Pedal power is getting an electric boost.

Key points: Currently only 1pc of commuters use bikes, but this could rise with E-bikes making longer rides easier

Currently only 1pc of commuters use bikes, but this could rise with E-bikes making longer rides easier A single traffic lane, 3.5m wide, can move 2,000 people in cars an hour, but 14,000 on bikes

A single traffic lane, 3.5m wide, can move 2,000 people in cars an hour, but 14,000 on bikes The Productivity Commission and Grattan Institute argue a congestion tax would encourage more commuters onto bikes and free up city roads.

One in three bikes sold in Europe is an 'e-bike', with a battery and electric motor boosting the ability of cyclists to get further, faster and with less effort. Now they're taking off here.

"They're as slick as a typical car," said Gary Cookson, managing director of Cargocycles.

"They've got LCD displays, USB power-ports — they can just jump on and 'drive', effectively, and charge the battery once or twice a week."

The Melbourne-based retailer has seen the rapid advances in technology and an expansion in its uses, powering heavier bikes that carry families and cargo as well as lighter commuter and mountain bike frames that "smooth out" hills and longer commutes.

"A common customer is someone who's happy to ride six to seven kilometres to work, but suddenly they're moving a little further out, to another suburb further out," he said.

"The electric bike takes [the distance] away from them. Suddenly they can commute 20 kilometres comfortably."

Cargocycles managing director Gary Cookson sas e-bikes are as slick as a typical car. ( Supplied: Gary Cookson )

Clogged city streets

The advances come as the chair of the Productivity Commission — essentially, a think-tank for the Government — is urging cities to impose a congestion charge, a toll for vehicle access to their central business districts, to raise revenue and nudge people out of their cars.

Increased congestion on arterial roads and in public transport might do some of the Productivity Commission's work for it.

Across the nation, only around 1 per cent of workers use bikes to commute on a daily basis. But in our densest cities, that number is larger, and rising.

"What we have seen is a huge concentration the number of people, particularly in the inner-city areas, coming into the central business district on bikes," said Craig Richards, chief executive of lobby group Bicycle Network.

"So in Melbourne, for instance, up to over 10, sometimes 15 per cent of people coming into the city [from those areas] are coming in by bike."

Efficient people movers

In cities like our most populous capitals, Melbourne and Sydney, promoting cycling is proving to be a cheap and fast way of getting more people into the city.

That's because it's a very efficient way to move people in a small space.

A single lane of traffic can move around 2,000 people an hour in cars, and around 9,000 people an hour if it's used by buses.

That same lane, used by bikes, can move around 14,000 people an hour.

A greater number — 19,000 — can move if the space is converted to be used solely by pedestrians, but they're limited by how far they can comfortably walk. Trains and trams are the most 'space-efficient' at moving commuters, shifting up to 22,000 people an hour, but come with a billion-dollar cost and years of disruption to install.

The number of people crossing a 3.5m wide space in an urban environment during a one-hour period. ( Source: UITP )

"We are [facing] congestion issues and when it comes to bike riding, it's incredibly space-efficient," Mr Richards added.

"Our cities, particularly in Australia, are going to grow enormously. We need to be very conscious about space efficiency."

Since London introduced a congestion charge in 2003, congestion — the time a trip takes due to traffic — has fallen by 30 per cent.

The volume of cars and trucks is down, with that space given to footpaths and bike lanes.

Singapore, Stockholm and Oslo have also imposed congestion charges. New York City's will begin operating soon.

Change in commuter behaviour is needed

Grattan Institute transport and cities program director Marion Terrill said imposing an obvious cost — like a congestion charge — forces people weighing up how to get into cities to think about their choices in ways that indirect costs like unreliable travel times don't.

Grattan Institute's Marion Terrill says a congestion taxes would encourge the uptake of bikes and free-up clogged roads. ( Supplied: Grattan Institute )

"It encourages people to think about their own contribution to the overall congestion," she said.

"And some people who can be flexible will decide to save money by going at an off-peak time, or taking a different mode of transport, a different route — or not even going at all.

Ms Terrill said the greatest barrier to imposing congestion charges in Australian cities is fear — and we aren't accounting for the benefits.

"Just as we thought it was going to be the end of the world when plastic bags were charged for and then the next day it's all over, it could be like that in cities that impose congestion charges — that people are quite nervous and then afterwards they're very popular," she said.

"What you don't see in advance is that you do get something for the charge and that is that the roads flow more quickly and it's a more predictable trip time."

Cheap alternative

Ms Terrill said cycling rates in our larger cities are close to those in similar-sized metropolises like Boston, Chicago and London, but far below European capitals like Amsterdam and Copenhagen where almost a third of movement is on bikes.

The low cost of installing cycling infrastructure made it a popular choice for increasingly busy cities, she added.

Until congestion charges reshape transport, electric bikes might be part of the congestion solution.

The bikes start at around $2,000 and rise to $6,000 for vehicles that carry whole families but are so cheap to run that comparisons with cars don't work.

"A charge costs 25-30c, a full charge," said Mr Cookson. "And you'll get 60-kilometres (of powered riding) out of that".