<
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-25/london-cargo-bikes-rising-to-curb-pollution-not-just-in-ulez-areas>
"A peloton of 80 cargo cycles traverses London’s streets one August afternoon.
Among them are the familiar trikes of a “zero emissions courier,” beside the
two-wheelers of a cycling electrician. Dalston Egg Shop owner Simon Boot says
he can carry the weekly delivery of 1,400 eggs without breakages. Another
machine, with a sealed box at the front, carries garments between high-end
retail stores and city tailors. One more, with a self-contained passenger
trailer, carries Member of Parliament Stella Creasy and her daughter.
This annual cargo bike ride may form an unusual sight, but most Londoners
wouldn’t blink at these machines individually. According to Transport for
London’s smart traffic cameras, newly trained to differentiate passing cargo
cycles from regular ones, the former increased by 73% in inner London in the
year to 2023 and 63% citywide. For the UK’s cycle industry, reeling from a
post-pandemic contraction stoked by culture wars and decades of patchy
infrastructure investment, cargo bikes are one — if not the only — bright spot.
While still relatively new, this outing shows cargo bikes already do a range of
the heavy lifting that makes the city tick.
Coming in a variety of shapes and sizes, many increasingly feature a
battery-powered motor to assist travel. The Urban Arrow Tender 2500 carries up
to 300 kilograms (661 pounds) — which is significant given that’s the average
payload of the 39% of delivery vans traversing London’s roads at three-quarters
empty. Sales and maintenance of family cargo bikes, increasingly seen as a
cost-effective alternative to a second car, are helping keep bike shops afloat.
“E-cargo bikes were a nothing four to five years ago, now they’ve boomed to
become 40% plus of our business by volume,” says Dan Parsons, at retailer Fully
Charged London Bridge, adding sales are split fairly equally between families
and businesses. The shop offers a play area for kids and test drives to help
customers choose the right model.
Where cargo bikes have the most potential, at least for businesses, is in city
centers. Currently 90% of all goods in London are transported by road. TfL
estimates up to 17% of van kilometers in central London could be replaced by
cargo cycle by 2030, and by 4% across the city. This could not only help
improve air quality and cut road casualties, it argues, but remove 30,000
metric tons of carbon emissions annually."
Via David Byrne at
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-california-rat-poison-law-mountain-lions/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
