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Evaluation of the electric bicycle as an alternative mobility in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract:

In recent years, cities have been designed for vehicles and large infrastructures have been constructed for their circulation. As a result, vehicular congestion has significantly increased air pollution. Consequently, intermediate cities are looking for more sustainable mobility options before they face road collapse. The objective of this study was to evaluate an electric bicycle as an alternative mobility option in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. The analysis was done considering these four aspects: energy, environment, cost, and time. Previous work published by local city government was considered to determine the most representative routes taking into account how people moves in Cuenca. Data collection was carried out with GPS devices in order to propose a dynamic vehicle equation to determine energy consumption. The results were compared to light-duty vehicles operating on gasoline. Hence, it was concluded that the electric bicycle is a viable option since it consumes less energy than a vehicle, emits fewer emissions, and costs less to cover the same distance. In near future, this information could be useful for local government to encouraged new mobility politics.