NS760 - MnDOT Research & Innovation

NS760: Understanding how e-bikes impact travel behavior

Problem

Shared mobility, such as bikeshare and micromobility programs, has seen a significant shift in offerings from pedal bikes to e-bikes, with many systems completely converting their fleets to electric. Ownership of personal e-bikes has also increased, with e-bike sales surpassing 1 million e-bikes in 2022, quadrupling from 2019 sales. The popularity of Minnesota’s e-Bike Rebate mirrors the growing trend of e-bike ridership in Minnesota and across the country. In 2023, the Minnesota legislature added a tax credit to its transportation budget allocating $2 million each in 2024 and 2025 that could provide certificates worth 50-75% of a new e-bike purchase depending on applicant income, or up to $1,500. Minnesota’s Electric-Assisted Bicycle Rebate (e-Bike Rebate) initial launch was so popular that the website crashed. When the site re-opened, there were 14,000 applications that were submitted, with thousands more in a waiting room hoping to get in. Several national and international research studies have repeatedly found that e-bike trips are more frequent and longer in both distance and time than conventional bike trips. E-bikes are a key piece to being able to shift driving trips and reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) because they are more comparable to cars in the distance they can cover in a short amount of time with minimal effort to the rider. Yet, e-bikes are significantly more expensive than traditional bikes and they require having safe and secure storage and charging locations, so equity implications are important to consider.

E-bikes are an important opportunity to meet MnDOT’s, and those as listed in Statute 174.01 Subd 2., including:

(2) to provide multimodal and intermodal transportation facilities and services to increase access for all persons and businesses and to ensure economic well-being and quality of life without undue burden placed on any community,
(10) to ensure that the planning and implementation of all modes of transportation are consistent with the environmental and energy goals of the state,
(11) to promote and increase the use of high-occupancy vehicles and low-emission vehicles,
(14) to promote and increase bicycling and walking as a percentage of all trips, and
(15) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the state's transportation sector.

Understanding how e-bikes change traveler behavior is key to evaluating progress toward these goals and estimating future benefits from bike infrastructure generally and e-bike programs, specifically. This research proposal provides a framework for how we can collect trip data to understand changes in traveler behavior.

Objective

This research would focus on adults in Minnesota to understand how e-bikes impact travel behavior via user surveys, travel diaries or travel behaviors and should consider technology, such as telematics, or apps that could help collect consistent trip data and help riders easily report additional information about their trips. The research should include a longitudinal study of trip behavior – ideally including time periods from different seasons – and analyze household characteristics including size of household, income, existing vehicle and bike ownership; e-bike use and travel behavior including who is using and riding the e-bike (including children), destinations and types of trips or trip purpose, and how those trips might be made if recipients did not have an e-bike (e.g., driving, transit, walking, traditional bike); and reported barriers or challenges to greater e-bike usage such as safety concerns over biking infrastructure or lack thereof, bike storage or security, lack of carrying capacity, distance of trips, and/or weather. The study should include e-bike owners or riders from across Minnesota, representing urban core, suburban, and rural parts of the State. Where possible, research should include e-bike owners who purchased their bikes on their own, e-bike owners who purchased their e-bike with the help of the State e-bike rebate, and e-bike users (such as those who use shared micromobility vehicles like Lime or Spin).
The objective of the proposed research seeks to address the following questions:

How do e-bikes reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by providing an alternative and competitive travel option to driving alone?
How does e-bike travel behavior change throughout the year (e.g., based on weather) or based on local context (e.g., access to bikeways/bike lanes)?
How does e-bike ownership affect travel behavior of other modes (e.g., driving, transit, walking)?
For households that have a car and an e-bike, for what types of trips and trip distances do riders choose their e-bike over another mode?
How do household demographics influence e-bike usage (e.g., number in household and presence of children, whether others in the household bike or own an analog bike)?
How does e-bike usage differ amongst individuals who also have access to a personal vehicle and those without?
How do incentives such as e-bike rebates or reduced ridership fees for shared e-bikes make e-bikes more accessible?

Previous research

The MnDOT Offices of Transit and Active Transportation and Sustainability and Public Health propose research to collect travel behavior data from people who bike to understand how e-bikes can meet State and local climate, transportation, health, and equity goals. This research proposals builds off MnDOT research underway to survey e-bike rebate recipients and separately, to understand safety considerations of young people riding e-bikes. This research builds off previous studies to understand whether Minnesotans are willing to drive less and efforts to improve Minnesota bike and pedestrian data collection about real trips and inform assumptions about potential future trips. This research will support current MnDOT activities and recent legislative requirements such as the Greenhouse Gas Impact Assessment legislation, of which active transportation infrastructure and bikeshare programs are eligible offsets for capacity expansion projects. Titles of previous research:

Expected outcomes

New or improved manual, handbook, guidelines, or training

Expected benefits

The numbers 1 and 2 indicate whether the source of the benefit measurement is from:

A specific research task in your project that will be measuring this particular benefit, or
A separate effort to analyze data provided by the state or local agency involved in this project.

Environmental Aspect: (1)
- Because e-bikes can carry greater loads and support longer trips, they are more competitive with driving alone in terms of time, cost, and convenience. Meeting our safety, climate, and equity goals means helping local agencies understand the opportunity for e-bikes in order to plan and build a multimodal system that supports the growing demand for e-bikes as a transportation mode.