These nine projects will reach and engage traditionally underserved populations through shared micromobility.

The Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) awarded $75,040 in grants to nine projects that will reach and engage traditionally underserved populations through shared micromobility. This is the seventh round of mini-grant funding the national bicycle advocacy organization PeopleForBikes will administer through its partner role with BBSP.

"Better Bike Share mini-grants allow us to support short-term, impactful projects that directly improve access to shared micromobility for lower-income and/or BIPOC communities," said Tangier Barnes-Wright, senior partnership and program manager at PeopleForBikes and BBSP. "We are inspired by the 2022 grantees and look forward to learning from their projects and sharing lessons broadly across the nation."

The following projects were selected by a grants panel to receive funding: 

Increasing Low-Income and Latinx Ridership on Portland’s BIKETOWN | $9,400
Community Cycling Center, Portland, OR

The Community Cycling Center will partner with Andando en Bicicletas y Caminando (ABC) to increase BIKETOWN bike share access through signups and education in low-income communities of color. Over the course of three sessions, 10 neighborhood leaders will be trained on the process of signing up for reduced-fare membership, positioning them as a trusted resource for other community members.

The Go Hub Community Mobility Rituals | $9,000
Equiticity, Chicago, IL

In partnership with Divvy, Superpedestrian and local community-based organizations, Equiticity will host a monthly bike ride and scooter roll. Each ride will have a different theme, socializing participants around the act of mobility and increasing a sense of safety, ownership and autonomy. Depending on the ride, Divvy bikes or Superpedestrian scooters will be provided and participants will learn about each system and its corresponding low-income membership program. 

Golden Rollers: Introduction to BCycle and Micromobility for Older Adults | $5,640
Ghisallo Cycling Initiative, San Antonio, TX

The Golden Rollers program will provide annual bike share memberships, training, guided rides and safety equipment at no cost to 24 seniors and older adults with the aim of increasing ridership. The program will be based out of a senior center adjacent to a BCycle bike share station. This mini-grant will allow interested participants to gain familiarity with the BCycle system and access their fleet of two-wheeled, electric-assist bicycles.

Art, Bikes and Books for All! | $9,500
Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, Nashville, TN

The Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, the Nashville Public Library and the Music City Dope Pedalers, a majority-BIPOC bike club, will partner to grow the existing Bikes and Books for All program, which makes checking out a BCycle bike as easy as borrowing a book. Funding will help the program expand to more library branches, create bike routes and host a community bike ride with art bikes designed by local artists. 

Blue Bikes Community Liaisons Program | $6,000
Blue Krewe, New Orleans, LA

Blue Bikes will recruit liaisons from the three neighborhoods within its system that rate highest according to the New Orleans’ Bike Equity Index, which helps identify underserved, priority areas. The liaisons will participate in monthly training and be compensated for leading one community outreach activity of their choosing each month from June to November. They will also represent Blue Bikes at neighborhood events, sharing information about the system and gathering feedback on how to improve bike share.

Wheels to Work | $7,000
Houston Bike Share, Houston, TX

Modeled on Indego bike share’s Wheels to Work program in Philadelphia, this mini-grant will support employment and increase health and mobility through bike share. Houston Bike Share will work directly with New Hope Housing’s Harrisburg location to combine services such as resume writing and soft skills classes alongside bike share system training and bike safety. Participants will receive a free BCycle membership and participate in group rides designed to be inclusive.

Building Mobility Justice in Pittsburgh | $9,000
Bike Share Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

This mini-grant will fund aspects of the POGOH bike share system’s equity initiatives, including cash payment administration, support for its $10/year low-income Mobility Justice Pass and its 2022 Community Day event execution. The Community Day will bring families and the neighborhood together around outdoor activities, food, music and a helmet giveaway, raising awareness about POGOH and the Mobility Justice Pass. 

Equity Memberships | $8,500
Tulsa Bike Share/This Machine, Tulsa, OK

This Machine will partner with local nonprofits, including the Tulsa Housing Authority and two prison alternative programs for female drug offenders, to provide a form of reliable transportation to access essential services. The pilot program will offer reduced-priced memberships to folks working with its partner organizations and anyone with a SNAP or SoonerCare card. The goal is to collect comprehensive data before applying for funding to make the equity membership program permanent.

West Dayton Community Outreach | $6,000
Bike Miami Valley, Dayton, OH

The Dayton Bike Share system is expanding by adding hubs in the city’s priority areas of West and Northwest Dayton. These geographies were historically redlined and are still today majority Black communities. This mini-grant will fund work on the front end of that expansion, gathering input from residents, providing marketing materials and helmets for the demo days and stipends for door-to-door outreach in the community.

Beautification of Downtown BCycle Station | $5,000
Des Moines Street Collective/Des Moines BCycle, Des Moines, IA

In partnership with ArtForce Iowa, the Des Moines Street Collective hopes to bring refugee, first-generation youth to bike share through the beautification of a downtown BCycle station. Marginalized youth will have a hand in the entire creative process, from the initial brainstorm to the final product. Every youth artist will participate in two group rides, receiving bike-riding lessons, an annual BCycle membership and a helmet and bike lock.

The Better Bike Share Partnership is funded by The JPB Foundation as a collaboration between the City of Philadelphia, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the PeopleForBikes Foundation to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. Learn more at BetterBikeShare.org.

Better Bike Share Partnership Awards $75,000 in Grants

BCycle is the first bike share company to participate in Call2Recycle’s landmark, industrywide battery recycling initiative.

When it comes to the electric bike craze, bike share is just as susceptible to the allure of pedal-assist riding. Systems from Charlotte, North Carolina (Joy Rides), to Portland, Oregon (Biketown), adopted all-electric fleets, while others — including Bublr Bikes in Milwaukee and the new Pogoh system in Pittsburgh — recently created hybrid systems with the introduction of electric-assist bikes. Chicago’s Divvy system, among the largest in the country, first added 3,500 e-bikes in 2020 and plans to have some 10,000 by the end of 2022. 

According to the 2020 NABSA State of the Industry report, 44% of cities with bike share systems have fleets that include e-bikes. That percentage is all but guaranteed to grow within the next few years.

If you’ve ever ridden an e-bike, it’ll come as no surprise that bike share systems that go electric consistently bring in more users. After all, electric bikes make bicycling more attractive to people of all abilities and allow folks to bike longer distances with less physical effort. In 2019, when the Madison BCycle fleet in Madison, Wisconsin, went electric, usage more than doubled, and in New York City, electric-assist Citi Bikes see more than twice as many rides per day than their traditional counterparts. Despite their popularity, however, electric bikes pose two issues for bike share systems: they must be charged and they require lithium-ion batteries, complicating the environmental benefits of bicycling.

To solve the charging issue, operators often have to collect e-bikes and take them elsewhere to recharge, although some systems — including Divvy, Pogoh and WeCycle in Aspen and Basalt, Colorado — have gotten more creative, developing solutions for charging bikes on-site at station docks. The issue of lithium-ion batteries is more problematic. While research shows that e-bikes are more likely to replace short car trips (resulting in significant CO2 savings), the social and environmental impact of the batteries remains notable.

Lithium-ion batteries, though smaller than those used to power electric vehicles, are still a necessary component of all e-bikes. Lithium is a metal and the process of mining and extracting it from ore is devastating for our natural ecosystems. There are only a handful of lithium deposits around the world, many of which are located in indigenous communities that bear the brunt of environmental destruction. The International Energy Agency estimates that the demand for lithium will increase almost 90% over the next two decades if countries meet their ambitious vehicle electrification goals, and continuing to mine is simply isn’t a sustainable solution. Recycling lithium-ion batteries is currently our best option. 

In November 2021, PeopleForBikes partnered with Call2Recycle to debut a first-of-its-kind, industrywide electric bicycle battery recycling program. For participating companies, the E-Bike Battery Recycling Program is a safe and reliable way to keep electric bicycle batteries out of landfills. Some 27 bike suppliers and manufacturers have already signed on to support and fully fund the initiative, which began enrolling retail sites in February. 

The voluntary program uses an extended producer responsibility (EPR) model, which essentially puts the onus of recycling batteries on the manufacturer. Once a company enrolls in the program, every battery it sells into the market is tracked on a monthly basis. That number is then assessed with a per battery fee (currently $15) and the bike battery manufacturer is presented with a bill, which once paid helps Call2Recycle fund the full life of its battery recycling operation, including the cost of materials, containers and shipping.

“The biggest cost out of everything by far is the shipping,” said Rob Latham, the e-bike program manager at Call2Recycle, explaining that there are only a couple of places in the U.S. that have the capability to recover 95% of the metals in e-bike batteries, which allows them to be put back into the supply chain as new products.

The program was designed to be customer-facing, so when an e-bike battery reaches its end of life or is damaged, riders are able to take it to a participating retail store, where staff is trained on how to properly handle and package hazardous material before it's safely shipped to one of Call2Recycle’s partner facilities (the company works with one facility on the west coast and one on the east). There are currently 1,127 U.S. retail locations currently participating in the program and more are expected to finish training and come on board in the coming months, including all of REI’s 174 locations nationwide.

Trek Bicycle Corporation, one of the founding members of the E-Bike Battery Recycling Program, owns BCycle, which operates eight bike share systems in the U.S. (and supplies e-bikes and equipment to another 28). By nature of that connection, BCycle is currently the sole shared micromobility participant currently enrolled in the program. Now, when an e-bike battery on any of BCycle’s 3,500 bikes is no longer operable, there’s a sustainable solution on hand.

“At the center of everything we do in bike share is sustainability,” said Tyler Britz, the bike share marketing manager at Trek. “Before and after our bikes are on the ground and being used, we want to make sure that we're creating sustainable habits throughout the entire life cycle of our products and our bikes.”

Since BCycle first launched e-bikes in Madison in 2019, the need to recycle the batteries has been front-of-mind. All lithium-ion batteries have a lifespan and depending on how often a bike is ridden, they’ll last anywhere from two to five years. From the outset, BCycle has communicated to its operators that they should hold on to end-of-life batteries while the company researches a sustainable solution. With the launch of the Call2Recycle program, BCycle operators can now sign up on the Call2Recycle website, take a short video training and request recycling kits for any batteries they have collected.

“The cost of the program is covered by the cost of the e-bikes BCycle supplies,” said Britz. “So it’s built right in, making things even easier.”

For bike share operators that are not affiliated with BCycle, there’s a regularly updated list of participating manufacturers on Call2Recycle’s website. If a bike share system’s equipment is manufactured by one of the participating companies, getting enrolled in the program is as easy as taking the training and sending old batteries in for recycling. For systems whose manufacturers aren’t yet participating in the program, there are still ways to get involved, including lobbying the original manufacturer to join. Latham says interested parties can reach out through the Call2Recycle website to inquire about options for bike share, including a possible pay-as-you-go model.

BCycle’s e-bikes make up just a small fraction of the total number of electric bike share bikes in the country. For some of the industry’s biggest players — the Lyfts and Limes of the world — who are not yet enrolled in the program, Latham sees an opportunity for them to join or to contract their recycling out to Call2Recycle.

“Given their footprint, they probably have a solution in place for their batteries,” said Latham, adding that it wouldn’t prevent Call2Recycle from being able to serve as a partner. “We look forward to welcoming additional rideshares to help broaden the industry-supported program.”

Environmental sustainability is a focus for all operators, who do everything from paying to offset all of their greenhouse gas emissions to using recycled rubber in docking stations to launching creative campaigns that encourage behavioral change. When it comes to keeping batteries out of landfills, though, things can get complicated and expensive. The benefit of an industrywide program is that at scale, everything is made more affordable and the logistics are easier to manage.

“The barriers to entry are low for taking advantage of this program,” said Britz. “We hope that BCycle’s involvement as currently the only micromobility operator sets a standard for other micromobility operators to take advantage.”

An Electric Bicycle Battery Recycling Program Takes Off

Applications are currently open for four separate bicycle mechanic educational opportunities, all geared towards increasing gender and racial diversity in the bike industry.

It’s no secret that the outdoor industry and bicycling, in particular, have a diversity problem. It’s a complex, ongoing issue with no simple solution, but multiple companies are stepping up with tangible efforts to facilitate change. Among them is Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the bike industry’s largest distributor of bicycle parts and accessories. 

A certified B Corp, the Minnesota-based company sees itself as the thread that weaves together the industry at large. As part of its commitment to making bicycling more accessible and inclusive, the company offers a variety of industry scholarships for folks from disinvested communities to sharpen their skills through education and build careers in bicycling. Applications are currently open for four separate bicycle mechanic scholarships — the deadline to apply is April 8, 2022.

Almost a decade ago, QBP launched its first bike mechanic scholarships for women in partnership with the United Bicycle Institute. In 2019, QBP formalized its U of Q education department with the hiring of Aaron Stehly, who was tasked with looking at what the organization was doing well and where it could do better. He saw an opportunity to expand the scholarship programs to include gender diversity of all types, as well as reach BIPOC by creating a new racial diversity cohort. This year marks the first time QBP is offering the latter.

“It is our goal to help our industry partners recruit from a really highly qualified group of individuals and to directly diversify the employment pool,” said Stehly, QBP’s director of education. “We seek to introduce career and networking opportunities to each student — there are lots of great careers in this industry that many might not be aware of.”

In line with that goal, QBP is investing in developing programs and opportunities that focus on building community between industry employers and scholarship recipients post-graduation. “It goes beyond just the training,” said Stehly. “We're looking bigger and wanting to put our actions and values where our words are through measurable engagement with these students after graduation.”

Donations from the Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce have also allowed for two new DEI Bike Mechanic Scholarship cohorts, open to any individuals that call Northwest Arkansas (NWA) home. Although any current resident that identifies as a woman, LGBTQ or BIPOC is encouraged to apply, the application specifically calls out Hispanic and Marshallese folks, who make up large ethnic minorities in the region. The NWA cohorts are divided into “Advanced,” for those currently employed in the bike industry with some mechanic experience, and “Beginner,” for those without industry employment and formal bike mechanic experience.

The following four QBP Bike Industry Scholarship Programs are currently accepting applications:

Professional Bike Mechanic Scholarship — Racial Diversity Cohort

Sixteen scholarships will be awarded to BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) individuals who are currently employed at a bicycle retailer, nonprofit shop or who have graduated from a community bicycle internship program and want to advance their careers with in-depth, hands-on bike mechanic training.

This U of Q Institute Professional Bike Service course will take place in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from July 18-29, 2022. Learn more and apply.

Professional Bike Mechanic Scholarship — Gender Diversity Cohort

Sixteen scholarships are available for women, transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, two-spirit and agender individuals who are currently employed at a bicycle retailer or nonprofit shop and want to advance their careers with in-depth, hands-on bike mechanic training.

This United Bicycle Institute (UBI) Professional Repair and Shop Operation course will take place in Ashland, Oregon, from August 15-26, 2022. Learn more and apply.

Arkansas DEI Bike Mechanic Scholarship — Beginner

Eight residents of Northwest Arkansas who identify as women, LGBTQ or are BIPOC, Hispanic or Marshallese will be awarded this scholarship, which requires no prior bike industry experience and is designed for those looking for entry-level training. 

This U of Q Institute Bicycle Assembly and Maintenance course will take place in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from August 15-19, 2022. Learn more and apply.

Arkansas DEI Bike Mechanic Scholarship — Advanced

Eight residents of Northwest Arkansas who identify as women, LGBTQ or are BIPOC, Hispanic or Marshallese will be awarded this scholarship, which is designed for those who want to advance their career as a bike mechanic by learning how to confidently execute complex repairs and maintenance.

This U of Q Institute Professional Bicycle Service course will take place in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from August 15-26, 2022. Learn more and apply.

Every scholarship includes the full cost of tuition and lodging during the respective course dates. Travel and the logistics of getting to the school are the responsibility of each student, although a small travel stipend will be given to help with food and other living expenses. Bike share employees or aspiring bike share employees also qualify for these scholarships. For those interested in applying, Stehly encourages taking the time to showcase a dedication to one's community and the ways they’re helping to amplify bicycling in disinvested communities. While not required, references are encouraged.

“These scholarships are an effort to reach beyond our four walls and grow the bike industry,” said Stehly. “If you’re interested and think that you qualify, then apply by April 8.”

QBP Scholarships Aim to Diversify the Bike Industry

After breaking a leg skiing, this rider’s e-bike has been instrumental in aiding both her physical therapy and mental well-being. 

There’s a growing body of research on the myriad of health benefits that electric bicycles offer, from improved cardio to helping people keep riding as they age. They can even quicken the recovery time of some injuries, my latest included. 

In early January, I suffered a broken tibia and fibula in my right leg from a nasty fall while skiing. Two months after breaking my leg and undergoing surgery, I’m more comfortable riding my e-bike than walking to get around. 

As I heal, I’m using my e-bike as part of my physical therapy. Biking is a low-impact activity and the small electric boost makes the work of going uphill easier for anyone, especially if you have a Class 2 electric bike with a throttle. My leg muscles, atrophied while I relied on crutches and sat on the couch for six weeks, are slowly charging back up with every ride. I could not be more grateful I brought my e-bike home in 2021.

It’s been less than a month since I’ve put weight on my right leg, and I can already ride my e-bike to physical therapy appointments, for small errands, to see friends and get out to enjoy the spring sunshine. Walking is also getting easier because I’ve been biking, loosening stiff joints and building up muscle.

I’ve lived in Washington, D.C., for nearly eight years, all without a car. I’ve always relied on my bike, shared micromobility, walking and transit to navigate the city. Getting back to that level of independent mobility is priceless. I also recognize I’m incredibly lucky to both own an e-bike and have access to connected and protected bike infrastructure right outside my door, since my safety feels more important than ever knowing that a fall or a crash could further damage my leg and set my recovery back — if not worse. 

Most physical therapy appointments start with a warm up to get your muscles and body moving. Limping in, I’m asked to spend a few minutes on a stationary bicycle before pointing to my helmet to show I’ve already biked there. Therapists are often shocked until I explain I rode an e-bike, and after a few questions about it, we get right to work poking, stretching and strengthening my leg. 

I’m no stranger to PT: I’m a high-energy, low-skill athlete with a dramatic falling habit. I tried playing soccer in an adult recreation league in the fall of 2017 but tore my left ACL in the first game. I was back on Capital Bikeshare within weeks, opting for a slow roll to most destinations instead of walking since it was less strenuous and more efficient. 

In the summer of 2018, I hopped on a mountain bike for the first time and flipped over the handlebars, shattering my left collarbone (only seconds after watching my friend flip and break hers too). Though it took awhile to get back on a bike, I again relied on the comfort and ease of an upright bikeshare bike before hunching over the drop bars of my well-loved 1974 Schwinn Sprint. 

In the aftermath of these injuries, biking did more than provide me with a low-impact physical activity, though that was major for my body’s overall rehabilitation. It completely transformed my mood and my mental well-being, giving me agency over how and when I could move through my city and our natural world. With an e-bike, I’m back in the saddle sooner than previous injuries, cranking the motor up to turbo mode so I can gently work my leg back into action.

My last big bike ride before this most recent injury was my first century ride, 102 miles at El Tour De Tucson, in November. I was regularly biking 15-30 miles several mornings a week and spending weekends on the abundance of bike paths, scenic rides and gravel roads around D.C., Maryland and Virginia. I kept a clear divide between my e-bike and my road bike, even leveraging the difference to help convince skeptics. My e-bike is for utility only, like getting groceries, taking meetings across town or commuting to my grad program. My acoustic bike is for fun and exercise. 

In my recovery though, my e-bike is everything. It’s going to be a while longer before I’m back to my spandex-clad morning workout rides, but I’ll get there sooner thanks to my e-bike. 

I’m now meeting up with friends I didn’t regularly ride with on their commuters and hybrids, spending more time in conversation on our bikes, enjoying good weather and each others’ company. Check out my first joyride since breaking my leg! I plan to keep blurring this line even when my leg is in better shape. 

I considered myself an e-bike evangelist before I broke my leg, advocating for the E-BIKE Act and electric bicycle incentives with PeopleForBikes and in my personal life, talking about them to anyone and everyone who would listen. Now, I can’t imagine where my body and mind would be without my e-bike. 

Pandemic-era changes to the built environment dramatically shifted the urban bike landscape. But if equity had been centered, would the numbers be higher?

In 2021, Santander Cycles, Transport for London’s bike share system, reported its busiest year to date. According to a recent press release, there were more than 10,900,000 bike hires last year and more than 1 million individual customers, 178,000 of which were new (a 7% increase over 2020 and more than double that of any year prior to 2020). By all accounts, it was a banner year for London bike share, echoing the larger increase in bicycling across the U.K. capital.

During the pandemic, the number of Londoners who bike jumped from 21% in 2019/20 to 27% in 2020/21. Participation also grew, particularly among minority communities and women. Additionally, Transport for London research shows that one in five people who don’t bike are open to starting, which could increase participation rates to more than 40%. In particular, more than half of Black and Asian non-bicyclists (49% and 46% respectively) reported that they were considering starting to bike.

London’s increase in bicycling can be directly attributed to its response to COVID-19, namely the ways in which the city prioritized new, equitable investments in infrastructure. In spring of 2020, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, released “Streetspace for London,” a detailed plan outlining projects and other initiatives to create more space for people to safely walk, bike, scoot and wheel their way around the city, helping to mitigate the effects of lockdown. The main projects were pretty simple: Build out a network of temporary bike lanes and routes, widen sidewalks and create 70 new Low-Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs) by restricting vehicle traffic on low-speed side streets.

These changes transformed the city, which has a population of almost 9 million. Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, shared that the city saw a 200% increase in bicycling compared to pre-pandemic numbers, touting the 100 kilometers (62 miles) of new bike lanes and LTNs as major reasons for the increased ridership. While both the new lane miles and the LTNs have proved popular, there were questions about the equitable distributions of the LTNs (in most cases, critiques centered around the lack of public outreach and not the creation of the LTN itself). 

A study published in October 2021 found that “LTN implementation has been broadly equitable at the city and micro levels, but the picture is more mixed at the district level, despite districts being encouraged to consider deprivation when planning LTN locations.” What the researchers concluded feels obvious, but is far from a given when it comes to city planning: Continuing to monitor the distribution of infrastructure changes among different demographics will only help planners to improve equity.

A different study credited COVID-era pop-up bike lanes with an 11-48% increase in bicycling trips in cities across Europe. While safe networks of bike infrastructure are crucial to increasing mode shift — especially for women and other underrepresented groups — evaluating their impact is often difficult due to the glacial pace at which most cities tend to operate. The quick roll-out of pop-up bike lanes in European cities presented a unique empirical opportunity to estimate the effect of new bicycling infrastructure. It only makes sense then that an increase in bike lanes, especially protected bike lanes, would also benefit bike share.

Of course, all of these changes mean little if they’re: a) not sustained, and b) confined to certain parts of a city, and thus, certain demographics. In London, efforts were made after the fact to incorporate public outreach into plans and see what can be done to increase accessibility to bicycling. While acting quickly and prioritizing people over cars played a crucial role in getting more folks to bike, more community engagement at the frontend likely would have ensured even larger increases — as well as more persistent and sustained use, which in turn can generate enormous public health benefits that outweigh initial investment costs. 

Transport for London acknowledged the importance of ensuring that people from all backgrounds feel comfortable biking, noting that such inclusion is key to creating healthier, more sustainable communities. Still, while National Health Service (NHS) staff are able to use Santander Cycles free of charge and students receive a 25% discount, no reduced pricing scheme currently exists for low-income residents. Bikes can be rented for £2 a day (about $2.70) or £90 a year ($120) for an unlimited number of 30-minute journeys. 

It’s one thing to acknowledge the importance of engaging diverse riders and another to reduce barriers in order to achieve it. Santander Cycles is currently undergoing an expansion in Southwark Council, with eight new docking stations being instituted over the next year, and is working to introduce around 500 electric bikes into its system by summer. The latter is a good step to reducing some of the barriers that prevent people from riding (namely fitness, age and trip distance) but the e-bikes will likely cost more, an insurmountable barrier for many.

What remains impressive about London is the number of pop-up bike lanes it instituted and the dramatic effect it had on bike share and bicycling in general. Writing about the pop-up bike lane study in Streetsblog, Kea Wilson notes how researchers couldn’t replicate the study in the U.S. because the scale of COVID infrastructure interventions was so much lower and our cities are more auto-centric. She adds, however, that the U.S. is in the unique position to continue to invest in quick build infrastructure while centering equity. We can learn a lot from what the U.K. did and didn’t do.

Adding quick-build infrastructure to underserved neighborhoods might get more low-income and BIPOC individuals to consider biking, but as long as our cities maintain unjust traffic enforcement and bike laws, residents can’t afford bike share or bike maintenance costs and riders aren’t served by network routes, the number of bicyclists will fall short of its full potential. To create mobility systems that serve everyone — and address climate change, air quality and other societal ills — we need to invest in equitable bicycling infrastructure and better bike share systems, ensuring that comprehensive community engagement is centered every step of the way.

Looking for more bike lessons from Europe? These seven cities are role models when it comes to great bicycling and offer tangible learnings for the U.S.

From Colorado to Canberra, e-bike libraries are on the rise and helping break down traditional barriers to riding.

Before I ever rode an electric bicycle, I judged them harshly. As a longtime bicycle commuter, I classified e-bikes as something that wasn’t for me. If there’s a battery involved, does it even qualify as biking? That all changed the moment I rode one for the first time. 

My introduction to electric bicycles was through Boulder, Colorado’s Bcycle bike share, and I was instantly hooked. Although it still required me to pedal, suddenly hills were easier, I could easily offload my heavy laptop bag and I wasn’t breaking a sweat. A month later, I bought a $1,500 e-bike of my own. There’s no bike share station near my home in South Boulder nor at my office in East Boulder, and my new vehicle makes the 12-mile round trip easy, even with 40 pounds of groceries. The e-bike has completely replaced my in-town car use, lowering my carbon footprint and boosting my cardio. 

My experience underlies how e-bikes are transformative, for individuals and the environment, but also a marker of privilege. I had $1,500 in savings that I could spend on something I didn’t need. And, if I wanted to spread out the payments, I have easy access to good credit. For many low-income individuals — those who are less likely to own a car or live close to their places of employment and other essential services — such an extravagant purchase would be out of the question yet all the more vital.

Equitable bike share is one solution and the reason the Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) exists. We help promote expansion into historically marginalized neighborhoods through community engagement and we’re advocates of low-income pass options. Despite seven years of effort, however, many bike share systems continue to be built for a certain type of nine-to-five, white-collar commuter, concentrated in downtown city centers and not well integrated with transit. Even for those who do have access to bike share, it may not include electric bikes, which better allow people of all ages and abilities to travel farther distances with heavier loads.

In this context, the growth of e-bike libraries makes sense. Some, such as those run by the Vermont-based nonprofit Local Motion, are indiscriminate in who they cater to. Local Motion lends e-bikes out of its Burlington headquarters and on a roving basis across six other communities in the state, exposing more people to the technology and encouraging personal adoption. Borrowers are able to take home cargo e-bikes and other commuter options for a week at a time to see how it suits their daily needs. Similarly, the Canberra Electric Bike Library in Canberra, Australia — run by the nonprofit SEE-Change and supported by the government — allows residents to try a variety of e-bikes for up to two weeks free of charge. 

Many other e-bike schemes specifically cater to low-income populations or essential workers. Two 2021 BBSP grantees, People For Mobility Justice and Reddy Bikeshare, set up e-bike libraries of their own. The former is a long-term project based in California’s San Fernando Valley that will make 100 pedal-assist e-bikes available to low-income individuals that don’t have easy access to other vehicles. The latter is based in Upstate New York and repurposed donated Uber JUMP bikes into two libraries run by the nonprofits Create a Healthier Niagara Collaborative and the East Side Bike Club. Each library offers around 50 e-bikes free of charge to locals, who only need to sign up online and complete a 20-30 minute orientation. The hope is that by partnering with community organizations and individuals in areas where unemployment rates are high, income levels are low and health outcomes are bleak, the free e-bikes might be a force for good.

A completely different model is being piloted by Colorado agencies at the city and state levels. Launched in fall 2020, the Can Do Colorado eBike Pilot Program used funds from the Colorado Energy Office to supply 13 essential workers in Denver with e-bikes. The success of the program inspired other cities throughout Colorado to do the same, including Pueblo, Durango, Fort Collins and Boulder. As the Mile High City looked to iterate on the pilot, e-bike libraries made a lot of sense.

“We wanted to focus on under-resourced communities that don’t have great mobility options,” said Mike Salisbury, transportation energy lead at Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience. “We want to give people more options to get to the places they need to go in their lives, whether that's work or the store or a doctor's appointment.”

Denver currently has three e-bike libraries throughout the city in the Sun Valley, Globeville and Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods — all historically underserved communities. The libraries, each of which is operated by trusted community-based organizations, are among the first initiatives to be funded by the city’s Climate Protection Fund. The locations include Prodigy Coffeehouse, which does workforce development training, Focus Points, a family resource center and various affordable Denver Housing Authority developments. All of the e-bikes — about 70 total — were sourced from FattE-Bikes, a locally owned and operated e-bike shop.

Although it’s too early to draw any conclusions, Salisbury notes that residents have been consistently checking out the bikes and using them. “People are doing exactly what we were hoping they would do, which is using them to get to a job or appointments,” he said.

Denver’s motivation for the libraries is influenced by both its aggressive climate goals, as well as a focus on equity. While electric vehicles are being positioned as an environmental solution by the Biden Administration, the fact remains that in order to practice transportation justice — whereby more people have more mobility options and certain demographics don’t bear the brunt of car culture’s negative effects — we simply need fewer vehicles on our roads overall. 

“E-bikes can fill that gap between what someone can do on a regular bike and what they can do in a car,” said Salisbury. “There are also so many benefits, especially when it comes to public health — any kind of active transportation is a huge plus but e-bikes also reduce emissions, which helps improve air quality.”

However, one of the main barriers to the widespread adoption of bicycling is a lack of safe infrastructure; many people fear for their safety while riding, especially in under-resourced neighborhoods that tend to have fewer protected bike lanes and disproportionate levels of enforcement. Denver committed to building a 125-mile network by 2024, as well as substantially upping its investment in protected bike lanes.

“We need more of that,” said Salisbury, adding that cities need to ensure people feel comfortable riding and offer more ways to do so. “We need to do both at the same time — provide the infrastructure and different ways to use that infrastructure.”

For other municipalities looking to launch e-bike libraries of their own, costs will range substantially depending on the types of e-bikes stocked as well as other logistical factors, including where the bikes will be stored (Denver is using old shipping containers) and who will run the day-to-day operations. Denver is leading the way when it comes to offering free e-bikes to under-resourced communities but Salisbury hopes others will soon follow suit, especially as more funding opens up for climate resiliency projects.

In Oakland, California, a $1 million e-bike library is in the works using funding from CALSTART. The project, which aims to bring 500 e-bikes to low-income Oaklanders, is just one component of the Oakland Department of Transportation’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Action Plan. Crucially, the initiative will contract with local bike shops and employ a comprehensive community engagement strategy. 

While bike libraries aren’t exactly novel, the focus on free e-bikes is. And although none of the e-bike library models are perfect — for example, more could be done to include folks with disabilities — they’re an important first step. Ultimately, our ability to move forward as a species will depend largely on how we facilitate movement in people’s day-to-day lives.

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