Image Source: Joe Mabel (Wikimedia Commons)
As we move towards the eventual goal of net-zero emissions, one of the areas that has come into the spotlight is transport. Transport accounts for about one quarter of greenhouse emissions in the EU, and most of this is from road traffic, which also causes air pollution in urban areas, making cities unattractive and harming public health. Transport has been particularly focused on as there are feasible solutions to significantly reduce emissions in this area, and in this blog post I will explore these, from traditional solutions to cutting-edge technologies, and explain why I believe that electric bikes should be recognised as one of the best modes of sustainable transport in cities.
While underground rail systems are the gold standard of urban mobility - their speed, efficiency and low emissions are unmatched by any other mode, these are extremely expensive and only viable on high-demand routes, like in city centres. London’s Elizabeth Line, which serves business centres and tourist hotspots with an underground central tunnel, and connects to the city’s main airport and surrounding towns and cities using an existing overground rail line, cost $25B to construct, which would be unaffordable for all but the largest and wealthiest cities. To find solutions for smaller and less dense cities, like Seattle, in the US’s Northwest, we need to look elsewhere.
For cities like Seattle, cars were touted as the solution to transportation woes throughout the 20th century. The idealistic vision of the freedom of the road led urban planners to construct urban highways, which tore through neighbourhoods throughout the US and, in Seattle’s case, created an ugly blight on the once-prosperous waterfront. Highways and parking lots hollowed out downtowns, which created a vicious cycle of car dependency, as more people driving and urban areas becoming less dense made public transit less and less viable.
Although EVs solve some issues associated with cars, like the tailpipe emissions and localised air pollution, large vehicles that usually only carry one person on their commute are inefficient, and creating extra electricity demand will only make it harder for the electric grid to transition to exclusively renewable energy sources. According to experts from Oxford University, the proliferation of large electric vehicles risks undermining the environmental and economic benefits of the green transport transition. Large EVs, which are growing in popularity, are inefficient, use scarce resources like rare earth metals used in batteries, and require even more space on roads than most cars, so these are clearly not a good way to make transport sustainable, and are at best a stop-gap measure.
A solution that has proven effective in Seattle is rental e-bikes, which are owned by companies, usually tech startups, like Lime, and are parked on sidewalks and available to rent, by the minute, on a mobile app. Seattleites took 3.1 million rides on Lime vehicles in 2023, and the speed and accessibility of an e-bike makes it an appealing option to cycle to make short-to-medium-length journeys, like to the nearest commuter rail station or shopping centre. These also cost local governments nothing, which stands in stark contrast to the costs of constructing and operating a rail or bus network. Although they aren’t universally popular, as they often obstruct pavements, these growing pains can be resolved easily by dedicated parking spots.
As a technology, e-bikes are also remarkably efficient: they can go almost 70 times further per unit of CO2 emissions than a petrol car and, according to some sources, are even more efficient than a pedal-bike, when accounting for the calories burned by the rider (this video explains more on this). But, you may rightly ask, what about the batteries? Although e-bikes still do use rare-earth metals in their batteries, the amount used is ‘vanishingly small compared to electric cars’, so is clearly a worthwhile use considering the amount of emissions prevented by an e-bike. E-bikes are also quite affordable compared to cars, with quality models available for less than £750 (about $1000), and provide a great way to exercise while travelling.
So, e-bikes are a sustainable and affordable method of transportation, for both users and local governments. To improve their adoption, you could petition your local government to welcome e-bike rental companies into your city or town, or encourage them to create secure bike parking facilities. Also, to reduce your carbon footprint, try swapping some car journeys for a ride on a rental e-bike, if they are available in your area.
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