E-bike riders regularly break speed limit in residential areas

E-bikes often ride faster than permitted on neighbourhood roads Keystone-SDA

Fast e-bikes regularly exceed the speed limit in residential areas. A new study with data on cyclists in Zurich shows they regularly reach speeds of over 30 km/h.

A research team from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich analysed data from over 17,000 bike rides by 351 cyclists in Zurich for the study. The results were published in the journal Cycling and Micromobility Research. According to the researchers, the results provide a detailed picture of how fast different types of bicycles actually move through the urban space – and where this leads to conflicts with infrastructure and traffic regulations.

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“This can provide indications as to where existing regulations and infrastructure could be scrutinised or clarified,” said ETHZ researcher and lead author of the study Larin Maurer to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Different behaviour

The study distinguishes between three types of bike: classic bikes, e-bikes with assistance up to 25 km/h and fast electric bikes with a licence plate that support speeds of up to 45 km/h.

The latter reached an average speed of 27.9 km/h. This means that they travelled an average of eight kilometres per hour faster than regular bikes with average speeds of 19.9 km/h. The average speed of e-bikes without a licence plate was 21.9 km/h, closer to that of conventional bikes than that of fast e-bikes. These average speeds relate to sections of the route – if the entire cycle ride from door to door was considered, all types of bike were slower.

According to Maurer, the data suggests that users of fast e-bikes behave differently in traffic than other cyclists. Electric bikes spend longer at junctions than conventional bikes. While conventional bikes waited on average around nine seconds per traffic light, e-bikes had to stop for around 14 seconds and fast e-bikes for around 13.5 seconds. According to the study, reasons for this could include the higher speed and therefore more frequent stopping or the use of busier roads with more traffic lights.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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