Electric bike library charges into Tuggeranong

Canberra’s electric bike library has expanded southside with a new location in Kambah.

The Canberra Electric Bike Library, operated by SEE-Change and Switched on Cycles and funded by the ACT Government, launched in 2020, is based at the Downer Community Hall in Canberra’s inner north.

As the name implies, it allows Canberrans to borrow from a range of electrically assisted bikes for 14 days, from standard two-wheelers to those designed for carrying loads or family bikes for transporting children.

Accessories such as child seats, panniers, lights and locks are also available.

The hire itself is free, but there’s a $35 insurance fee for individuals and $50 for families, payable to Pedal Power ACT.

Over the past five years, more than 800 Canberrans have borrowed a bike from the Downer Library, but more and more inquiries were coming from down south.

“Demand for the library’s electric bikes is high across Canberra, and yet it can be really difficult for people from Canberra’s south, in particular, to come all the way to Downer to collect and return their loaned electric bike,” Downer Library officer Mackenzie Martin says.

“Ideally, we want people to be able to ride the bikes home after picking them up.”

It’s taken a few years of work and government approvals, but a second library site is now in Tuggeranong, at the Diversity ACT Hub at 8 Laidlaw Place, Kambah. It is open every Friday from 2 pm to 6 pm.

“We had to make sure we had a location that could safely house the bikes, as well as serve as a base of operations … and make sure we had enough bikes so we could comfortably split our fleet,” Mackenzie says.

Mackenzie puts the increasing interest down to a mix of things.

“There’s a wider understanding and interest in electric vehicles in general, which is really pushing people towards electric bikes as alternatives for second cars or even cars,” she says.

“I think as more and more people borrow a bike, more people learn about the bikes and become interested in them.

“And the fact there are now so many more options for electric bikes than there were five years ago – it’s a broader market, definitely.”

Of all the various types, Mackenzie expects the commuter bikes to remain the most popular.

“They always get a lot of interest because they’re easy to use, whereas the long-tail bikes are heavier by the fact they’re bigger bikes, but there is still definitively interest in the long-tails as alternatives for cars, for grocery trips or taking kids to school,” she says.

“Every bike has its audience.”

The southside library officially opened on 2 September, to coincide with Kambah’s 50th-anniversary celebrations.

Mackenzie says they’ll focus on building demand in Kambah and in Downer but would also “love to have more satellite libraries around the place”, particularly around Belconnen or Gungahlin.

“We just have to wait to see how this one goes.”

For more information, visit the Canberra Electric Bike Library.