Abstract
Globally, the need for more sustainable modes of transport is rising. One of the main contenders of the car is the electrical bike (e-bike). To promote the use of e-bikes, pilots are being organised worldwide (e.g. in the USA, Norway, and the Netherlands). Studies have shown that providing a free e-bike to people for a limited period of time changes their mode choice behaviour during the pilot period. Only few studies have also investigated the long-term effects of these free e-bike trial periods, which show increase in e-bike use in general. However, these studies have failed to investigate why some participants of the trials change behaviour on the long-term, whereas others continued their former behaviour. This study aims to bridge this gap. A pilot with e-bikes was organised at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, with the goal of reducing car use for commuter trips towards the university. Data was collected at various moments during and after the trial period to evaluate the long-term changes in commuting behaviour and to identify potential reasons for these changes. A total of 82 participants are included in this study. Overall, car use for commuting decreased from 88% before the pilot to 63% three months after the pilot. E-bike use went up from 2% to 18% in the same time period. A binary logistic regression model shows that the most important variables to explain the decrease in car use are 1) purchase of an e-bike, 2) the participant's perception regarding e-bike safety, and 3) the aim of the participant to use the pilot to change their current behaviour. Besides that, the most important predictor of increase in e-bike use is the purchase of an e-bike. Furthermore, participants identify the investment costs of an e-bike as the strongest reason for not purchasing an e-bike and, thus, not changing their commuting behaviour. Future pilot programs could consider the potential of incrementally purchasing an e-bike over a longer period of time, instead of at once, to increase e-bike adoption rate.
Highlights
Governments worldwide acknowledge the need for more sustainable mobility
This study contributes to the literature by evaluating the long-term effects of a pilot with e-bikes on the Transport Policy 105 (2021) 134–144 commuting behaviour of individuals, where we focus on understanding the change in e-bike and car use
The pilot is evaluated based on the change it has imposed on the mode use for commuters
Summary
Governments worldwide acknowledge the need for more sustainable mobility. Some countries have already achieved (relatively) high use of sustainable mobility, such as the Netherlands and Denmark, especially through cycling and walking (Pucher and Buehler, 2008) Even in those countries the car is currently the domi nant mode of transportation, suggesting that walking and cycling cannot compete with the car. In Australia (Johnson and Rose, 2013) and North America (MacArthur et al, 2014), where the bicycle is less apparent in the mobility patterns of individuals, the e-bike is mostly used to replace car trips These studies all conclude that the e-bike is able to compete with the car, albeit that the extent to which it competes depends strongly on the context
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