Micromobility services Bird and Ford-owned Spin are the latest to integrate with Google Maps for Mobile (GMM). People using Google Maps for efficient and reliable journey planning are now able to discover Spin e-scooters and e-bikes and Bird scooters when given route options for their journeys. Google Maps users are.
Farther, Faster and No Sweat: Bike-Sharing and the E-Bike Boom
Social-distancing, sustainability and accessibility helped accelerate e-biking during the pandemic, and the trend is showing up in urban bike-sharing programs.
Over the next five years, Indego’s Philadelphia bike-sharing system will double in size, making half the fleet electric.Credit.Jasmine Alston/Indego
By Elaine Glusac
March 2, 2021
As with all bicycles during the pandemic, electric bikes, or those with battery-powered motors to handle propulsion, boomed. The market research firm NPD Group said sales of e-bikes grew 145 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, outpacing sales of all bikes, which were up 65 percent.
“Bike categories that catered to families and recreational and newer riders grew better than more performance-oriented bikes,” said Dirk Sorenson, a sports industry analyst at NPD, adding that e-bikes “overcome challenges like big hills or going on a longer ride than a typical bike.”