Bicycles are widely recognized as an effective solution for reducing short-distance trip-related climate impacts and addressing sedentary lifestyle-caused chronic diseases. Yet, the historical patterns of global bicycle production, trade, stock, and use remain poorly characterized, preventing thorough investigation of its role in sustainable road transport transition. Here, based on a dynamic model and various data sources, we have compiled, to our knowledge, the first global dataset for bicycle ownership and use by country from 1962 to 2015. Our comparison between the historical development of per-capita bicycle ownership and car ownership reveals five varying types in an S-curve among different countries. High bicycle ownership does not necessarily lead to high bicycle use, which is instead still marginal in daily trips worldwide (<5% for most countries). A worldwide pro-bicycle policy and infrastructure development enabled modal shift like the Netherlands and Denmark can lead to significant untapped climate and health benefits.

Electric mobility (e-mobility) transition is vital for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but increases demand for minerals and results in substantial ‘hidden flows’—mined materials but unused, such as overburden, waste rock, and tailings—which remain underexamined compared to battery materials. Here, we develop a global mine-site-specific database and a supply-chain-based framework to quantify the total material requirement (TMR) of passenger car supply chain, using China, the world’s largest producer and consumer for new energy vehicle (NEV), as an example. We find that an NEV generates over three times the hidden flows of a conventional vehicle. These hidden flows exceed the eventual used resources by 35 times, with only 3% of the extracted materials entering the car sector. Notably, 48% of these hidden flows occur outside manufacturing countries, highlighting the global environmental burden of China’s e-mobility transition. Our findings provide insights for balancing greenhouse gas emissions reduction with other environmental sustainability issues in the shift to e-mobility.