For sheer efficiency, simplicity and the freedom it provides, the humble bicycle may be humankind’s greatest invention. More recently, the electric bike has enabled thousands of people to step out of their cars, or off the bus at rush hour, to get around the city. But, like everything, it comes with trade-offs.
Walking in parts of central London all too often requires total concentration and reserves of flexibility to slide past the thousands of rented e-bikes, strewn upright or dumped on their sides along miles of pavements. Annoying for pedestrians, actively dangerous for people with disabilities and those with buggies.
