Electric Bike Sharing--system Requirements and Operational Concepts

! Bike sharing is an exciting new model of public-private transportation provision that has quickly #! emerged in the past five years. Technological advances have overcome hurdles of early systems $! and cities throughout the globe are adopting this model of transportation service. Electric bikes %! have simultaneously gained popularity in many regions of the world and some have suggested &! that shared electric bikes could provide an even higher level of service compared to existing '! systems. There are several challenges that are unique to shared electric bikes: electric-assisted (! range, recharging protocol, and bike and battery checkout procedures. This paper outlines system )! requirements to successfully develop and deploy an electric bike sharing system, focusing on *! system architecture, operational concepts, and battery management. Although there is little "+! empirical evidence, electric bike sharing could be feasible, depending on demand and battery ""! management, and can potentially improve the utility of existing bike sharing systems. Under "#! most documented bike sharing use scenarios, electric bike battery capacity is insufficient for a "$! full day of operation, depending on recharging protocol. Off-board battery management is a "%! promising solution to address this problem. Off-board battery management can also support solar "&! recharging. Future pilot tests will be important and allow empirical evaluation of electric bike "'! sharing system performance. "(! ")! TRB 2011 Annual Meeting Original paper submittal not revised by author. !"#$$%&'()$*#%&'+)$,-.'