In my experience in Chicago, a bike was almost always faster than public transit, period. Even before I was fit, when it was painful to ride my bike in to school, it was faster than the train during rush hour.

If you’re not fit […]

…Then riding an e-bike isn’t going to make you fit, because you aren’t going to pedal it. An e-bike isn’t going to make you fit, any more than my Triumph Speed Triple is making me fit. Sure, I’m still on two wheels, but I’m not getting any physical fitness out of it.

I was–briefly–a personal trainer. I saw a lot of people avoiding putting in the work using almost every excuse they could. People that tried to ease themselves into getting fit were still going easy months later. The only people that made progress were the people willing to do the work, even when it was difficult and uncomfortable. For myself, I don’t like making excuses for people that won’t put in the effort, and that’s pretty much everyone that uses e-bikes. If you want a motorcycle, just do that, pay for insurance, and obey the rules of the road, rather than riding on sidewalks and bike paths while putting in zero effort.