Since 2018 Big Street Bikers have been on a mission to make e-biking affordable, accessible and cool. What began as an electric bike gang with founders Cleve Cameron, Matt Pony and Andrew Charlesworth running solar-powered service stations called Rechargeries and selling e-bikes on subscription, has now evolved into the world leading network of Locky Docks with over 100 locations in 12 cities across Aotearoa New Zealand. 

What the Locky Dock?

The main barriers for many people switching to e-biking for their daily mode are theft anxiety, low awareness of safe bike routes and electric convenience. Big Street Bikers (BSB) created Locky Docks to solve these problems and do it in a way that has made it free for anybody to use whether they’re on an e-bike or BMX. The media funded business model has meant there’s no cost burden on councils or property owners while providing the infrastructure and service as a free public amenity. This is made possible through strategic partnerships with Mercury Energy, central government, councils, oOh! media, Shout media and the many advertisers on the Locky Dock media network.

Operating in 12 cities across the country, Locky Docks are nodes of electric convenience at destinations where people gather… gyms, malls, universities, pubs, venues. Brands and advertisers love Locky Docks as it’s media with a purpose, in high dwell-time locations, delivering tangible connection to the community. Locky Docks are signifiers and storytellers for a post-petrol transport system and 21st century urban lifestyle.

The Rechargery & Ride-to-Own e-Bikes

The Rechargery, a solar-powered service station for e-bikes, on Auckland’s Viaduct and Aotea Square. 2018-2021. Here Big Street Bikers (BSB) pioneered e-bike ‘Ride-to-Own’ subscriptions for $30 a week and after thousands of conversations with people considering switching to biking, developed the idea of Locky Docks.

Leading a Cultural Shift

From creating the Breakthrough Bike City of the Year Award, to the The Big Switch campaign, Carbon Zero Heroes, or Two Wheeled Public Transport… over the years BSB’s programme of innovation, interventions and creative advocacy has played a key role in the uptake of biking as a daily mode in Aotearoa.

Here’s further reading on Two Wheeled Public Transport and eBike Subscription interventions.

So, where is Big Street?

Every city has it’s big street. 5th Ave in New York, George St in Sydney, Karangahape Rd in Auckland. The idea of Big Street originates from the novel ‘Beop!’ published by Cleve Cameron in 2004. In the novel, the locals on Big Street are experimenting with battery recharging stations. The story of Big Street Bikers and Locky Docks is in some ways a realisation of the Beopian idea of Fantastic Reality. The idea that reality is made up and up for the making. It’s a case of art instigating life.