Mobility by E-Bike Study

Electric bikes (e-bikes) are a new mode of transportation that could substantially improve efficiency in the transportation system if adopted as substitutes for cars. Researchers at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Portland State University, University of Pittsburgh, and Bosch E-Bike Systems have received funding from the National Science Foundation to measure real-world travel behavior and assess the sustainability impacts of those choices. We are developing a platform that is easily deployed, non-invasive, and leverages computing resources enabled by e-bike technology and smartphone sensor capabilities.

Current practices of tracking e-bike data rely on memory recall and self-reporting from the user. Our approach will instead leverage smartphones to conduct ad-hoc travel surveys to supplement passive data collection and, using machine learning algorithms, create the largest and richest dataset to support the growth of e-bike use as a transportation option.