E-Bikes Contributing to Bike Share Growth

The rise of e-bikes is driving the growth of U.S. bike share systems, according to an article by Daniel C. Vock in Route Fifty.

E-bikes make cycling more accessible and help riders reach more destinations.“Other modes of transportation—including for scooter shares and traditional bikes—saw declines during the early days of the pandemic, but there has been a ‘steady increase’ in the use of e-bikes ever since they have been rolled out, said Samantha Herr, the executive director of the North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association.”

Last month, Chicago’s Divvy bike share system announced it will start adding charging docks to some of its stations to eliminate the need to swap batteries or bring bikes back to a central location for charging. In Indianapolis, the Pacers Bikeshare network celebrated its tenth anniversary this year by adding e-bikes to its fleet. Milwaukee’s Bublr Bikes system hit an all-time ridership record in 2023, with the growth partly attributed to e-bikes.