E-bikes seen as natural replacement to cars in cost of living crisis

15 November 2022
Half the respondents to a survey believe that, faced with the cost of living crisis, electric bikes are the natural replacement for cars.
Cycle advocacy campaign Bike is Best commissioned the survey to explore the impact the rising cost of living is having on people’s habits.
Of the 2,000 respondents, two thirds (69%) have changed or are considering changing their transport behaviour, with 86% citing saving money as the reason for the change.
The study found that 84% plan to drive a lot less

The hidden environmental and social costs of van deliveries in London amount to nearly £2.5 billion per year, says new research

Rapidly decarbonising London’s transport system will not just make the city healthier, cleaner, and safer; it will also save Londoners money, says a new report Delievering Value from Just Economics.

The scrappage scheme will help clean the city’s air by providing grants to successful applicants to scrap or retrofit their older vehicles and use cleaner, greener modes of transport – including cargo bikes.

The researchers said future city planning must include a focus on reducing dependence on cars, promoting fewer and shorter trips and encouraging walking and cycling as primary modes of local transport. Public transport should be encouraged for longer journeys, the researchers argued, and cars should only be used for emergencies or special occasions.
For the paper, published in Open Science, researchers created a mathematical model of car use in a city, where residents either used a car on a daily basis or used public transport. Estimated costs were the length of time journeys take because this is the biggest factor when deciding how to travel, with the baseline for the model being driving with no traffic.