In Denmark's Odense Municipality, electric bicycles are becoming more and more commonplace alongside conventional bicycles. An electric cycling campaign, carried out in the city for the first half of 2010, is behind this newfound popularity.

The campaign
The project team behind the ‘Cyclists City’ has purchased 100 electric bikes, which have been lent to 100 Odense residents since January. The 100 participants, each 18 years or older, can use the electric bikes for free for six months. One criterion for participation is that the distance of a daily commute to work or study exceeds 5 kilometres. In selecting participants, the emphasis is on students, daily commuters and elderly people.

The six-month results will be evaluated on July 1.

The campaign was developed based on statistics from Technical University, which show that the number of bicycle trips falls dramatically when distance exceeds 10 kilometres. One of the explanations, which many car drivers use to avoid a long bike rides, is that they start sweating and therefore need to shower and change before they can start work. Odense Municipality therefore launched its electric bike campaign to address this issue. By offering car drivers an alternative to the traditional bicycle, ‘Cyclists City’ is trying to help drivers to change their mode of transportation.

Background
Odense Municipality has adopted a very ambitious Traffic and Mobility Plan. The plan is to grow the number of cyclists 35 percent by 2020. Odense is engaged in a longstanding effort to establish cycling-friendly infrastructure, but in order to encourage even more car drivers to use the bike, more work with targeted mobility campaigns will be necessary.

Author: Nanna Henriques