But what role do these systems play in the transport transition’ Our SFOE research project POTEBS is investigating their sustainability and integration into multimodal mobility. Stay tuned!
The e-bike is booming! Almost every second bike sold in Switzerland is now electric. E-bike sharing has also become an integral part of the cityscape in many urban areas in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe. But what does e-bike sharing actually bring to our cities and agglomerations in terms of transport transition and sustainability’ News such as that published by swissinfo.ch in January 2022, ’Shared e-bikes and e-scooters ’do climate more harm than good’, with reference to the ETHZ study by Reck et al. (2022), certainly made some people wonder about the sustainability significance of shared micromobility. In particular, the study found that shared e-bikes are often used as a substitute for walking or public transport use, but not as frequently as cars. However, as always, it takes not just one, but many studies and we can already say at this point: despite a number of further studies using a wide variety of methodological approaches over the last few years, no clear answer has yet emerged from the academy. E-bike sharing systems subsidized with taxpayers’ money, which are often not profitable and whose effect on the sustainable transport transition has not been clearly proven’ This not only gives rise to political and public interest in discussion, but also an urgent need for research.
In December 2023, we launched our SFOE-funded research project ’POTEBS - Investigating the Potential of E-Bike-Sharing Systems for Sustainable Mobility in Different Spatial Types’, which runs until 2027 and focuses on the Basel metropolitan area. This project deals with the role of different types (station-based and free-floating) of e-bike sharing systems (EBSS) in the sustainable mobility transition. Particular attention is paid to the integration of these systems with other modes of transport, especially public transport. The project is being carried out by the HSLU in close cooperation with the Faculty of Economics at the University of Basel and the partners Pick-e-Bike AG and velospot (PubliBike AG). The second work package of the project is currently in the final phase - a data-driven analysis of more than 1.2 million geocoded journeys (period 2018-2024) and more than 80,000 users of the two systems.
So far, trends have emerged that often overlap strongly with the findings of other studies. For example, the vast majority of registered users are inactive, which means that they have either only ridden once or never at all - one could almost speak of ’dead bodies’. In addition, the distribution of users can be well explained by the Pareto principle, or the 80:20 rule: Around 20% of users generate around 80% of the rental minutes in the system. Furthermore, significantly less than 10% of users can be identified as regular users of such systems. In addition, strong seasonal influences pose economic challenges for providers. It can be seen that journeys during the week, especially during regular commuting times, dominate the statistics. We hypothesize that EBSSs are used more for professional and educational commuting purposes and less for leisure purposes. In contrast to some other studies, we could not identify any significant deviations in peak demand and usage times in our case. In addition, our analyses revealed that most trips start and end in close proximity to public transport stops, indicating that EBSSs could often be used as part of public transport micromobility trip chains - although there is uncertainty here too, as Basel’s public transport stop density is very high. Another key aspect of our research is the influence of weather conditions on usage. Our analysis has shown that rain as well as very high and very low temperatures significantly reduce the number of rentals. On days with more than 1 mm of precipitation, the number of rentals decreases drastically, while the months of August and September are the most active times for e-bike rentals. In both cases, there are higher fluctuations in the use of EBSS compared to regular bicycle traffic in Basel, based on the evaluation of public counting station data. These seasonal usage patterns should be taken into account when planning marketing strategies and infrastructure developments.
Based on these and many other analysis results, which can be found, for example, in the conference paper from the Swiss Transport Research Conference 2024, the POTEBS project will soon move on to the next phase, in which empirical research in the form of user surveys and interviews will provide valuable additional insights.
