Mackie Research was funded $60,000 by the NZTA Innovation Fund Hoe ki angitū – to develop and test an incentive scheme as a pathway to permanent e-bike ownership in South Auckland, in partnership with Time to Thrive (TTT) and Massey University.
The funding was awarded under the Fund’s challenge to Provide under-served communities with greater access to transport.
After a review of e-bike incentives, and co-design hui with locals, an e-bike library was chosen as the preferred approach to incentivise e-bike use. For the trial 20 e-bikes were made available at TTT bike hub in Māngere. In line with their kaupapa, prospective borrowers were not required to make payments, but were required to attend three TTT group rides before borrowing a bike. During the group rides TTT gave participants e-bike skills, knowledge of safe routes and built relationships. Thirty-four people borrowed an e-bike over the four-month trial for durations ranging from one day to over three months.
The trial highlighted unique barriers to using e-bikes that can arise in lower income communities and revealed the value of co-design and delivery by community champions. The trial confirmed that cost is prohibitive for most but despite this, five library users have since purchased an e-bike. TTT also helped people overcome other barriers such as fear of a bike being stolen or a belief that e-bikes are a luxury item and therefore out of reach.
TTT has begun the process of normalising e-bike use in the community as more people use them for shopping, commuting and recreation. The Māngere e-bike library is an example of how to bring e-bikes to a community that would otherwise not have had the exposure to e-bikes. While TTT continues to provide the e-bike library free of charge for now, TTT is concerned about longer term sustainability. Therefore, future trials, programmes and policies need to consider the ongoing costs required to support an e-bike library, even when the bikes are free to use.
Read the full report here:
| Opit, S., Mackie, H., Witten, K., Rajam A. (2024). Incentivising e-bike use in lower income communities [PDF, 912 KB]. The Māngere E-bike Library. Mackie Research. Massey University. |
