The current mobility system in Texel consist of a mix of car and public transport vehicles (boats, busses, taxis) based on fossil fuel. Next to this already extensive use is made of bikes, owned by islanders and tourists, and rental bikes (total 10.000 on the island). Electric bikes are also on rent in several shops. The island has 135 km of dedicated bike paths, connecting all villages and tourist destinations.
Next to electrical/hydrogen/biofuel cars, buses and taxis, in particular the introduction of electrical/fuel cell bikes is a very interesting option even for a short term introduction, because it would be built upon existing electrical mobility.
Which are the potentials?
- Average distance covered during a day is under 30 km, which is less than the autonomy of most power assisted bikes already on the market;
- excellent mapping of bike paths makes it possible to spot best locations for loading stations, grid connected or stand alone;
- large diffusion of photovoltaic installations on Texel also for standalone situations suggests this technology can be installed to loading stations close to beach or natural parks access points;
- the bike rental shops are associated in a network that, if optimized, could backup for assistance, and eventually loading points;
- since loading time for most batteries is too high for a short break on the way (between 2 and 4 hours on average), there could be instead of loading stations points where an empty battery can be returned and replaced by a full one;
- bike rental companies and tank stations are possible locations for grid connected energy supply that wouldn’t need radical infrastructural renovation for it;
- It fits within the energy plans of Texel to replace traditional electricity supply with electricity coming from renewable sources.
Socio-Technical Transitions
What are the interlinkages between new innovations and the user environment? How these potentials above can imply a sustainable mobility plan? If users can be distinguished to locals (islanders) who are permanent (long term use) and to tourists who are temporary (short term use), then how the diffusion and use of the emerging mobility can be achieved? Furthermore, when it comes for installation/realization what might be the possible barriers between institutional and economical systems?
Link to the article: http://www.destilink.net/fileadmin/GoodPracticeExamples/Sustainable_mobility_system_on_the_Dutch_island_of_Texel.pdf
