Riding the e-bike wave

Dr John Chambers out riding his e-bike on the Otago Peninsula

Elizabeth Brown | Senior Communciations Advisor

The thing Dr John Chambers loves best about his new e-bike is that he doesn’t have to wear Lycra.

The long-serving Dunedin Emergency Medicine specialist and ASMS stalwart recently bought himself an e-bike using a discount available to all Southern DHB staff.

“I live on the Otago Peninsula, and there is a new cycling/walking path all the way out to Portobello. An e-bike overcomes the wind resistance and makes getting up the steep slope to the scenic Highcliff Road very easy.” In 2019 the Government negotiated bulk-purchase discounts on e-bikes. They were to be made available to interested workers in public sector organisations, including DHBs, councils and state sector agencies. The discounts range anywhere from $300 to $1200 and are offered through certain retailers. The aim of the initiative was to reduce pressure on car parking in places like busy hospitals, relieve traffic congestion, and foster individual health benefits.

Dr Chambers says staff at Southern DHB were informed by email when the scheme was announced, and there have been ongoing flyers, along with publicised opportunities to jump on an e-bike and give it a go. To get his $1200 discount he simply had to go to a specific retailer and show his Southern DHB staff ID.

However, while some DHBs around the country have joined the discount programme, it appears others have not. According to the Public Sector E-bike Scheme, run through Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, it is up to individual organisations to sign up and create a scheme for staff to access.

Any interested SMOs or SDOs should approach management (or sustainability managers in some DHBs) about whether a scheme is in place, or about getting the wheels moving to set one up. E-bike usage and popularity has soared in recent years, and while the drive for more sustainable transport should not be discouraged, it has spawned a new set of problems. ASMS members increasingly raise concerns about a lack of bike storage and charging facilities. It is an issue that ASMS has been pushing DHBs to tackle and will continue to do so.

“E-biking has become the primary mode of transport to work for me, but there are increasing numbers of e-bikes in the bike cage and it’s difficult to find a park after 7.50 am,” says Auckland City Hospital specialist Dr Simon Fu. Down south too, Dr Chambers says most of his colleagues now have e-bikes. “The big advantage of an e-bike is the ability to go pretty fast without the need for body-hugging Lycra. This suits me as an older doctor with modest proportions,” he says. To find out more about the e-bike discounts go to the Waka Kotahi website www.nzta.govt.nz and search for ‘Public sector e-bike scheme’.