micromobility - Bikes, scooters, boards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility

Much like the varieties of guitars, I'm of the opinion that acoustic and electric bikes can easily coexist[1], within reason. That's why I have one of both. As for how I determine which one to use, I have the following system:

Use the acoustic bike for trips that are wholly within city limits. Use the acoustic bike for trips where yhe bike needs to be brought onboard a bus or train. Use the acoustic bike if there are (or will be) wet roads. Use the electric bike for all other trips. Exception: use the electric bike if time is of the essence.

Using this criteria, I end up spending roughly equal time on both bikes, although obviously the ebike sees a lot more kilometers due to higher speed. This lets me continue to hit my daily activity goals, unchanged from before I got the ebike. It also means I don't have to haul a heavier ebike onto public transport. And while hydroplaning on any bicycle is exceedingly unlikely, the fact is that wet roads have reduced traction and so speed+torque would get me into more trouble if I rode the ebike. Finally, my life is not scheduled to the minute, so if I'm going to be late for a dentist appointment on the acoustic bike, I can make up time by selecting the ebike instead.

[1]: coexistence means that I expect that even in an advanced future where ebikes are trivially affordable, it will still be reasonable to ride an acoustic bike. For comparison, horse carriages simply did not coexist with automobiles after the 1920s.

But as a matter of public policy, just because two modes can coexist does not mean their differences can be ignored. Acoustic and electric bikes are both fine on pavement, but the latter can cause larger dust clouds on dirt roads. Recreational trails with weird curves are fine for strolling around, but are definitely not a high-volume commuter corridor to alleviate urban traffic woes. If a municipality wants to encourage commuting by ebike, they should not assume that a trail that's miles out-of-the-way, with blind corners everywhere, can somehow be used as-is. No surprise, but bike commuters like direct paths, and ebike commuters want paths where their ebikes will prove useful. So if building from scratch, a city could build an arrow-straight, off-street ebike path with steady 6-10% grades, because ebikes can overcome that. Can the same be used by acoustic bikes? Yes, but not by most people. That's the nuance: different bikes may need different facilities. At the same time, all bikes share common needs: safety from automobiles, air/repair stations, wayside water fountains, bathrooms.