The rapid rise of e-bikes in recent years, especially among teenagers, has revolutionised urban mobility, offering an eco-friendly and efficient way to navigate our communities. However, with this surge in popularity comes increased need for safety awareness.
Reports indicated some members of the community were no longer feeling safe walking on our footpaths due to the speed, lack of experience and lack of respect for others displayed by some riders.
Northern Beaches Council recognised the need for an impactful community awareness and safety campaign primarily aimed at educating young riders and resulting in behavioural change.
The eight-week campaign was a collaborative effort between Council, local schools, NSW Police and bike shops ensuring a broad reach and impact.
To ensure our education aims were achieved, Council collaborated with a behavioural science agency, Behavioural Architects, to design a robust campaign to cut through to the youth. ‘Know the e-bike code’ is a succinct, eye catching and stimulating campaign to drive the key messaging: Slow down to walking place; ring your bell; be ready for sudden change.
Council developed educational resources and content specific for the audience: e-bike riders, schools, parents, bike shops and police. The campaign covered outdoor activations, school engagement, social and digital coverage, public and media relations and targeted, localised advertising partnerships.
One of the campaign highlights was the media launch which resulted in high profile engagement by prime-time television including Channel 9 News and Channel 10’s The Project. The media coverage reached an estimated audience of 2.78 million with a value of $760K. The videos on Instagram and YouTube had 267K video plays with the first video seeing more than 30K replays – the highest played content on Northern Beaches Council’s Instagram channel.
The initiative has proven to be a resounding success, setting a new standard for youth engagement in public safety and prompting the NSW Government to investigate the use of e-bikes and e-scooters across the state and existing regulations. Additionally, other Councils took inspiration from the Northern Beaches campaign and have launched their own e-bike educational campaigns.
