Government urged to deliver on shift to cycling

A report has found that over 100 million car and taxi trips made in city regions each year could instead be on e-bikes if the government is able to deliver its target for mode shift to cycling.

The Urban Transport Group has analysed how the use of e-bikes can be increased, the wide-ranging benefits they can bring and their potential to shift journeys which would otherwise be made by cars and taxis.

Sales of e-bikes have rocketed across Europe in the past 18 months, with many European countries seeing growth of between 30 and 40 per cent (compared to single-digit growth in car sales). In Germany, where e-bike sales have been growing for several years, one in nine households owned an e-bike at the beginning of 2020 and it is estimated that e-bikes could soon account for half of all bicycles sold in the country.

Sales in the UK have been low compared to Europe, with e-bikes accounting for just three per cent of bikes sold in 2019, compared with between around 10 and 30 per cent of sales in European countries.

Nonetheless, the report states that e-bikes have enormous potential to expand access to cycling, overcome barriers set by the UK’s often hilly terrain, shift mode use from the car, deliver substantial carbon savings, reduce congestion and revolutionise first and last mile freight deliveries.

Under the ‘Government Target Scenario’, which assumes cycle mode share doubles compared to 2017 levels, the report finds that e-bikes could replace 103 million car and taxi trips annually across the city regions (or 416 million fewer car and taxi kilometres). Additionally, e-bike usage could generate around £280 million annually in monetary benefits for the city regions.

Ben Still, Managing Director of West Yorkshire Combined Authority and lead Board member for active travel at the Urban Transport Group, said: “These scenarios paint a positive picture of what is possible for e-bikes. They tell us the portion of cycle trips that could be made by e-bikes if Government meets its target on shifting people to cycling, and the number of car and taxi trips which could be removed from our roads.

“E-bikes have unique appeal, enabling longer and more frequent cycle trips, and they can thrive in certain demographics, such as older people, or certain geographies, like hilly or congested towns and cities. E-bikes therefore need to be centre stage of government’s active travel policy if we are to get more people cycling in our city regions.”