A comparative health and safety analysis of electric-assist and regular bicycles in an on-campus bicycle sharing system.

E-bikes have emerged in recent years as a valid mode of transportation. Comparable to regular bicycles in many ways, e-bikes offer some added advantages due to the additional electric motor on the bicycle. This dissertation combines three different research efforts centered on the study of e-bikes and their inclusion in e-bike sharing systems. First, it looks at a model for e-bike sharing at the University of Tennessee and examines system operations, performance, and demand from users. It investigates the characteristics of trips using the sharing system’s fleet of regular and electric bicycles, and it describes the preferences among system users that influence their mode choice. Second, this dissertation presents a study on user safety, investigating user behaviors of those who use the regular bicycles and e-bikes that are a part of the e-bike sharing system. GIS analysis is incorporated to study user movements on roadways, shared-use facilities, and at intersections. Comparisons are made between bicycle types and facility types with regard to safety. Lastly, this dissertation presents a study on physical health implications for users of regular bicycles and e-bikes and compares those impacts to walking trips. It also presents a methodology for extending this study to naturalistic data collected through the on-campus e-bike sharing system.