A case in point is the electric cargo bike — examples of which will arrive as soon as this month in two of the nation's capital cities.
“It’s not just about traditional bikes,” Justin Goodwin, administrator of the Division of Mobility and Parking Services in Columbus, Ohio, said as he described the multiple forms of micromobility now available in the state capital, including standup electric scooters, pedal-assist e-bikes, seated scooters — which are similar to an electric Vespa scooter — and soon, the electric cargo bike.
“It’s about all of these shared micromobility options that we’ve seen emerging over the past number of years,” Goodwin said. “ And we wanted to take a comprehensive approach to how we’re thinking about expanding access for anybody that is rolling on two wheels.”
Columbus’ newest transportation offering is electric cargo bikes provided by Veo, the city’s micromobility operator. The bikes, known as the Apollo Cargo, can carry up to 100 pounds of cargo and will be introduced this month. They include front and rear baskets, throttle-assist motor to eliminate having to pedal, and a cellphone holder with Bluetooth-enabled speakers.
“We expect the Apollo to become the most popular vehicle we’ve ever deployed,” Paige Miller, Veo’s senior manager for policy and communications, said via email. The electric cargo bike is intended to address what Veo calls “cargo anxiety,” she said, which is the hesitation micromobility riders feel when they aren’t sure they can carry what they need.
The company expects 50 percent of its fleet to be “cargo capable” by 2030, including the Apollo and “other cargo-capable vehicles in our pipeline,” Miller said. The Apollo can travel about 40 miles before its battery has to be recharged or easily swapped out.
In addition to Columbus, the Apollo will also roll out in Washington, D.C., this summer.
For Columbus, the expansion of its micromobility offerings is part of the city’s overall strategy known as Bike Plus, its new bikeways and micromobility plan adopted by the City Council in December. Bike Plus is a policy guide for promoting micromobility — and a plan for expanding infrastructure.
“Part of that strategy is expanding that network of comfortable [biking] facilities, so that as we’re promoting the use of biking and shared micromobility, people actually have the safe infrastructure to use it,” Goodwin said.
This commitment to micromobility is part of what made Columbus an attractive place to launch Veo’s full fleet of offerings, Miller said.
“Washington, D.C., and Columbus are national leaders in active transportation and two of the premier shared micromobility markets in the country,” she said. “These cities have laid the groundwork with infrastructure — protected bike lanes, curb management programs, and supportive policies — that make it safe and convenient to ride.”
The two capitals, she added, have also “shown strong enthusiasm for offering mixed fleets of vehicles in their micromobility programs and are committed to building systems where micromobility can thrive.”
When Columbus issued its request for proposals for micromobility, a clear through-line was a willingness to see “as many different types of devices … in order to provide as many options as possible, and choices for people,” Goodwin said.
The idea was to expand not only the demographic groups that might use the shared micromobility devices, but the use cases as well, opening up options for transporting groceries or other items.
“Some people may not be interested in a traditional bike, but may be interested in a sit-down scooter, or vice versa,” he said. “Some people may want a standup scooter, and don’t want a sit-down device. We want as many options out there as possible, so that we’re getting as many people rolling as possible.”
Last year, prior to Veo’s arrival, Columbus had seen about 1 million trips taken on some combination of micromobility, which at the time was e-scooters or docked bike-share. Interest clearly seems to be trending toward the electrified modes of micromobility. By the end of last year, about one-third of the the city’s bike-share fleet was electric, while the other two-thirds were conventional bikes.
“More than 50 percent of all trips were on the e-bikes. So clearly, people were preferring the e-bike option,” Goodwin said. Veo now offers the seated scooter and the seated hybrid bike and scooter, among others. About 60 percent of the city’s fleet now includes seated options — and they account for more than 70 percent of trips taken, Goodwin said.
“There’s clearly a very high demand for the e-device option,” he said. “But it’s not necessarily universal, which just reinforces that we need to have as many options as possible.”
