In One Year, Worcester's E-Bike Experiment Has Moved Residents Nearly 50K Miles

WORCESTER, MA — An experimental e-bike program in Worcester has circulated the Earth twice over the past year.

That is, the 100 participants in the program have logged nearly 50,000 miles since the battery-assisted bikes were distributed over the summer of 2022 under a program run by the nonprofit MassBike.

In May 2022, the nonprofit MassBike offered 100 free electric-assist cargo bicycles to Worcester residents using a $440,000 grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center . The organization began distributing the e-bikes to participants in August 2022. The bikes went to people from a variety of backgrounds and income levels, including students, retirees and people in the workforce.

All participants will get to keep their bikes, but are also sharing their riding data with MassBike, which will in turn be used to influence the planning of future cycling networks in Worcester to replace car trips. The city has a few dedicated bike lanes — including new lanes along Mill Street, Hamilton Street, Main Street and near Polar Park — but there are gaps in the network, with whole sections of Worcester missing safe routes.

According to data shared by MassBike, the Worcester e-bike riders logged a collective 47,300 miles between August 2022 and August 2023. Most of those miles were logged traveling to work and recreation at 14,000 and 18,000 miles respectively.

To put those miles in perspective, it's just under 8 miles to ride from Lake Quinsigamond along Belmont, Highland and Pleasant streets west to the Paxton town line — or about seven miles from East Mountain Street south to Webster Square.

Broken down by trips, the riders by far traveled mostly to get to work, followed by recreation and shopping. The data shows riders do bike less during the winter months, but colder weather isn't necessarily a barrier. The month with the most trips was November 2022 at just over 1,500.

Here's a look at the trips and miles by month:

According to MassBike, the riders have saved an estimated 26,267 pounds of carbon dioxide by riding the e-bikes instead of using personal vehicles.

E-bikes are an increasingly popular form of transportation. The bikes include batteries that help riders ascend steep hills, but some models are costly. Worcester's program distributed a few Momentum Pakyak e-bikes, which cost about $4,500 because it has the ability to carry cargo.

The program also has a social aspect. MassBike has hosted several group rides for the program participants, including one in August 2022 that included a trip to a Worcester Red Sox game. This month, the participants will ride the Blackstone River Bike Path on Oct. 28 dressed in Halloween costumes.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the types of bikes given to program participants. Four types of bikes were distributed, not just Momentum Pakyak bikes.