“And yes, despite the critics that proclaim e-biking is “cheating,” e-bikes do count as exercise and may help even the fit get fitter. “

bicycling.com/training/a2361… Ebike riders ride more.

“Before owning an e-bike, 55% of the respondents said they rode daily or weekly. After getting an e-bike, that number soared to 91% riding daily or weekly. More striking, 94% of non-cyclists rode daily or weekly after getting an e-bike”

Chinese bikeshare firm @Mobike developed a new eBike from the ground up built for the sharing-first world.

One of the goals with the design was to have an "inviting appeal, not scaring riders off with technology".

Here are a few highlights: The bike has 3 pedal-assist levels. It also has a 'throttle-only' mode where users don't have to pedal. Why? It may be to attract new riders who don't like traditional bike.

Pedal-assist range: 70 KM
Throttle-only range: 30 KM
Top speed: 20 km/h

A few initial thoughts and observations after watching the scooter pilot deployment in Portland:

- Nearly 50/50 split between male/female riders.
- Demand far exceeds supply.
- Scooter usage accelerates in areas with bike infra & slower speed limits.

@PBOTinfo

1/ Bird launched in PDX on Thursday with 200 scooters:

Initial Bird “Nest” locations were scatted across inner Portland in downtown, NW, N, SE and S Portland.

Looking at the app data: it appeared most of the fleet was depleted of battery well before the 9PM cut off.

2/

Twelve companies submitted proposals to operate electric scooter share services in San Francisco. There's up to 5 permits for grab. Applicants include scooter OEMs, Startups and Rideshare firms.

Here's a tweetstorm summarizing highlights from all 12 proposals:

<thread> Lime:
- Price: $1 to start + $0.15 per min
- Hours: 7AM - 8PM
- Avg 9 trips per scooter per day
- 24/7 multilingual phone support
- Proposed painting designated scooter parking
- Prototyping ability to detect sidewalk riding
- Integrate 311 reports
- Currently 30K vehicles in USA