E-bike instead of driving a car

For several years now, motorists have been able to make use of the "Bike4Car"The climate protection movement myblueplanet, supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, wants to motivate people to try out an alternative means of transport. In this way, the climate protection movement myblueplanet, supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, wants to motivate people to try out an alternative means of transport in order to experience its advantages directly. But does it also encourage participants to change their mobility behavior in the long term? ZHAW researchers, together with the University of St. Gallen, surveyed participants from 2015 and found that Bike4Car has a measurable effect - even a year after the campaign.

More than half drive less today
According to the survey, most of the e-bike testers still have fond memories of riding an e-bike a year after the campaign and have recommended people in their circle to try it out as well. More than half of the survey participants also state that they have been traveling more often without a car since the campaign. In addition, after trying out an e-bike, participants associate typical everyday mobility situations such as commuting more often with the e-bike than with a car - after one year, this effect was even stronger than immediately after the trial phase. "This is an indication that trying out an e-bike can change mobility habits," explains study leader Corinne Moser from the ZHAW School of Engineering.

Majority wants e-bike
A majority of the survey participants would like to buy an e-bike or have already done so. Testing and trying out during Bike4Car 2015 played an important role according to participants. Important reasons for the purchase decision were the improved fitness and the fun factor. However, the idea of environmental protection was less central. For Corinne Moser, this is an important finding from the survey: "It seems that it is easier to motivate someone to use an e-bike via the topic of health or fun than via the topic of the environment. This affects people more directly."

Participants were interviewed three times
The survey was conducted in three runs. First at registration and directly after the action in 2015 and then one year later (fully completed questionnaires 1st survey: 405, 2nd survey: 218, 3rd survey: 300). The survey was conducted as part of the Swiss National Science Foundation's (SNSF) National Research Program "Control of Energy Consumption" (NRP 71) - in collaboration with the Energy Competence Center SCCER CREST, funded by the Commission for Technology and Innovation CTI, and the climate protection movement myblueplanet. In addition to the ZHAW, the research partner was the University of St. Gallen. Across Switzerland, 1854 people participated in the Bike4Car campaign in 2015.

Source: ZHAW