Electronic bike sharing scheme investigated for Bendigo council, major employers

The Victorian government yesterday granted the City of Greater Bendigo $80,000 from its New Energy Jobs Fund to investigate the case for putting electronic bicycles in council offices, as well as at sites including Bendigo Bank, Bendigo Health, La Trobe University and Coliban Water.  

Active transport strategic planner Chris Rowlands said e-bikes were already available to council workers, who cycled thousands of kilometres in the years since the the bikes were first introduced.  

One of the world’s fastest growing modes of transport, e-bikes were a time- and energy-efficient way of making short trips around town, Mr Rowlands said.

“You can comfortably cycle 10 kilometres in a full suit and not even break a sweat,” he said, explaining the alternative mode of work transport also encouraged employees to adopt healthy lifestyles.

“Sick days, productivity improves when cycling is incorporated, when staff are fit and healthy.”

The business case is expected to take 10 months to develop. 

While the bikes were only for staff use and there were no immediate plans to bring public bike sharing technologies to Bendigo, Mr Rowlands said facilities like Melbourne’s oBike fleet were something the council continued to monitor.   

“The opportunities they present are pretty good in terms of equity and being able to move around the city,” he said.

“If you can't own a car, or afford to drive one, having access to that is probably a positive.”

Bendigo council last year made another foray into the bikesharing space when it installed a storage dock designed by Woodend company Cycleport. 

The local government was granted a further $45,500 from the fund for a feasibility study on heating its aquatic centres using renewable energy. Twenty-one projects totally more than $6 million were awarded during the fund’s second round.