How is Rising Popularity for E-Bikes driving Bike Sharing Market?

[Pramod Kumar]

The global bike sharing market is expected to reach a value of over $5.0 billion by 2025, increasing from $2.7 billion in 2018, progressing at a 10.2% CAGR during the forecast period (2019–2025), according to a research by P&S Intelligence. The primary factors resulting in the growth of the market are the deployment of electric bikes, bike sharing as an economical mobility option, enhanced convenience, and surging urban road congestion.

When type is taken into consideration, the bike sharing market is bifurcated into dock-less station-based, between which, the dock-less division held the larger share of the market in 2018. An increasing number of companies are adoption dock-less bike sharing concept, since it needs lesser spending and lesser capital than the other variant. Moreover, this bike sharing type is found more attractive by people, owing to it convenient features, including enhanced parking flexibility, and cost-efficiency. The station-based division is projected to register higher CAGR during the forecast period.

Governments of various countries are accepting this type of bike sharing, since it creates lesser chances of chaos, which occurs due to the improper parking of dock-less bikes. Furthermore, companies are also adding electric bikes to their fleets, which is also expected to drive the growth of this type during the forecast period. Geographically, the market was dominated by Asia-Pacific during the historical period (2017–2018), on account of the extensive fleet size of several players that are offering bike sharing schemes in the region.

In addition to this, Chinese bike sharing operators have received considerable investments in the last few years. The European region is expected to emerge as the fastest-growing bike sharing market during the forecast period. The number of bike sharing schemes in the region is growing at a rapid pace in the region. Moreover, the preference for e-bikes has been growing at a swift pace in the region, which is predicted to drive the regional market in the coming years.

The surging urban road congestion is a key driving factor of the bike sharing market. As the population in various countries in rising, along with the increasing disposable income, the number of vehicles on roads is growing as well. This increased number of commuters have led to high congestion on roads in urban areas. Owing to this, governments of different countries are looking for introducing alternate modes of transportation, such as bike sharing, which can potentially reduce traffic.

In addition to this, e-bikes are being introduced in bike sharing fleets, which is also acting as a key driving factor of the bike sharing market. The popularity of e-bikes is increasing because they offer higher speed in short-distance commuting, as compared to pedal bikes. Advantageous features such as higher convenience, higher speed, variable motor power, and effortless driving are projected to result in the high demand for e-bikes across the globe in the years to come.

Hence, the market is growing due to the surging urban road congestion and increasing preference for e-bikes.