Sandpit: Smart e-bikes - understanding how commuters and communities engage with electrically-assisted cycling

This project will focus on electrically-assisted bicycles - also known as pedelecs and e-bikes - that have a small electric motor powered by a rechargeable battery to help propel machine and rider. The amount of assistance reduces with increasing speed and cuts out altogether once the rider reaches 25kmph, or if pedalling ceases.
The aim of this project is to understand how people engage with (smart) e-cycling and the issues for policy, design/product development and research that could lead to a higher uptake of e-bikes in the UK, and thereby potentially reduce carbon emissions. The project is positioned at the intersection of more traditional cycling research, mobile media studies and user-centred design, and aims to understand electric cycling as a unique mode of transport, with distinctive potential and challenges in the UK context.
In the UK, research on e-bikes is in its early stages, with pilots in this area currently commencing at a small number of locations, highlighting the timeliness of this research. In line with increased market shares of electric bikes in some European countries (e.g. Germany, Netherlands and Austria) and Asia, there have also been a small number of relevant international research projects, which can inform our approach to the UK context.
The project will involve a fleet of about 35 'data e-bikes', with 6 of these additionally kitted out as 'smart e-bikes'. Mobile technology such as a GPS/GPRS tracking units will be attached to the bikes in order to monitor their use. The 'smart e-bikes' will be further augmented with video cameras, mobile phones and other sensors to collect more qualitative and ethnographic data. These bikes will be distributed to trial participants through communities in Brighton, in partnership with Brighton and Hove Council. During the trial, we aim to work with 2 workplaces (focusing on the issues faced by commuters) and 4 community groups (focussing on issues relating to the aging population). Our methodology will bring together traditional transport monitoring (e.g. surveys and focus groups), qualitative and ethnographic methods from media studies (such as interviews and participant observation) and design methods (such as user-centred and inclusive design).
We conceptualise e-bikes as a mode of transport in their own right: as different to cycling, scooters, electric cars - yet with insights from research in all these areas. This research project will engage with the challenging context of embodied mobility, where the participant's interaction with the e-bike and the urban context has to be integrated with mobile media in safe and productive ways. There will also be insights from understanding the fleet of e-bikes as an Internet of Things - and the possibilities emerging from linking mobile technologies with a mode of transport. It will also be useful to directly develop recommendations on a range of issues (ergonomics, safety, cycle storage, on-road facilities, theft prevention, employer policies, networking) whilst working with a manufacturer, a local authority and several employers who may be interested in implementing any conclusions.
The research is of importance because of its potential to contribute to meeting carbon reduction and public health objectives; it offers the chance to explore the game-changing potential of an innovative transport option; and because it brings together conventional monitoring and new ways of exploring travel behaviour.

This project will involve engagement with a wide range of actors, and provide the opportunity for impact through a range of mechanisms. In particular, these include:
- Trial participants - who will be directly involved in considering and using e-bikes
- Project partners - notably, we have already had positive discussions about collaboration with Brighton & Hove Council, the bike manufacturer Raleigh, the local community group Bike for Life, a local bike retailer - and through Brighton and Hove Council, we also hope to work positively with businesses who are part of their Business Travel Network, and with Age UK.
- Advisory panel - we aim to assemble a small advisory panel of key people in order to learn from their expertise, and to ensure rapid dissemination of key findings into key communities (for example, the national cycling policy debate).
- Wider board - we will aim to make positive contacts with all those involved in other relevant trials (particularly in the UK), and use the project website as an appropriate interface mechanism
- More general dissemination - we will develop a website, together with a number of publications and presentations, and the phasing of the work this should enable early dissemination of results from the review activities as well as the later dissemination of results from the trial.
Impacts for public policy
By linking current understanding and developments in both new technologies and active travel options, we aim to gain insights that will be persuasive in the public policy debate and in influencing key stakeholders. Findings will be linked both to the e-bikes, and the factors that encourage e-bike use, which may include design modifications and product development, marketing messages, the nature of bike facilities in public space, and the ways in which organisations (such as local authorities and workplaces) can incentivise and safely encourage use. We hope that the results will be of particular relevance to public policy debates on: encouraging a shift to less polluting forms of transport; encouraging physical activity amongst those who are currently relatively inactive in order to achieve health gains; enabling older people to retain mobility and independence for longer; understanding the wider social context and personal issues that determine travel choices. The project will draw on experience from the UK and abroad, with particular insights from Europe and Asia. The international context may be particularly important, given the interest in technology transfer between countries to combat climate change - and the potential for positive interactions with Asia could be of particular value.
Impacts for the private sector
We envisage that there are 3 areas where industry could benefit from the results of the research - and the direct nature of the trial may provide the opportunity to have a very immediate impact. These are as follows:
Cycling products: We envisage working with one e-bike manufacturer, but liaising with others about the nature of available products, & possible developments. We envisage that the trial should lead to specific recommendations about how products could be developed to be more appealing in function and use. The trial may also lead to potential insights about pricing marketing & new approaches to ownership that the industry may find valuable.
Mobile technologies: mobile technologies are a particularly fast growing industry sector. This project may indicate new opportunities for the industry to provide products to those who are cycling, & to maximise the appeal of their existing offerings to those who are travelling actively.
Employers: there is already a considerable body of evidence about the benefits to employers of encouraging employees to walk or cycle to work as a result of reduced sick leave. This project may indicate new ways in which employers can help to make those choices attractive, with direct benefits for their own productivity.