Scotland are ramping up their plans to increase active travel in the 2020's by making an extra £700,000 available to fund an interest-free loan scheme for the purchase of e-bikes.
New Glasgow electric hire bikes are being used twice as much as regular bikes
The Herald reports that Scots will be able to take out the loan with a repayment period of up to four years, which can support the purchase of two e-bikes capped at £3,000 each, one family e-cargo bike capped at £6,000 or one adaptive e-bike, also capped at £6,000. The scheme has already helped over 740 people buy e-bikes across the country, with Tim Anderson of the Energy Saving Trust (the company that manages the e-bike loans) confident this new cash injection will further boost uptake: “The additional £700,000 of e-bike loan funding will enable even more people to access the assisted cycling offered by e-bikes.
“The interest-free loan supports the spread of the cost of the initial purchase, while e-bikes are becoming an increasingly popular option for sustainable and active travel.”
It's just one of the numerous initiatives across Scotland to move more people towards active travel and public transport, with a successful e-bike hire scheme in Glasgow inspiring another one soon to be launching in Edinburgh - the Just Eat Cycles e-bike fleet will number 168, almost treble the number of Nextbike e-bikes currently dotted across Glasgow.
