Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • About
    • About TREC
    • Advancing Equity
    • Our Staff
    • Our Researchers
    • Contact Us
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Media Coverage
  • Programs
    • Transportation Data
    • The Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation
    • TREC Resource Hub
    • PacTrans
    • Better Block PSU
    • Workforce Development
    • National Institute For Transportation And Communities
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Transportation Seminars
    • BikePed Training
    • Summer High School Camp
    • Ann Niles Lecture
    • Past Events
  • Research and Data
    • Research Areas
    • Researchers
    • All Projects
    • Final Reports
    • PORTAL: Portland-Vancouver
    • BikePed Portal: National
    • For Researchers
  • Study at PSU
    • Why Study at PSU?
    • Degrees and Courses
    • STEP Student Group
    • Graduate Research Assistants
    • Scholars
    • Sustainable Transportation Study Abroad
User account menu
  • Log in

The E-Bike Potential: How E-Bikes Can Improve Sustainable Transportation

The E-Bike Potential: How E-Bikes Can Improve Sustainable TransportationPhoto

Principal Investigator:

John MacArthur, Portland State University

Co-Investigators:

  • Christopher Cherry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Summary:

The electric bicycle (e-bike) is a recently introduced mode of travel that is rapidly gaining in popularity throughout the United States. The e-bike can offer a cheaper alternative to car travel (Popovich et al. 2014) and can provide users with an adequate level of physical activity intensity necessary to enhance health (Fishman and Cherry 2016). Riding an e-bike is rewarding and fun, is freeing f... The electric bicycle (e-bike) is a recently introduced mode of travel that is rapidly gaining in popularity throughout the United States. The e-bike can offer a cheaper alternative to car travel (Popovich et al. 2014) and can provide users with an adequate level of physical activity intensity necessary to enhance health (Fishman and Cherry 2016). Riding an e-bike is rewarding and fun, is freeing for users with limited ability and mobility, and can even lead to a car-free household (Popovich et al. 2014; MacArthur et al. 2017, 2018; Jones, Harms, and Heinen 2016). It can be a useful tool to reduce CO2 emissions, urban noise and air pollution, and inner city traffic (Weiss et al. 2015). Lastly, e-bikes encourage users to cycle farther and more often than conventional bicycles (MacArthur et al. 2018), meaning that they offer the opportunity to multiply the benefits already obtained by conventional cycling. This project explores the potential e-bike effect on person miles traveled (PMT) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in terms of CO2 for varying levels of e-bike mode share replacement. In addition, a white paper presents how e-bike incentive programs are being developed around the world and how they can be used to expand the market. Learn more about projects and researchers behind the Light Electric Vehicle Education and Research (LEVER) Initiative here: http://www.levresearch.com/. LEVER is a consortium of Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) researchers and educators that currently includes faculty and staff from University of Tennessee, Portland State University, and Monash University. LEVER started in 2014 to bring together some of the leading researchers in the field to collectively answer some of the biggest questions related to these emerging vehicles. Photo by Halfpoint/iStock See More

Project Details

Project Type: Research
Project Status: Completed
End Date: May 30, 2019

Downloadable Products

  • How E-Bike Incentive Programs are Used to Expand the Market (FINAL_REPORT)
  • The E-Bike Potential: Estimating the Effect of E-Bikes on Person Miles Travelled and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (FINAL_REPORT)
  • The E-Bike Potential (PROJECT_BRIEF)
  • Regulations of E-Bikes in North America (REPORT)
  • Streetsblog Podcast "Talking Headways" Episode 272: It Came from TRB! Poster Session Part 1 (WEBSITE)
  • Transportation Research Part D, October 2020: The E-Bike Potential: Estimating regional e-bike impacts on greenhouse gas emissions (WEBSITE)
  • Electric Vehicle Incentive Cost and Impact Tool (WEBSITE)

 

© 2024 | Transportation Research and Education Center | 503-725-8545 | asktrec@pdx.edu