Evaluation of an Electric Bike Pilot Project at Three Employment Campuses in Portland, Oregon

Details

• Creators:
  MacArthur, John ; Kobel, Nicholas ; Dill, Jennifer ; Mumuni, Zakari
• Corporate Creators:
  Portland State University
• Corporate Contributors:
  National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) ; United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Before And After Studies Bicycle Bicycle Commuting Bicycling Commuting Electric Power Multimodal Surveys E-bikes
• Publication/ Report Number:
  NITC-RR-564B
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States;Portland (Oregon)
• Corporate Publisher:
  National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) ; University Transportation Centers Program (U.S.)
• Abstract:
  This report examines the results of an electric bike (e-bike) pilot project, which took place April 2014-September 2015 in the Portland region. Participants from three Kaiser Permanente Northwest campuses (1 urban and 2 suburban) were issued an e-bike for 10 weeks to use for various trip purposes, focusing on first/last-mile commuting. Participants were asked to complete three surveys—before, during and after using the e-bike—to evaluate how their perceptions and levels of cycling may have changed. Responses were analyzed using statistical software and a GIS. Results show that participants biked more often and to a wider variety of places than before the study; they become more confident cyclists after the study; and they cited fewer barriers to cycling when given the opportunity to use an e-bike, particularly for overcoming hills and reducing sweat. This study’s findings support the general hypothesis that e-bikes enable users to bike to more distant locations, bike more frequently and allow a broader participation in cycling for certain segments of the population by reducing barriers to cycling. Further research is needed to understand how e-bikes might replace other modes of transportation, including standard bicycles, vehicles and public transit.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:13662974416abdf44d812981c1f5467a4b516135e0500f5316001d64c4b1eb570b1f8b85a00f185fe36bc60cada9573de639ec5d72f2e9a6c5bd9d175d26c735
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/36825/dot_36825_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.98 MB ]