The E-Move project was initiated by Sustrans Cymru and funded by Welsh Government, aiming to provide free access to e-cycles and e-cargo cycles for individuals in deprived communities across Wales. Now, Sustrans has produced a handbook that offers guidance to local authorities or community groups looking to create their own affordable and inclusive e-cycle borrowing schemes.
Sustrans has produced a handbook explaining how to set up a community e-cycle loan scheme with the learnings from its Welsh Government-funded E-Move pilot project. Credit: Tom Lee\Welsh Government.
E-Move was a community-focused project which enabled people living in five locations in Wales to borrow an e-cycle and e-cargo cycles for free, funded by Welsh Government.
The project offered people, businesses and organisations the opportunity to borrow an e-cycle or e-cargo cycle as a means to improve access to education, employment, green spaces, and other social benefits.
Its focus was to offer a healthy, sustainable method of transport to those with limited mobility due to poor public transport, lack of personal vehicles, age, or health conditions.
During the project’s three years of operating in Aberystwyth, Barry, Newtown, Rhyl, and Swansea, it produced a number of positive outcomes, including:
- In a typical week, 65% fewer trips were made by car as a driver and 39% fewer as a passenger.
- Commonly reported benefits included time saved, increased confidence, and new journeys being enabled.
- Beneficiaries also reported that their ability to access work opportunities, green spaces and new areas improved.
- People consistently reported improved physical and mental health and well-being.
Through the learning gathered from the delivery of the E-Move project, Sustrans has now produced a handbook to help local authorities and community groups set up their own e-cycle loan schemes.
E-cycles and e-cargo cycles can help save money, improve physical and mental health, and reduce our environmental impact. Credit: photojB\Sustrans.
Why set up an e-cycle loan scheme in your community?
The main objective of an e-cycle loan scheme is to provide individuals and organisations, who might not otherwise have the opportunity, with access to e-cycles and e-cargo cycles.
Some of the key benefits to these sustainable transport methods are:
- Accessibility: E-cycles make cycling feasible for a broader range of individuals. The E-Move project showed, for example, that pedal assist boosted confidence in women, providing a sense of security and control over their travel.
- Convenience: With electric assistance, commuting and travelling generally – especially over hilly terrain or longer distances – becomes much easier.
- Cost savings: E-cycles can save money on fuel, parking and maintenance, compared to owning a car.
- Health benefits: While less physically demanding than standard cycling, e-cycling still provides cardiovascular benefits, improving muscle strength and lung capacity.
- Environmental impact: E-cycles provide zero emissions, making them a green alternative that helps to reduce air pollution and improve local environments for people and nature.
As the E-Move project showed, e-cycles can offer an accessible, inclusive and sustainable transport method that can lead to health benefits whilst saving users money.
Businesses and community organisations were also able to benefit from borrowing an e-cargo cycle for free, with 50% more trips being made in the average week via active travel.
The feedback from organisations and businesses cited the following positives:
- Improved public perception and positive publicity through use of the e-cargo cycles.
- Reduced travel costs with money saved on fuel, and quicker journey times over shorter distances.
- Improved staff well-being, physical exercise and improved mental health – simply put, they’re a fun mode of transport.
- Improved sense of inclusivity as people without driving licences could make journeys and contribute where they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.
Ensuring a positive impact for all through community e-cycle loan schemes
Gender-responsive budgeting should play a big role in setting up a new community e-cycle loan scheme.
For the E-Move project, gender budgeting meant examining how resources could be allocated to make e-cycles accessible to those who might otherwise face gender-based barriers.
Gender-responsive budgeting can be adapted to address inequalities beyond gender, such as those related to race, disability, age, and socioeconomic status.
Traditionally, women may have different mobility needs, such as trip-chaining (multiple short trips) for work, family, or caregiving duties, and tend to face more transport insecurity.
Through a gender-responsive budgeting approach, E-Move considered these factors, allocating resources towards diverse, sometimes lighter e-cycle models and providing supportive measures like child seats and community training.
Another important piece of learning was that the visibility of women in cycling is influenced by perceived and actual safety in public spaces.
As a result, E-Move allocated resources to provide led rides and buddy systems, increasing safety and confidence, particularly for women who felt vulnerable cycling alone.
A gender-responsive approach to budgeting for any new scheme will help everyone in your community enjoy the benefits. Credit: photojB\Sustrans.
