Dott and BAQME partner to launch e-bike and e-cargo service in Belgium

Credit: Dott

European micro-mobility company Dott has announced that it is partnering with Dutch e-cargo bike-sharing company, BAQME, to launch a first-of-its-kind service in the city of Ghent in Belgium. As part of the service, both companies will offer a fleet of e-bikes and e-cargo bikes to riders across the Belgian city. 

As of 10 June 2022, Dott will deploy nearly 200 e-bikes in the city centre. Adopting a phased approach to ensure a safe user uptake, the micro-mobility operator will gradually increase to 600 e-bikes over the course of the first month of service, while simultaneously increasing the service area boundaries.

With BAQME’s e-cargo bikes, citizens of Ghent will be able to transport things in an active and sustainable way through the city. The e-cargo bike fleet will gradually increase to 100 vehicles during Summer 2022.

This partnership aims to lower barriers to access by offering diversity in vehicle form factors, helping bring more diverse populations into micro-mobility and positioning Ghent as a significant player in multimodal sustainable transportation.

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“We’re at the forefront of maturing micro-mobility, expanding our ridership well beyond early adopters to free cities with clean rides for everyone,” said Joram Van Bouwel, Dott’s Area Manager for the Flanders Region. “With the launch of Dott e-bikes across Ghent, both in the city centre and in the suburbs, alongside BAQME’s e-cargo bikes, we look forward to supporting Ghent’s reputation as a premier cycling city ahead of Velo-City 2024.”

“With a shared vision of a world where cities are designed for people, not cars, BAQME found a natural partner in Dott for the launch of our first service outside of the Netherlands,” said Berenice van Gessel, Co-Founder of BAQME. “The addition of our fleet of e-cargo bikes will give Ghent residents more options to move sustainably around their city, helping them replace car trips even when they’re travelling with groceries, luggage or personal items.”

Both Dott’s e-bikes and BAQME’s e-cargo bikes will help close the gender gap in micro-mobility identified in a report Dott released in May 2022, in partnership with UK-based Steer Group. The study, which surveyed women across France, Italy and the UK, found that one of the top three barriers preventing women from using micro-mobility was the inability to safely carry personal items. The mixed fleet of e-bikes and e-cargo bikes aims to provide alternative solutions that expand micro-mobility’s reach.

Ride passes—designed to extend the reach of local public transportation by mirroring its costs—are available for both e-bikes and e-cargo bikes to reduce costs for commuters and regular riders.

All vehicle repairs, maintenance and logistics will be handled in-house by specialists at Dott’s warehouses, ensuring safety, reliability and quality. Vehicles are built to last and repaired where necessary, and any parts that cannot be reused are recycled.

This launch follows Dott’s recent win in the city of Ghent’s competitive tender process that resulted in only three successfully permitted operators.