TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[T3G]

We made legislative allowances for accessibility for otherwise prohibited practices all the time - think service animals.

AoD

I think that's splitting hairs. At the end of a day, if a train burns down and people are injured or worse, whether it came at the hands of an e-bike or e-wheelchair doesn't really matter. "At least the thing that killed your family member was an electric wheelchair" is cold comfort to someone who's grieving.

Banning is a feel good, knee jerk reaction, but it doesn't really make the problem go away. There are loads of reasons why someone who uses an e-bike might be compelled to carry it on transit - perhaps they biked into town in the morning but were hit by a torrential rainstorm in the afternoon; perhaps their bike ran out of charge; perhaps they sustained an injury, or their bike got damaged or vandalized; perhaps they had to run an errand after work that involved picking up an oversize package - do we want to exclude them from using the service because we don't want to do the hard thing and solve a problem?

 

[Voltz]

No but you can bring them in the cabin which was my point.

A battery fire in the cabin would be noticed quickly, but not one in the luggage hold.

 

[allengeorge]

I'm pretty hard-nosed on this. E-Bike Batteries sold in US/Canada should be UL-certified, period. Any seller or lessor who trades in non-UL batteries should be punitively penalized per-sale. Otherwise, some day, some cheaply-made battery is going to burn in someone's house and given the speed at which these things combust there will be casualties.

 

[APTA-2048]

Otherwise, some day, some cheaply-made battery is going to burn in someone's house and given the speed at which these things combust there will be casualties.

This is already happening with increased frequency in New York.

 

[gabe]

Yes e-bikes should be banned on all public transit. If this was rush hour on a work day, people could have been killed.

Concern grows over e-battery fires on trains and subways

The city of New York has seen an explosion in battery fires sparked by e-bikes and e-scooters. There have been 80 e-battery fires so far this year, including 60 injuries and nine deaths.

abc7ny.com

The city of New York has seen an explosion in battery fires sparked by e-bikes and e-scooters. There have been 80 e-battery fires so far this year, including 60 injuries and nine deaths.

 

[Richard White]

Yes e-bikes should be banned on all public transit. If this was rush hour on a work day, people could have been killed.

Concern grows over e-battery fires on trains and subways

The city of New York has seen an explosion in battery fires sparked by e-bikes and e-scooters. There have been 80 e-battery fires so far this year, including 60 injuries and nine deaths.

abc7ny.com

The city of New York has seen an explosion in battery fires sparked by e-bikes and e-scooters. There have been 80 e-battery fires so far this year, including 60 injuries and nine deaths.

The TTC will of course announce enforcement action against e-bikes and e-scooters.

After announcing this, they will do absolutely nothing.

Unless someone actually dies and a coroners inquest is held, don't expect anything to change.

 

[81-717]

Surprised it's becoming more of an issue now. If I'm not mistaken, the era of exploding cellphone batteries was primarily in the early days of cellphones (1980s/1990s or so), and more recently with the Note 7 which has since been resolved.

Hopefully eBus batteries wouldn't go off like those eBike batteries.

 

[allengeorge]

Surprised it's becoming more of an issue now.

The explosive (hah!) success of e-bikes has led to a vast industry of fly-by-night operators all trying to deliver the cheapest batteries possible. The market hasn’t coalesced yet, and regulation hasn’t caught up.

If a building burns down somewhere and scores of people die at the same time (even the fires in NYC haven’t been at that scale) there will be pressure to act. Moreso if it happens in multiple cities.

 

[81-717]

The explosive (hah!) success of e-bikes has led to a vast industry of fly-by-night operators all trying to deliver the cheapest batteries possible.

Indeed, another example of "you get what you pay for"

 

[nfitz]

Indeed, another example of "you get what you pay for"

Sounds more like I get what someone else paid for.

I'm not sure she the comparison to wheelchairs. It's not like they are bursting into flame; probably less km a day, and better serviced with proper parts.

 

[smallspy]

I'm not sure she the comparison to wheelchairs. It's not like they are bursting into flame; probably less km a day, and better serviced with proper parts.

Wheelchairs and mobility scooters require UL or CSA certification.

These e-bikes don't.

That's the difference.

Dan

 

[evandyk]

I'm involved in a housing organization that has seen a small handful of e-bike fires in the last few years. They mostly seem to be caused by using mismatched charging equipment. I know there are documented examples of spontaneous fires occurring, but the real risk is in improper charging, which generally people won't be doing in the subway.

 

[dowlingm]

What would be the point of banning them, if there are wheelchairs and mobility scooters running around with lithium batteries? One is as combustible as any other.

The solution here should be to take a look at why this is happening - is it shoddy manufacturing? is it shoddy materials? - and then regulate it to make the problem go away.

that (requiring certification for import or sale of e-bike batteries) might slow the issue down but even certified batteries can have problems. Setting that aside, the TTC or GO won't have the resources to inspect the certifications of ebikes, so those already in country will continue to be a problem. Given that there seem to be practices of using non standard chargers or doubling up batteries out there, we can't solely rely on "they were fine when they left the factory"

I do note that it was only recently that people were yelling at GO for not being quick enough to rip out seats to make provision for these bikes to be co-located with passengers. Now one has caught fire, caused significant and possibly irreparable damage to a subway car or cars, and if it turns out the rider was a delivery courier, the companies involved will be quick to answer "contractor" to any requests that they contribute to the TTC's costs.

 

[T3G]

So what do you say to someone, then, who's stranded, and needs to bring an e-bike on public transit out of necessity? Tough luck? Should they have foreseen the breakdown or injury or freak spell of bad weather that put them in this position?

Are there e-bike towing services?

 

[smallspy]

So what do you say to someone, then, who's stranded, and needs to bring an e-bike on public transit out of necessity? Tough luck? Should they have foreseen the breakdown or injury or freak spell of bad weather that put them in this position?

Are there e-bike towing services?

In most cases, most e-bikes allow the user/operator to operate them as a bike. With pedals and cranks.

Shocking, I know.

Dan