E-bikes in rural areas:current and potential users in the Netherlands
This study considers how socio-demographic characteristics, mobility situation and attitudes explain current and potential e-bike use in rural areas. Due to longer distances between travel destinations, rural areas in most western societies are characterized by a high car dependence and low use of active modes like walking and cycling. Developing e-bike mobility in these areas can support more healthy and sustainable rural mobility. A large-scale mobility survey conducted among rural residents in the northern parts of the Netherlands provides insight in the determinants of current and potentia... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2023 |
Reihe/Periodikum: | Plazier , P , Weitkamp , G & Berg, van den , A E 2023 , ' E-bikes in rural areas : current and potential users in the Netherlands ' , Transportation , vol. 50 , pp. 1449–1470 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-022-10283-y |
Schlagwörter: | Accessibility / Active transport / Electrically-assisted cycling / Mobility behavior / Rural mobility |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28780529 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | https://hdl.handle.net/11370/f4b529e6-92fd-4514-bc27-27bd647bef78 |
This study considers how socio-demographic characteristics, mobility situation and attitudes explain current and potential e-bike use in rural areas. Due to longer distances between travel destinations, rural areas in most western societies are characterized by a high car dependence and low use of active modes like walking and cycling. Developing e-bike mobility in these areas can support more healthy and sustainable rural mobility. A large-scale mobility survey conducted among rural residents in the northern parts of the Netherlands provides insight in the determinants of current and potential e-bike use in rural areas. The participant characteristics show that in rural areas also, the e-bike is already used among a broad population of varied ages and backgrounds and for different purposes. Among respondents who did not own an e-bike, especially those with lower socioeconomic status and a household with children showed more willingness to use an e-bike in the future. No evidence was found for current or potential substitution of public transport use. Current e-bike users less likely use a car or regular bicycle as their primary mode of transport. Those who are willing to use an e-bike are less likely to currently use a regular bicycle as their main mode of transport. These findings suggest that the e-bike can substitute both car and bicycle use to some extent. However, bicycle users seem more reluctant towards owning or adopting an e-bike than car users, suggesting greater potential for a shift away from car travel. Furthermore, current and potential e-bike users hold more positive attitudes toward different aspects of e-bike travel than non-users. This provides impetus for future actions to further encourage e-bike use.