As the Town of Chapel Hill continues to implement their “Everywhere to Everywhere” greenways project, one of the challenges is convincing more people to utilize bike and pedestrian transportation instead of getting into a car. That led to the establishment of the Chapel Hill E-Bike Lending Library, which launched in April.
The concept is simple; after filling out an online form, Chapel Hill residents 18 and older can go to either of two bike shops in town and check out an e-bike for up to seven days. Brennan Bauma helped set up the e-bike library as Chapel Hill’s Sustainability Program Analyst.
“The Chapel Hill Town Council have been really focused on providing people with options to get around town without using their vehicle,” he tells Chapelboro. “About 18 months ago, the Office of Sustainability got some federal funding, and that gave us the opportunity to jump in and lend our hand in making this work.”
While many towns have a ride-share bike program,
Chapel Hill’s e-bike library is something a little different.
“We were looking,” Bauma says, “to give people a little bit longer of an experience with the bike, have different kinds of bikes, and have it be a little bit more like trying out what it would be like to own an e-bike.”
Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson reflects the Town Council’s enthusiasm for the project, as she shared during her weekly segment with 97.9 The Hill.
“I am so excited about that program,” she said. “We are working in all sorts of ways to not just expand our greenway system, but also to make it really accessible for people to use e-bikes and see how easy it is to get from A to B.”
The process is quick and easy. Once the online form is filled out, the town recommends calling the bike shop you plan on borrowing from to make sure a bike is available. So far there have been plenty of bikes available even though the program is off to a strong start.
“The Bicycle Chain has been a great partner,” Bauma says, “and so has Trek Chapel Hill on Elliott [Road.] The teams there have really embraced this program.”
Sarah Fountain works at the Bicycle Chain of Franklin Street. She says it has been really busy since the program launched.
“A lot busier than we thought it would be,” Fountain adds. “People have been pretty stoked. A lot of people have been excited to try one out if they’re thinking about buying an e-bike, but they want to see what it’s actually like.”
Each bike shop has three options available for borrowing, Bauma says.
“Outside of the standard e-bike,” he describes, “we have a cargo e-bike, which is a heavier thing, but it’s got bags in the front and the back if you want to try grocery shopping with it. We also have an e-trike; a three-wheeled motor-assisted tricycle for folks with balance challenges, or who just want to take it easier and find their way into cycling again.”
Cargo e-bike
Through the lending program, e-bikes can be checked out for a few hours, a whole day, or even up to a week. Chapel Hill residents 18 years-old and older can fill out this form to start the process, and people can learn more about the program on the town government’s website.
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