Bikes
When it comes to transportation in the City of Boulder, biking is one of the things we do best. Boulder has spent decades building a system that allows people to bike to work, school, restaurants, and pretty much everywhere else. Jamo supports expanding this system, completing the Core Arterial Network, and making biking a legitimate alternative to driving for as many Boulderites as possible.
The Problem:
Boulder has a great bike network, but that network does not always connect. There are still places where somebody can be riding on a protected path and then suddenly get thrown onto a road next to cars going 40 miles per hour. This is fine for somebody who has been biking their entire life and is comfortable riding in traffic. For everyone else, it makes biking a lot less realistic.
This is why Jamo supports completing the Core Arterial Network. Having a bunch of good bike paths means a lot less if people cannot safely get from one to another. The purpose of the network should be to fill these gaps while making our major roads safer for bikers, pedestrians, buses, and drivers.
E-bikes have also completely changed biking in Boulder. Someone who might never bike five miles to work can very realistically do that on an e-bike. They allow older people, parents, students, commuters, and just regular people who don't want to show up somewhere drenched in sweat to use a bike instead of a car.
Unfortunately, we have also started calling basically anything with two wheels and a battery an “e-bike.” There is a massive difference between a normal Class 1 or Class 2 e-bike and an electric motorcycle going 40 or 50 miles per hour. Treating them as the same thing makes absolutely no sense.
The Solution:
Finish the Core Arterial Network. We have already built a lot of great bike infrastructure in Boulder. Now we need to connect it. Jamo supports completing the CAN and making sure people can actually get across Boulder without a safe bike route randomly disappearing.
Embrace e-bikes. Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are an extremely useful form of transportation and should continue to be welcomed throughout Boulder. If somebody chooses to take an e-bike instead of driving their car, that is a good thing.
Stop treating e-motos like e-bikes. If something is essentially an electric motorcycle, it should follow the rules of a motor vehicle. We should enforce the rules against e-motos without punishing the thousands of people who use normal e-bikes responsibly.
Make our paths safer. Pedestrians, runners, bikers, children, dogs, and e-bike riders all use the same paths. Jamo does not believe e-bikes should be banned from these paths. He does believe people flying past families at unsafe speeds should actually face consequences.
Take bike theft seriously. People are not going to use bikes as actual transportation if they are afraid their bike is going to disappear every time they leave it somewhere. Boulder needs more secure bike parking in places like Downtown, University Hill, and major transit areas while taking repeat bike theft more seriously.
Have questions? Jamo has answers.