CHIPS partner the Province of Gelderland celebrated the finish of their first e-bike pilot at the Van Hall Larenstein School, on the 4^th of July. For the duration of the pilot- which was launched in September 2016, the participants were able to ride an e-bike, to bridge the 6 kilometres between the Arnhem Central Station and the Van Hall Larenstein University Campus.

In context of the CHIPS project, the Province of Gelderland is researching the connection between public transport and cycle highways. The objective is to determine whether people would prefer a multimodal trip.

This particular location was deemed relevant as a test site, as the buses connecting Arnhem Central Station and Van Hall Larenstein, are currently overcrowded. This pilot was therefore designed to increase the capacity between the two aforementioned locations. The Province of Gelderland wanted to offer a healthy, reliable and flexible alternative to employees and students previously commuting by car, train and bus on this route.

Groups of 25 employees or students, were granted a fleet of 21 e-bikes and 4 speed Pedelecs, for a period of 10 weeks. The objective was to collect survey data for three points in time: before participation, immediately upon completion of participation, and two months after completion. Thus, the primary condition for participating in the pilot was the completion of three surveys for the three intervals, and accepting the installation of a GPS tracker on the e-bike.

The purpose of collecting data for these three points in time, was to collect insight on how people used to travel, how access to the e-bike has changed travel behaviour, and whether the pilot has long-term effects.

A preliminary finding is that there is a division between commuters who decided to use the e-bike for the intended purpose and commuters who were enabled to cycle the full distance between home and Van Hall Larenstein. The final results from this pilot will be captured in the Cycling Highway Manual.

In addition to celebrating the successful pilot, the Province of Gelderland has handed over the 21 e-bikes to the school. This means that enthusiastic participants can still use the e-bikes for the next school year. Valuable measures of the pilot are therefore retained.