E-bikes enhance climate resilient urban mobility through heat adaptation as revealed by mediation analysis

Climate change intensifies urban heat stress, creating urgent challenges for sustainable mobility. Here we analyzed 4068 individuals’ heat adaptation behaviors across different transportation modes in Beijing. Our findings, derived from a causal mediation framework, suggest that e-bikes offer superior climate resilience compared to traditional cycling and walking. E-bike users demonstrated strong overall adaptation and adopted significant protective measures, contrasting with pedestrians and cyclists who both showed significant reductions in mobility. Demographic analysis revealed female users exhibited particularly strong adaptation responses, while the elderly showed concerning gaps in adaptation capacity across all transportation modes. Urban design features further influenced adaptation, with green spaces helping to sustain mobility. These findings, while context-specific to the Beijing study area, suggest that supporting e-bike infrastructure represents a promising strategy for maintaining urban mobility while enabling effective heat adaptation behaviors under increasing climate stress. E-bikes show stronger heat adaptation and steadier mobility than walking or cycling, according to a Beijing study of 4,068 travelers observed with panoramic cameras and AI-based behavior recognition during hot weather.