# People are more likely to ditch the car and use an e-bike if they feel confident and safe

**URL:** <https://spokes.nz/t/people-are-more-likely-to-ditch-the-car-and-use-an-e-bike-if-they-feel-confident-and-safe/1777>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [21 August 2026 03:56 UTC](https://spokes.nz/t/people-are-more-likely-to-ditch-the-car-and-use-an-e-bike-if-they-feel-confident-and-safe/1777 "2026-08-21T03:56:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NathanK](https://spokes.nz/user_avatar/spokes.nz/nathank/32/2002_2.png) [@NathanK](https://spokes.nz/u/NathanK)\
**Post date:** [21 August 2026 03:56 UTC](https://spokes.nz/t/people-are-more-likely-to-ditch-the-car-and-use-an-e-bike-if-they-feel-confident-and-safe/1777/1 "2026-08-21T03:56:36Z")

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Very interesting and practical story outlining the three pillars of a successful program to encourage mode shift away from cars:

1. Improved active transport infrastructure
2. Accessible and affordable alternatives
3. Education and social support

> **[People are more likely to ditch the car and use an e-bike if they feel...](https://theconversation.com/people-are-more-likely-to-ditch-the-car-and-use-an-e-bike-if-they-feel-confident-and-safe-288102)**
>
> An e-bike is a good start. But training, guided rides and social connection give people the confidence to keep using them.

For me it is a bit of an eye opener that people are inhibited from cycling due to concern about it being considered ‘abnormal’ (clearly this doesn’t bother me!) - and that this can be mitigated.

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**Author:** ![david](https://spokes.nz/user_avatar/spokes.nz/david/32/1241_2.png) [@david](https://spokes.nz/u/david)\
**Post date:** [22 August 2026 07:56 UTC](https://spokes.nz/t/people-are-more-likely-to-ditch-the-car-and-use-an-e-bike-if-they-feel-confident-and-safe/1777/2 "2026-08-22T07:56:46Z")

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Jackie and I were just talking about this today. Lots of adults don’t know how/when to change gears, for example. I wonder if we could organise/support efforts to teach adults basic stuff which would make it so much more likely for them to jump on a bike.

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**Author:** ![cdavid119](https://spokes.nz/user_avatar/spokes.nz/cdavid119/32/2027_2.png) [@cdavid119](https://spokes.nz/u/cdavid119)\
**Post date:** [26 August 2026 06:27 UTC](https://spokes.nz/t/people-are-more-likely-to-ditch-the-car-and-use-an-e-bike-if-they-feel-confident-and-safe/1777/3 "2026-08-26T06:27:09Z")

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I’ve talked to a handful that fit into that category of not wanting to be abnormal. Some were even worried about becoming hated in society with the prevalence of anti-cycling hate speech and the general negative outlook on cycling by a very vocal minority of people. Changing that general fear is, in my opinion, a very important step to helping normalize cycling for the general public.

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**Author:** ![david](https://spokes.nz/user_avatar/spokes.nz/david/32/1241_2.png) [@david](https://spokes.nz/u/david)\
**Post date:** [26 August 2026 21:16 UTC](https://spokes.nz/t/people-are-more-likely-to-ditch-the-car-and-use-an-e-bike-if-they-feel-confident-and-safe/1777/4 "2026-08-26T21:16:41Z")

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Oh, I haven’t heard people say they were afraid to cycle due to a fear of being targeted; that’s not nice at all!

My feeling is that there are a lot of people who rode as kids, or maybe ride a little recreationally (eg. on the harbour shared path), but who don’t commute due to various fears and obstacles. Lack of expertise seems to be one, but there are definitely a lot of people (eg. my German neighbours who always rode to commute in Germany) who think it’s just too dangerous. To be honest, they’re not entirely wrong ☹