I will take this opportunity to once again agree on the stupidity of the Michigan Ave bike lane situation. If just inconvenient and pointless that'd be annoying, but this set-up is truly dangerous and sets the stage for bad bike-car interactions at street crossings. As a frequent bike rider I'd have rather they just omitted the bike lane than this attempt at saving face. Overall, I'm just happy the street is repaved, even if it is many years too late and somewhat lackluster in form. The healing of Michigan Ave can now begin in earnest.
My opinion on MSU students and trail etiquette: I'm all for trail etiquette being a part of orientation but students don't seem to be the biggest issue when I'm on the trail, them walking on the dedicated bike path through campus and them making up some percentage of the irresponsible scooter drivers seems to be as bad as it gets. But for the population at-large... The occasional mini motorcycle or moped on the trail are the most egregious offenses imo, some of the non-pedal assist e-bikes do get close though. The hoverboards and one-wheels seem to be the most fast and aggressive but seem generally skilled, still a problem though. The scooter riders do suck, those might be better banned or geofenced (speed limited??) from the trails. Groups of people walking while blocking both sides of the trail is deeply annoying to me personally... Point being, etiquette is an issue everywhere with everyone, and with everyone having different opinions. I see no good answers coming from authorities and there's no resources to police these issues on the trails. We just need the community to step up and hold each other accountable.
The lack of trail etiquette is part of why I haven't been biking nearly as much as I used to. The transition to all these battery powered (and snall motor) options has made them miserable (for me). I couldn't agree more with your comments and ideas.
There is a weird issue with e-bikes where, originally, the e-bikes looked and largely functioned like bicycles (often the manufacturers literally just took their standard bicycle frames and added a motor). And they were ridden by bicycle people, who were the first people to even know that they existed. Then the manufacturers realized... hey, with a motor, we don't have to follow that pattern anymore, And they started building bikes that really looked more like motorcycles, low set, wide mirrors, bright headlights, often integrated bluetooth speakers. They're after a different crowd with those (like, a crowd that doesn't want to pedal, ever), and it isn't the usual bicyclists who know and respect bicycle etiquette. I don't know what the answer to that is.
I think I told hood once that, my general opinion on the trails is, if you're pedaling, I'm happy. If you're not pedaling, I'd rather not have you there.
I don't know what the solution is. It's good to get more people out on the trails and there's some people who physically couldn't use the trail without some sort of powered contraption, on the other hand should things capable of going 20+ mph without any human exertion be allowed on these sometimes narrow trails? I think most people agree to no on the latter. City officials say that Federal grants require allowing certain classes of e-bikes which makes it a much thornier issue. I don't think we're going to see all e-bikes banned on our area trails, probably not even all throttle e-bikes. It'd be great to see some enforcement for at least the most egregious violators: people riding mopeds and mini-bikes, riding class 3 or non-classed e-bikes, people on hoverboards/one wheels riding in a manner that requires they wear motorcycle helmets and full body padding, etc. Problem is there's (apparently) no resources to even put police on the trails, much less anyone to regulate trail etiquette. That's why I a quip that society has to be better, I don't see another answer.
Comments
My opinion on MSU students and trail etiquette: I'm all for trail etiquette being a part of orientation but students don't seem to be the biggest issue when I'm on the trail, them walking on the dedicated bike path through campus and them making up some percentage of the irresponsible scooter drivers seems to be as bad as it gets. But for the population at-large... The occasional mini motorcycle or moped on the trail are the most egregious offenses imo, some of the non-pedal assist e-bikes do get close though. The hoverboards and one-wheels seem to be the most fast and aggressive but seem generally skilled, still a problem though. The scooter riders do suck, those might be better banned or geofenced (speed limited??) from the trails. Groups of people walking while blocking both sides of the trail is deeply annoying to me personally... Point being, etiquette is an issue everywhere with everyone, and with everyone having different opinions. I see no good answers coming from authorities and there's no resources to police these issues on the trails. We just need the community to step up and hold each other accountable.
I think I told hood once that, my general opinion on the trails is, if you're pedaling, I'm happy. If you're not pedaling, I'd rather not have you there.