The Washington, D.C., Department of Transportation (DDOT) recently helped kick off a pilot project to support the use of electric bicycles or e-bikes for a mobile application-based food delivery across the District of Columbia; home to the nation’s capital.
[Above photo by DDOT]
The year-long pilot will test the feasibility of using e-bikes for app-based food delivery and to see how DDOT can support this shift long term. The pilot is funded by the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator or LACI through their City Climate Innovation Challenge Program; a program that aims to support a group of cities in transitioning to zero-emission delivery.
The pilot will support two groups of participants – each for a six-month time period – with e-bikes suitable for food delivery and access to safe and reliable battery charging. To encourage food delivery workers to participate in the pilot, battery charging cabinets will be installed at convenient locations for quick and easy swapping, and the e-bikes will be highly subsidized with the option to own the e-bike at the end of the pilot.
“The District [of Columbia] is committed to becoming carbon neutral and climate resilient by 2045. This pilot is testing one of many strategies to achieve our climate goals while also improving street safety, reducing traffic congestion, and supporting the local workforce,” said Sharon Kershbaum, DDOT’s director, in a statement. “DDOT is excited to partner with LACI and participating cities to help achieve these goals and get these investments into our communities.”
DDOT said e-bike battery cabinets will be installed by PopWheels at the Festival Center at 1640 Columbia Rd NW in Adams Morgan and Westminster Presbyterian Church at 400 I St SW in Southwest Waterfront.
The cabinets can charge up to 16 e-bike batteries at a time and will allow users to quickly swap their depleted batteries for fully charged ones. For the duration of this pilot, access to the cabinets will be limited to pilot participants and other approved food delivery workers, DDOT said.
The agency noted that this pilot program should be fully launched in mid-July, with the first group of participants receiving discounted Whizz Storm 2 e-bikes and accessories as well as free access to the battery cabinets.
DDOT and LACI will monitor and evaluate the pilot for one year to inform future opportunities to support clean and safe food delivery in the District of Columbia, with progress posted to the https://sustainability.ddot.dc.gov/pages/pilotprojects web site.
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