(E)BIKE IS BEST
Working behind the scenes to lobby for better cycling conditions for all, the bike industry-backed Bike Is Best campaign has learned a lot about electric bike users – both existing and potential. Here founder of the campaign Adam Tranter shares his insigh
Why don’t more people cycle? That has been a question dwelled upon arguably for too long by many decision makers. With little else to go on when building towns, planners have often defaulted to a template that has traditionally promoted the car over all else; sometimes it’s a decision that’s founded in myth, such as the common fallacy that motorists are more valuable customers to high street retailers.
Divided by a thick layer of parking and road in between, the social fabric of communities has been sliced down the middle. Such conditions outside of our front doors don’t make leaving our homes appealing and safety concerns have long reigned supreme when people are asked why they don’t take short journeys either walking or cycling.
As of July 2020 the UK has had, for the first time, cycling infrastructure design standards to call on, with local authorities encouraged through the pandemic to adopt the new template in order to connect neighbourhoods to towns safely. Their release coincided nicely with the bike boom and a pandemic that demonstrated what quieter streets could stimulate quite naturally. Add surging e- bike sales to that mix and we’ve learned a lot in a short space of time.
Coventry’s first ‘Bicycle Mayor’ Adam Tranter runs bicycle industry lobby effort Bike Is Best and he tells us that once people try an electric bike they can often quickly apply the experience to their lives in new ways.
“More than anything, electric bikes are fun and that’s a massive thing on our side in getting more people cycling. They also help people consider longer journeys by bike that they may have previously discounted. Anecdotally, we see that some people are more open to riding an e-bike than a conventional pedal cycle. We should be doing all we can to get more people to see that cycling could be for them, so this interest is promising. But it needs to be followed up with easy opportunities to try.”
The Bike Is Best campaign has brought more than impactful billboard advertising and anecdote to the table, however. Keen to understand just how deep an impact the electric bike has and will continue to make on active travel, the campaign has footed the bill for some groundbreaking research.
Of the key findings, Tranter says the research “has consistently shown a big demand for electric bikes if we create the right infrastructure and purchasing environment. Our most recent consumer research in July 2021 showed that e-bikes are becoming more well-known and understood; 59% of new cyclists have a ‘much better’ or ’better’ view of e-bikes this year and 75% of them would cycle more with an e-bike. But 62% of respondents have still never ridden an e-bike.”
That goes to show the potential to grow cycling’s modal share in the near term and with a warming of sentiment in the corridors of power, the next step is to bring about policy that converts those who have tried an electric bike into people that use them for utility and leisure alike.
Bike Is Best found that amongst new cyclists, 60% said they would be ‘ very likely’ or ‘likely’ to make an e- bike purchase with a government subsidy, akin to what is offered for electric cars to take the sting out of the pricetag.
Specialising in mainstream advertising – something that’s a relatively new
“It’s clear that price is a key consideration for electric bikes. Put simply, we need to make it much easier for people to get their hands on one”
phenomenon for the cash- strapped bike world – the bicycle industry has taken the ‘all ships rise together’ approach with its backing of the Bike Is Best campaign. By pooling cash into a common pot, Tranter’s team was able to be reactive during the recent panic fuel- buying spree, pitching well- placed adverts on key motoring arteries subtly asking the public at large to what degree short journeys needed to be driven and whether the fuel should be reserved for those who really need it.
“Our marketing looks to broaden cycling’s appeal through better representation and trying to get people to think about their current transport habits, especially around short journeys. Our latest campaign, ‘When more people cycle, everyone wins’, is live across digital and billboard advertising, showing the transformative effects on our communities when more people take to cycling,” says Tranter, himself a regular electric bike user.
There remains a chicken and egg scenario when it comes to infrastructure, but where bravery and persistence has been shown certain cities around the globe have demonstrated in the wake of the coronavirus just how close we are to real change. Tranter points over the water to Paris where mayor Anne Hidalgo is in part credited with boosting active travel in the French capital.
“It’s clear that price is a key consideration for electric bikes. Put simply, we need to make it much easier for people to get their hands on one. In Paris, you see a lot of blue Véligos – governmentowned e- bikes. It’s a scheme run by Îlede- France Mobilités where you are able to rent an e- bike for six months at €20 to €40 per month, including maintenance.
“Once the six months is up, you can buy your own with a grant of €500 or €1,200 for adapted cycles. This has clearly played a big part in Paris’s cycling revolution; accompanied with new pop-up cycling infrastructure, it’s the perfect combination to get many more people cycling.”
To lend your support to the #Bikeisbest campaign, see bikeisbest. com, or @bikeisbesthq on Twitter.