Boulder B-Cycle now has 100 electric pedal-assist bicycles available for those using its bike sharing system.
The B-Cycle electric bike, according to a news release, is a pedal-assist bike that amplifies pedaling power. It features a Bosch system that provides support only when riders pedal and can be turned off at any time during a ride. E-bikes check in and out of the existing docking stations across Boulder.
Boulder Bike Sharing Executive Director Kevin Crouse said the nonprofit has taken its time researching new technologies but that it’s clear there’s been a push toward electrification.
“As systems have electrified across the country … there tends to be huge interest in e-bikes,” Crouse said.
“It seems a foregone conclusion that all micromobility (devices) will be electric or electric assist within a couple of years if not sooner,” he later added.
Boulder Bike Sharing is the independent nonprofit organization that for the past decade has operated the Boulder B-Cycle bike sharing system. The city has contracted with Boulder Bike Sharing to offer a bike sharing program as a means of reducing vehicular travel and emissions.
E-bikes allow the nonprofit to explore a new business model, partnering with B-Cycle LLC, Trek Bicycle’s bike share subsidiary.
The Boulder Chamber has been interested in workforce mobility and has been looking at it alongside Boulder Bike Sharing, according to Director of Public Affairs Andrea Meneghel.
“A lot of that has been focused on the tremendous innovation that’s come through in transportation, just through new technology like e-bikes and e-scooters and other microtransit and micromobility options,” Meneghel said.
Micromobility devices, which refer to small vehicles such as bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters that operate at lower speeds and are driven by users personally, have been a hot topic lately in Boulder.
Boulder City Council on March 16 will have a public hearing and subsequent vote on an ordinance that would regulate micromobility devices on streets, paths and sidewalks.
Further, the city issued a request for proposals earlier this week for a shared micromobility program for electric bikes and scooters. There are a number of ways the program could be handled, including partnering with a private company for equipment while maintaining Boulder Bike Sharing as the operator.
Crouse said Boulder Bike Sharing intends to submit a proposal to be considered by the city.
“(Electrifying) is definitely the way things are going,” Crouse said. “It’s kind of happening for us independent of the RFP, though we do intend to participate in it.”
Mengehel agreed, noting that when it comes to transportation and mobility, it’s always best to have options. He views it as a gamechanger for the city’s bike sharing system to now offer e-bikes.
“The more we expand the options and what people have access to … the more we begin to really create significant change as far as improving the mobility landscape in Boulder,” he said.
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E-bikes now part of Boulder B-Cycle system - The Daily Camera
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