, and despite ongoing safety concerns "related to the weight, width, braking and pedal-less operation of certain types of e-bikes" no information has been presented by any party or by the MTO that would substantiate that these concerns have any basis in reality. ? In the meantime, the e-bike riders that have been voluntarily participating in the pilot have been demonstrating that the availability, low operating cost and greenness of E-bikes (in all forms) is sufficiently attractive that it causes a */new/* segment of the population to */voluntarily/* leave their cars at home for some or all of their personal transportation needs. This new segment includes people that would otherwise be unable to ride a bicycle due to such causes as: moderate disability, injury, weakness with age, susceptibility to heat stress, working at a job where there are no showers, individuals in a job where they are on their feet all day and don't need the exercise, etc. In doing so, *these e-bike riders are contributing positively to the overall safety of Ontario roads* by, if nothing else, replacing heavy, high speed, high energy vehicles with light, low speed, low energy vehicles. In support of this assertion, I have attached a list of comments that I have received from e-bike riders across the province, some describing their experience in great detail. ? It is true that there is a lot of */concern/* about E-bikes (in their various forms) and where they fit into the transportation mix. The Toronto blogosphere is positively blue with heated debates about the aesthetic and semantic legitimacy of E-bikes as well as their safety. These concerns about safety have not translated into any demonstrable safety risk of the vehicles. In summary, Transport Canada has scientifically established the regulatory equivalency of E-bikes and conventional bicycles, other provinces have already permitted E-bikes on their roads with no consequence, the pilot project has demonstrated that e-bikes can operate on Ontario roads with no consequence and there are established positive benefits to encourage their use. Why is the MTO even considering that they need to impose additional regulation? As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke don't fix it." To help in alleviating these concerns about the MTO I am asking you, Mr. Bradley, answer the following questions: ? What is the total number of kilometers that MTO staff have ridden on E-bikes as part of their evaluation? ? What (non-staff) budget was allocated to this project? ? How much of that budget has been spent to date? [I have personally invested ~$2200 to date to purchase and operate an e-bike to satisfy myself that these are roadworthy, safe and /just like bicycles/. Correction: make that $2220-- I forgot to add in the *$20 in electricity* *I have used to travel 4300 kilometers*.] Finally, ? What is the MTO */really /*proposing for regulations? The current regulatory 'proposal' gives no guidance whatsoever that as to what the Ministry is thinking except that they sound like they will focus on weight as an issue. If I were shopping for an e-bike this summer I would have no confidence that it would be legal on the road after October. I believe there is a significant pent up demand to purchase and use these vehicles because of the dithering that is happening at the MTO. We are at risk of losing one more summer cycling season when we could be seeing a fantastic green revolution. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. I am available at any time to come and /at length /on this issue, should you see a need. Warren Christiani Whitby, Ontario President, Durham E-bike Association http://durhamebikeassociation.org/ Webmaster http://ebikernetwork.org/ Cc: Hon.Dalton McGuinty -- Premier Andrea Horwath Robert W. Runciman Also cc'd to every e-bike rider that I know. Attachments: A copy of the document from the MTO 'Electric Bicycle - Summary of Proposal' has also been attached. The attached Word document contains the above message and the collection of E-biker Rider comments. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From warren at ebikernetwork.org Sun Aug 16 13:45:03 2009 From: warren at ebikernetwork.org (Warren (E-Biker Network)) Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:45:03 -0400 Subject: [1000 E-Bikes] STOP E-mailing the MTO Message-ID: <4A88459F.3030802@ebikernetwork.org> All, Please stop sending any further e-mail to the contacts that I listed for the MTO: Teepu Khawja and Lea-Strileski. As satisfying and this may feel for venting frustration, there is little value in doing this. MTO staff are not at liberty to release information with regard to pending regulations, and so you will find, as many already have, that you receive a non-answer with regard to the details. My apologies for not understanding this subtlety of the process. I believe that that the next time that when we will have any inkling as to what the real proposal is for regulations will be when they are presented to Cabinet for approval (although I have yet to confirm this detail.) Warren