This paper aims to inform planners and policymakers about what e-cargo bikes are and how they have been successfully deployed in North America to replace ICE vehicles. The report also identifies actionable strategies cities can take to encourage their adoption while guaranteeing safety for all road users.

Biking the Goods: How North American Cities Can Prepare for and Promote Large-Scale Adoption of E-Cargo Bikes

This quantitative and qualitative research allows PFB's member organizations to use data to navigate turbulent markets. This quarterly report provides an analysis of bicycle sales for the short, medium, and long term with respect to domestic and global risk factors. 

Global Risk & Opportunity Forecast Quarterly Reports (from S&P Global)

In partnership with Circana (previously called NPD Group), PeopleForBikes provides members with exclusive access to monthly reports on U.S. retail sales and inventory figures which they can use to understand market trends and identify areas of opportunity. 

The PeopleForBikes Business Intelligence Hub is a dashboard available to members for daily, weekly, and monthly insights for the bicycle industry covering ridership, retail sales and consumer attitudes. 

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center's (PBIC) mission is to improve the quality of life in communities through the increase of safe walking and bicycling as a viable means of transportation and physical activity. Visit their website for a wide range of resources.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center

PeopleForBikes conducts a semi-annual survey to gauge overall market sentiment from bicycle industry members. This research identifies threats and opportunities for the bike industry, and highlights industry perceptions of market trends.

Strategies and statistics to help policymakers and advocates accelerate the construction of great places to ride bikes through state and local funding for bike infrastructure, Complete Streets mandates, integrating bike infrastructure into climate legislation, and creating safer places to ride. 

Legislative Strategies for Safe and Connected Bike Infrastructure

Toole Design, an urban planning firm, provides guidance on how to maintain biking and walking facilities in winter weather.

The Downtown Denver Partnership partnered with the City of Denver, See.Sense, and the Gates Corporation in a pilot project to evaluate rider experience and safety based on data reported by sensors attached to participants' bikes. The study collected metrics such as bike swerving, braking, route choice, road surface conditions, and speed to inform future investments in bike infrastructure in Denver.

Riding for Focus (R4F) is a 6–8 week cycling education program designed to equip middle school adolescents with basic cycling skills. This study quantifies the change in adolescent psychosocial well-being associated with the R4F program during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Middle school cycling program is associated with improved mental health and wellbeing in adolescents during COVID-19

Use this calculator to estimate the environmental and economic impacts of achieving mode shift targets of replacing car trips with electric bicycle trips in a specific city. The calculator can also estimate the impact of implementing an e-bike incentive program.

E-Bike Environment and Economics Impact Assessment Calculator

The Light Electric Vehicle Education and Research (LEVER) Institute is a consortium of Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) researchers and educators. The group's research page includes links to a variety of studies on electric bicycles and other electric micromobility devices.

The Light Electric Vehicle Education + Research Institute (LEVER) research website

This report describes how to recruit, retain, and reactivate bicycle riders. Produced for PeopleForBikes by NAXION Thinking, this research used a series of  1:1 interviews conducted with current and lapsed bicycle riders to gather information about their motivations, drivers, and barriers to bicycling.

The Single Sport Report series is produced by the Physical Activity Council (PAC). Reports present data for invididual types of cycling for the years 2017 to 2022: riding on paved surfaces, unpaved surfaces, BMX, and indoor cycling in either a group or individual setting.  

This annual trend study on bicycle participation from the Physical Activity Council measures cycling participation for Americans ages 6+, and includes estimates for the years 2017 to 2022.  

This study details information about those who have an interest in purchasing an e-bike with a focus on how to encourage the e-bike curious to purchase. This study is available to PFB members and available for sale to non-members. 

The PeopleForBikes Bicycling Participation Study is the a census of bicycling activity in America. Conducted every-other-year since 2014, this 2022 report contains historic demographic and psychographic information about riders and non-riders. 

Biennial PFB Bicycling Participation Report

PeopleForBikes' inventory of protected bike lanes built and planned in the United States, including their mileage.

PeopleForBikes launched a study of participation at the end of 2020 to better understand how personal riding habits changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results are available for free to members or for sale to non-members. 

Based on input from focus groups in ten cities, this report identifies barriers that prevent people from bicycling. The report concludes with five recommendations for expanding access to bicycling and building more inclusive bicycling cultures.

Where Do We Go From Here? Breaking Down Barriers to Bicycling in the U.S.

Research quantifying the economic impacts of bicycle and pedestrian street improvements in six U.S. cities: Indianapolis, Memphis, Minneapolis, Portland (OR), San Francisco, and Seattle. Full report can be found at this link.

Economic Impacts of Bicycle and Pedestrian Street Improvements

Guidance for bike retailers on how to advocate for policies that support electric bicycles. With clear rules on how and where to ride an e-bike, everyone stands to benefit, including local bicycle shops who will see increased business and customers who will no longer be confused about where to ride.

A survey of bicyclists on urban streets in Israel found that young electric bicycle riders rode 6-9 km/h faster on average than conventional bicycle riders but stayed under the legal limit of 25 km/h. Electric bicycle rider speed depended on the street design and location.

Speeds of Young E-Cyclists on Urban Streets and Related Risk Factors: An Observational Study in Israel

 A study of university students and staff in Belgium found that people take greater satisfaction riding bikes than driving a car or riding the bus. Respondents also reported greater satisfaction riding an electric bicycle compared to a conventional bicycle.

Evaluation of the potential of classic and electric bicycle commuting as an impetus for the transition towards environmentally sustainable cities: A case study of the university campuses in Liege, Belgium

A brief guide to eMTB trail etiquette that summarizes what eMTBs are, where to ride eMTBs, advice for land managers, and how to expand eMTB trail access.

This info brief provides an overview of methods for measuring bicycle network quality and demonstrates the use of PeopleForBikes' Bicycle Network Analysis tool to evaluate the impacts of proposed projects.

Using Connectivity Measures to Evaluate and Build Connected Bicycle Networks

Surveying 10,000 bicycle riders in seven European cities, researchers found that, compared to conventional bicycle riders, electric bicycle riders take longer trips, experience similar increases in physical activity, and ride more for utilitarian rather than recreational purposes.

Physical activity of electric bicycle users compared to conventional bicycle users and non-cyclists: Insights based on health and transport data from an online survey in seven European cities

This white paper synthesizes recent and emerging research on electric bicycle safety compared to conventional bicycles, and reviews evidence on differences between the two predominant classes of electric bicycles, Class 1 electric bicycles and Class 3 electric bicycles. 

E-bike safety. A review of Empirical European and North American Studies

This study analyzed social media discussions to identify fears, concerns and prejudices surrounding eMTBs. Themes included confusion over eMTB capabilities, concerns about trail damage, and beliefs that eMTBs are "cheating" compared to riding conventional mountain bikes.

Mountain biker attitudes and perceptions of eMTBs (electric‑mountain bikes)

This white paper explores the how mode shift to electric bicycles could impact person miles traveled (PMT) and greenhouse gas emissions and creates a model for PMT and greenhouse gas reductions using Portland, Oregon as an example.

The E-Bike Potential: Estimating the Effect of E-Bikes on Person Miles Travelled and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

This study compared the average heart rate for eMTB and conventional MTB riders and found that the average heart rate during eMTB use was 94% of the average heart rate during conventional mountain bike use. Participant questionnaires pre- and post-eMTB ride revealed strongly positive views on eMTBs.

Pedal-Assist Mountain Bikes: A Pilot Study Comparison of the Exercise Response, Perceptions, and Beliefs of Experienced Mountain Bikers

The goal of this white paper is to provide policymakers, agency leads, and local community leaders with a range of techniques to develop and structure e-bike incentive programs to help meet single occupancy vehicle (SOV) and vehicle miles travelled (VMT) reduction objectives.

How E-Bike Incentive Programs are Used to Expand the Market

Policymakers, planners, and advocates can use these talking points and templates based on consumer research to garner support for bike infrastructure among the general public.

Building a safe, interconnected network of protected bike lanes depends on gaining the support of people who only occasionally bike or never bike at all. Recent consumer research commissioned by PeopleForBikes shows how to build a common value proposition among bike advocates and the wider public. The research not only illuminates where Americans stand on the issue, but also how to move them toward greater investment by showing how bike infrastructure can help them accomplish a wide range of personal, social and economic goals.

Visit www.peopleforbikes.org/activatingsupport for a full set of resources to help you with your communications strategies.

From Asphalt to Aspiration [Presentation 10/31/18]

Activating Support for Building Bike Infrastructure

This guide identifies best practices for accelerating the development of bike infrastructure and explains how city leaders across many sectors play a critical role.

Engage, Plan, Build, Measure: A Guide For City Leaders

Researchers found comparable fitness gains among study participants commuting on an electric bicycle compared to a conventional bicycle due to the higher biking speeds and elevation gains that riding electric bicycles enabled.

Effect of E-Bike Versus Bike Commuting on Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Overweight Adults: A 4-Week Randomized Pilot Study

This study found that electric and conventional bicycle users are equally likely to be involved in a crash, with comparable crash severity, but the overall impact of electric bicycles on road safety is complex and requires more research.

This survey of electric bicycle owners builds upon a prior survey and finds similar results. Electric bicycles enable more people to ride a bicycle, many of whom are incapable of or don't feel safe riding a standard bicycle. Additionally, electric bicycles generate different types of trips. 

A North American Survey of Electric Bicycle Owners

This literature review found that while electric bicycles require less physical activity than conventional bicycles, electric bicycle riders still experience moderate intensity activity and its associated health benefits.

Health benefits of electrically-assisted cycling: a systematic review

PeopleForBikes surveyed trail users at four trailheads in Fruita, CO seeking to understand their perceptions of eMTBs, to help land managers decide where, when, and how to manage eMTBs.

A study of 24 electric bicycle riders in the Netherlands found that electric bicycles enabled users to travel longer distances, and therefore serve as a viable option for trips that users perceived to be too long to ride a conventional bicycle. Also, electric bicycle riders traveled out of their way for a more pleasant route.

“Cycling was never so easy!” An analysis of e-bike commuters' motives, travel behaviour and experiences using GPS-tracking and interviews

This research found that participants' commute trips on electric bicycles were shorter and lower intensity compared to conventional bicycles. However, electric bicycles still produced moderate to vigorous physical activity levels among participants.

Physical activity when riding an electric assisted bicycle

This study found electric bicycle riders had shorter travel times and reduced exertion compared to conventional bicycle riders but still experienced moderate or vigorous physical activity while riding. Electric bicycle riders enjoyed riding more than conventional riders and had a reduced need to shower after riding.

Comparing physical activity of pedal-assist electric bikes with walking and conventional bicycles

A study of over 250,000 people in the UK found that bike commuting is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and overall mortality.

Association between active commuting and incident cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality: prospective cohort study.

This guide describes five easy ways bicycle retailers can get involved in bicycling projects in the community, along with creative ideas to get more people riding, more often.

Better Bicycling, Better Business: A Guide for Retailers 

Why ride to work? This 2017 study finds that biking to work burns as much fat as spending 40 minutes at the gym five days a week.

Effects of active commuting and leisure-time exercise on fat loss in women and men with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled trial.

This info brief defines bicycle networks and their role supporting bicycling in cities.

Study participants were issued an electric bicycle for 10 weeks, then surveyed to evaluate how their perceptions and levels of cycling changed. After receiving electric bicycles, participants biked more often and to more places, became more confident bicyclists, and cited fewer barriers to cycling.

Evaluation of Electric Bike Use at Three Kaiser Permanente NW Employment Centers in Portland Metro Region

In this study of 12 riders on bicycles outfitted with monitoring devices, electric bicycles were ridden faster on average than traditional bicycles and interacted differently with other road users. The results suggest that countermeasures for bicycle crashes should be different for electric and traditional bicycles.

Using naturalistic data to assess e-cyclist behavior

Guidance on how to organize and lead effective study tours that inspire city leaders and key stakeholders to support better bicycling infrastructure and policies in their home cities.

Effective Study Tours: Turning Inspiration Into Action

A longitudinal study revealed that both commuting and recreation bicycling are associated with a decreased risk of type II diabetes.

Associations between Recreational and Commuter Cycling, Changes in Cycling, and Type 2 Diabetes Risk: A Cohort Study of Danish Men and Women.

Study participants were instructed to commute via electric bicycle three times a week for four weeks, which resulted in improvements in some cardiometabolic risk factors and helped them meet recommended physical activity levels.

Pedelecs as a physically active transportation mode

This literature review covers the different types of electric bicycles, user demographics, global sales, impacts on travel behavior, and the health, safety, and environmental implications of increased electric bicycle use.

E-bikes in the Mainstream: Reviewing a Decade of Research

This report draws on the experiences of Austin, Chicago, Denver, Memphis, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle to identify the nine elements of successful quick-build bike infrastructure projects.

Quick Builds For Better Streets: A New Project Delivery Model for U.S. Cities

PeopleForBikes interviewed planners, leaders and activists in communities of color around the country to identify best practices for building equity into protected bike lanes.

Building Equity – Race, ethnicity, class, and protected bike lanes: An idea book for fairer cities

A survey of land managers to capture their experiences and concerns with electric mountain bikes (eMTBs) and understand what kind of information about eMTBs would support trail management.

Trail Use and Management of Electric Mountain Bikes: Land Manager Survey Results

This study measured soil displacement and erosion resulting from traditional mountain bicycles, electric mountain bicycles (eMTBs), and off-road motorcycles (i.e. dirt bikes), and found that soil displacement and tread disturbance from Class 1 eMTBs and traditional mountain bikes were not significantly different.

A Comparison of Environmental Impacts from Mountain Bicycles, Class 1 Electric Mountain Bicycles, and Motorcycles: Soil Displacement and Erosion on Bike-Optimized Trails in a Western Oregon Forest

Bicycle commuters report a higher quality of life and greater satisfaction with their health than public transportation users, walkers, and motor vehicle users.

Correcting bias in self-rated quality of life: an application of anchoring vignettes and ordinal regression models to better understand QoL differences across commuting modes

This report shares results from a survey asking 700+ bicyclists and bike advocates how they perceive electric bicycles, and provides background information on electric bicycle use and policy.

Electric Bicycles: Public Perceptions & Policy

Research finding that electric and conventional bicycle riders display comparable safety behavior and so should be regulated comparably. 

Risky riding: Naturalistic methods comparing safety behavior from conventional bicycle riders and electric bike riders

Walking and cycling have shown beneficial effects on population risk of all-cause mortality (ACM). This paper reviews the evidence and quantifies these effects, adjusted for other physical activity.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of reduction in all-cause mortality from walking and cycling and shape of dose response relationship

A 2012 study found that the greatest percentage of time spent commuting comes from less time spent sleeping.

Trade-Offs Between Commuting Time and Health-Related Activities

Participants in focus groups made up of Portland residents who identify as non-white detail reasons why they have not ridden a bicycle. 

Understanding Barriers to Bicycling Project (Final Report)

Participation in physical activity is positively related to academic performance in children.

Physical Activity and Performance at School: A Systematic Review of the Literature Including a Methodological Quality Assessment

A San Francisco Bay Area study found that increasing biking and walking from 4 to 24 minutes a day on average would reduce cardiovascular disease and diabetes by 14% and decrease GHGE by 14%.

Health Cobenefits and Transportation-Related Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the San Francisco Bay Area

Limited evidence exists on the metabolic and cardiovascular risks of commuting by vehicle, a habitual form of sedentary behavior. This study examines the association between commuting distance, physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and metabolic risk indicators.

Commuting distance, cardiorespiratory fitness, and metabolic risk.

Bicycling to school improves children's cardiorespiratory fitness.

Experiences from a randomised controlled trial on cycling to school: Does cycling increase cardiorespiratory fitness?

This study is the first to provide evidence, from a public health perspective, of the cost–benefit assessment of Ciclovía programs. This analysis found that the Ciclovía programs were cost beneficial for an annual transversal assessment.

Do health benefits outweigh the costs of mass recreational programs? An economic analysis of four Ciclovia programs

Female students who walk or bike to school perform better on tests.

Active Commuting to School and Cognitive Performance in Adolescents

A 2011 study of Barcelona's bike sharing program, Bicing, found that the health benefits of using the system outweigh the risks by a ratio of 77 to one.

The health risks and benefits of cycling in urban environments compared with car use: health impact assessment study

Car spoilers tilted high in the air can increase the exhaust reaching the head height of cyclists and pedestrians by as much as 57 percent compared to car spoilers tilted down.

Spoiling air pollution dispersion: A numerical investigation of exhaust plume dispersion from cars with rear spoilers

The benefits of increased physical activity from shifting from driving to bicycling (3 to 14 months gained) outweigh the effects of increased inhaled air pollution (0.8 to 40 days lost) and increased traffic accidents (5 to 9 days lost).

Do the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks?

Researchers reviewed data from all 50 U.S. states and 47 of the 50 largest U.S. cities and found that obesity and diabetes rates are lower in places with higher bicycling and walking rates.

Walking and cycling to health: a comparative analysis of city, state, and international data

Men who cycle to work are significantly less likely to be overweight and obese. 

Inverse associations between cycling to work, public transport, and overweight and obesity: Findings from a population-based study in Australia

A study of nearly 2,400 adults found that those who biked to work were fitter, leaner, less likely to be obese, and had better triglyceride levels, blood pressure, and insulin levels than those who didn't bike or walk to work.

Active Commuting and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: The CARDIA Study

Countries with the highest levels of cycling and walking generally have the lowest obesity rates.

Urban cyclists are exposed to less accumulated air pollution than bus commuters.

A proper choice of route significantly reduces air pollution exposure - a study on bicycle and bus trips in urban streets

Adolescents who participate in bicycling, in-line skating, or skateboarding more than four times a week are 48% less likely to be overweight as adults.

Adolescent Physical Activities as Predictors of Young Adult Weight

College students who use bicycles as transport accumulate more minutes of daily physical activity than students who use motorized means and are more likely to achieve public health recommendations of minimal physical activity (30 minutes/day).

Comparison of cyclists' and motorists' utilitarian physicalactivity at an urban university

A 30-minute round trip bicycle commute is associated with better mental health in men.

Effect of the Physical Activities in Leisure Time and Commutingto Work on Mental Health

Children who cycle to school have greater cardiorespiratory fitness that those who travel to school by car, bus, or walking.

Active Travel to School and Cardiovascular Fitness in Danish Children and Adolescents

Cyclists are exposed to less pollution than taxi or bus passengers.

Exposure visualisation of ultrafine particle counts in a transport microenvironment.

Fifth-grade students who regularly biked or walked to school accumulated an additional 24 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day.

Physical Activity and Active Commuting to Elementary School

Cycling and walking commuters have significantly lower levels of exposure to harmful pollutants like benzene compared with car commuters, and significantly lower levels of exposure to nitrogen dioxide pollution than bus commuters.

Comparison of air pollution exposure for five commuting modes in Sydney?car, train, bus, bicycle, and walking.

On the same urban route, car drivers were exposed to more airborne pollution than cyclists, despite the cyclists' higher respiration rates.

Differences in cyclists and car drivers exposure to air pollution from traffic in the city of Copenhagen.

It costs three to four times more to enroll a sedentary adult in a structured exercise program than to teach them how to integrate moderate-intensity physical activity into their life [e.g. bicycling for transportation].

Cost-effectiveness of lifestyle and structured exercise interventions in sedentary adults: Results of project ACTIVE

In a study of more than 30,000 people, those who bicycled to work were 40% less likely to die during follow-up, regardless of how much physical activity they got outside of commuting.

All-cause mortality associated with physical activity during leisure time, work, sports, and cycling to work

Lifestyle physical activity [like biking for transportation] is as effective as a structured exercise program in improving physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and blood pressure in previously sedentary healthy adults.

Comparison of lifestyle and structured interventions to increase physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness: a randomized trial

When car travel restrictions reduced morning traffic by 23% during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, ozone concentrations decreased 28% and acute care visits for asthma decreased 41%.

Impact of Changes in Transportation and Commuting Behaviors During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta on Air Quality and Childhood Asthma

Despite the fact that cyclists breathe two to three times more air than motorists, motorists breathe about 60% more carbon monoxide and significantly more pollutants than cyclists.

The exposure of cyclists, car drivers and pedestrians to traffic-related air pollutants

PeopleForBikes compiles the latest research to measure progress toward creating safe, fun, and connected places to bike and getting more people on bikes more often. Resources produced by or in partnership with PeopleForBikes are listed first, followed by all resources ordered in descending chronological order. If you have any questions, please reach out to research@peopleforbikes.org.

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