Do shared E-bikes reduce urban carbon emissions?

Qiumeng Li, Franz Fuerst and Davide Luca

Journal of Transport Geography, 2023, vol. 112, issue C

Abstract: Under the threat of climate change, many global cities nowadays are promoting shared commuting modes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Shared electric bikes (e-bikes) are emerging modes that compete with bikes, cars, or public transit. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence for the net effect of shared e-bikes on carbon emissions, as shared e-bikes can substitute for both higher carbon emissions modes and cleaner commuting modes. Using a large collection of spatio-temporal trajectory data of shared e-bike trips in two provincial cities (Chengdu and Kunming) in China, this study develops a travel mode substitution model to identify the changes in travel modes due to the introduction of shared e-bike systems and to quantify the corresponding impact on net carbon emissions. We find that, on average, shared e-bikes decrease carbon emissions by 108–120 g per kilometre. More interestingly, the reduction effect is much stronger in underdeveloped non-central areas with lower density, less diversified land use, lower accessibility, and lower economic level. Although the actual carbon reduction benefits of shared e-bike schemes are far from clear, this study bears important policy implications for exploring this emerging micro-mobility mode to achieve carbon reduction impacts.

Keywords: Micro-mobility; Sharing economy; E-bikes; Substitution effects; Carbon emissions; Urban context (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: Do shared E-bikes reduce urban carbon emissions? (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:112:y:2023:i:c:s0966692323001692

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2023.103697

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