The (im-)mobile e-bike: infrastructural components of an emerging micromobility practice

Abstract

Electrically assisted cycling, e-biking, is a growing global phenomenon. Just as with other vehicles, the e-bike is operated somewhere in place and in connection to other road users, and is far from always in motion. In this article, e-biking and related activities such as parking and storing take centre stage together with infrastructures such as parking spaces and electricity networks, which facilitate and constrain the practice in different ways. The involvement of a specific set of elements makes e-biking a practice in its own right, not only in comparison to other micromobility modes such as conventional cycling and walking, but also compared to motorised driving and in relation to infrastructure, and especially so when the e-bike is in non-motion.The starting point of the article is an understanding that practices such as e-biking are connected not only to other practices, but also to small- and large-scale infrastructures and to the context within which it is performed. The empirical material was collected in semi-urban and urban settings in Sweden, a country where cycling is presented as a primary solution to reach net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2045 but where the car is by far the dominant mode of personal transport. By analysing interviews and diaries written by e-bikers as well as policy documents, the relationship between e-biking and surrounding infrastructures comes under scrutiny. Insufficient cycle parking infrastructures are shown to discourage usage beyond trips between two places with (known) safe parking possibilities. This avoidance of linking practices risks limiting the range of activities for which e-bikes are used.An increased knowledge of the infrastructural and situational conditions of e-biking as set out in this article can facilitate planning and policy making and is important to better understand the challenges and opportunities involved in the transition towards a sustainable transport system and therefore highly relevant to contemporary debates.