Author: Robin Oliva-Kraft
Cargo bikes are becoming a regular fixture of life here in Alameda, so this is the first in a series of articles about #cargobikelife. BWA caught up (literally) with resident Jennifer, a mother of two, to learn about her experience riding a Radpower Cargo Bike.
Q: How long have you been riding a cargo bike, and what pushed you to get one?
A: We started six to eight months ago. We have two kids and realized how easy it is to bike around Alameda. It’s just a fun way to get around with the kids, and we all love it!
More recently it’s also turned into avoiding using gas because it’s so expensive.
Q: What do you use it for?
A: Mostly commuting to and from school. Our daughter is almost two and she likes this more than the car seat, so that’s a bonus! Just today we biked to the movies, and sometimes we use it for groceries.
I was going to go to the grocery store the other day, but I didn’t know how much of a load I would have or whether it would all fit. There are some really cool bags you can attach but we just haven’t gone down that road yet.
Q: Who rides this bike in your family?
A: I use it more than my husband because we don’t have two of them. So when we go together, Dad uses his bike. I’m the lucky one who gets to go on this bike!
Q: Alameda Municipal Power has launched a pilot eBike rebate program, to go along with their rebates for electric car chargers, efficient appliances, etc. How would a rebate program affect you and your family?
A: We’d probably have gotten an electric bike a little sooner. Or today we’d get a second one.
Q: Do you feel safe biking the streets of Alameda?
A: I feel pretty safe. There are people that go too fast. That’s annoying. But I don’t know of other cities where I would feel as safe as I do here, because traffic is generally so slow.
But Encinal sucks! It’s just super bumpy. But they’re redoing that street, I think they’re reducing from two lanes each way to one each way. They’re doing what they did on Otis. It’s gonna be amazing! We live off Otis, and we love what they did there. Some people hate what they did, but we love it because it slows everybody down and there’s more space to ride.