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The world is facing a change that needs to reduce the carbon output that humanity and its technologies produce. One such shift is the swap to non-fossil fueled cars and more sustainable ways to travel. Travelling by bicycle has for several decades been one of the most sustainable ways to travel and now the evolution of bicycling is upon us with the boom of electric bicycles.   

With the electric bicycle, you can push the active distance you can commute with a bicycle as you get a helping hand when traversing steep hills and a speed boost as well. Not to mention that you won't arrive drenched in sweat. As the evolution of sustainable traveling methods continue, how does the cities and urban areas around them evolve? As we see more charging posts for electrified cars and local buses, not much has been done within the spaces for electric bicycles. So, what is the future for the electric bicycle as a sustainable transport method and how should the municipalities and cities plan for it?   

By using content analysis on different kinds of plans that municipalities work with when planning for transport methods, the goal is to see how widespread planning for electric bicycles is and if there are any other factors affecting this. By using a pre-set list of keywords and a PDF reader, the goals were to search each plan for the keywords. A hypothesis is that if a municipality mentions the electric bicycle, then the municipality may plan for it. Two categories were made, one that mentions the electric bicycle for what it is and nothing more. The other if the municipality in some greater context describes planning for the electric bicycle.  

The result show that 24% of Swedish municipalities have plans that includes planning regarding the electric bicycle. Three factors were created that may explain why and if a municipality had planning or not for the electric bicycle and these were geographical aspects, the acceptance date of the plan and local factors.  

For the electric bicycle to have a place in the future as a sustainable transport method it needs to be recognized as one. As well as given the space within our municipalities and city's, to be able to be used safely and not pose a risk to other users. As the electric bicycle has other requirements on the infrastructure than regular bikes, they need more space, wider roads etc. That is why it is crucial to plan for them, if they are to be among the future sustainable transport methods.