In this post for The New York Times Green blog, I reported on a federally financed electric bike share program quietly coming together in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rather than zigging and zagging to avoid steep inclines, e-bike users will be able to pedal up and over with help from an electric motor. For those hauling cargo, electric bicycle trailers will be available for hourly rentals, too.
City CarShare, a local nonprofit car sharing provider, is heading up the project, while the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley is responsible for assessing the impact and lessons learned.
City CarShare chief executive Rick Hutchinson told me about the nuts and bolts of the project, and the grand vision, too. “People will go to our site, pull down a list, and see maybe four cars and some electric bikes available for their errand or shopping trip or doctor’s appointment” The bikes will be cheaper than the cars. Seeing these options side by side, Mr. Hutchinson said, people who may not have considered biking before may ask themselves, “Could I do this on a bike?”
You can read the full story here.
