Electric bike (non)users’ health and comfort concerns pre and peri a world pandemic (COVID-19): A qualitative study

Introduction: The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic affects different domains of society,including the transport system. Due to the impacts of social distancing, research concerningelectric bike (e-bike) applications and non(user) health and comfort concerns is needed. Thisresearch aims to understand the health and comfort concerns of e-bike (non)users in both pre (PR)and peri (PE) pandemic situations and explore how the PE situation triggers (non)users to use e-bikes.Methods: An interpretive description qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviewswas used to gather the empirical material for this research.Results: Twenty-three (non)user participants were interviewed in the PR situation, and 12 of theseparticipants were interviewed again in the PE situation. The comfort provided by the e-bike didnot outweigh its cost as a factor for nonusers considering investing in the e-bikes in the PR situation.However, nonusers acknowledged that e-bikes can serve as substitutes for public transportby eliminating social interactions and consequently potential health concerns, in addition toproviding comfortable mobility. E-bike users were in agreement concerning physical activity andthe health benefits of using e-bikes in the PR situation. Their opinions differed slightly, as womenplaced less emphasis on the physical activity provided by e-bike use. However, gender opinionsconverged regarding health concerns about using public transport in PE situations. Infrastructurefacilities and e-bike performance are evident as users’ comfort concerns in the PE situation.Conclusion: The results highlight the role of the e-bike in PE situations as a reliable transport modeand suggest that there is considerable potential for e-bikes as substitutes for public transport inthe post-pandemic situation. The findings are applicable to e-bike level-of-service studies in orderto provide an overview of the user’s experience of comfort.