Benign mobility? Electric bicycles, sustainable transport consumption behaviour and socio-technical transitions in Nanjing, China

Xiao Lin; Peter Wells; Benjamin K. Sovacool

doi:10.1016/j.tra.2017.06.014

Benign mobility? Electric bicycles, sustainable transport consumption behaviour and socio-technical transitions in Nanjing, China

Xiao Lin, Peter Wells^*, Benjamin K. Sovacool

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In this paper, we ask whether electric bicycle (e-bike) use in urban China is a temporary phase or an embedded form of sustainable mobility. A survey was conducted in Nanjing in order to assess the characteristics and attitudes of electric bicycle users and other mode users (e.g. pedestrians; car drivers). Based on over 1000 responses a Logit Model was used to analyse current and future mode choice. The results show that electric bicycles are not necessarily displacing cars on a substantial scale, but are rather displacing the ‘benign’ modes of walking, traditional bicycling, and using the bus. We conclude that electric bicycles are helping to enable mobility-dependent lifestyles that may in the future be supported by cars, rather than offering a true departure from carbon-centred, motorized forms of transport.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	223-234
Number of pages	12
Journal	Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Volume	103
Early online date	29 Jun 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2017.06.014
Publication status	Published - Sept 2017

Keywords

Alternative mobility
E-bikes
Electric bicycles
Nanjing
Regime embedding
User attitudes

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10.1016/j.tra.2017.06.014

http://orca.cf.ac.uk/102852/

Cite this

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title = "Benign mobility? Electric bicycles, sustainable transport consumption behaviour and socio-technical transitions in Nanjing, China",

abstract = "In this paper, we ask whether electric bicycle (e-bike) use in urban China is a temporary phase or an embedded form of sustainable mobility. A survey was conducted in Nanjing in order to assess the characteristics and attitudes of electric bicycle users and other mode users (e.g. pedestrians; car drivers). Based on over 1000 responses a Logit Model was used to analyse current and future mode choice. The results show that electric bicycles are not necessarily displacing cars on a substantial scale, but are rather displacing the {\textquoteleft}benign{\textquoteright} modes of walking, traditional bicycling, and using the bus. We conclude that electric bicycles are helping to enable mobility-dependent lifestyles that may in the future be supported by cars, rather than offering a true departure from carbon-centred, motorized forms of transport.",

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Benign mobility? Electric bicycles, sustainable transport consumption behaviour and socio-technical transitions in Nanjing, China

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Keywords

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