Can cargo bikes ride the net zero wave?

by Martin Read

assessment of the economics may crowd out cargo bikes’ otherwise compelling sustainability arguments. For a start, there are limits to the reach of cargo bikes compared with vans, and there is a whole new type of cycle storage necessary at both the beginning and end point of any typical cargo bike journey. The bikes’ storage limits are also a factor, their smaller capacities requiring more journeys, albeit with far lower cumulative emissions than vans.

The extent to which these challenges will affect a switch away from vans may depend on the facility. The three most obvious types of sites for which cargo bikes have potential to usurp larger vehicles are universities, industrial parks and hospitals, where their use across-site can have an immediate effect on air quality and emissions. Essentially, any organisation running its own on-site logistics operation is a strong contender to transition to cargo bikes.

FM service provider Bouygues Energies & Services (UK) has deployed cargo bikes on its contract with the NHS. Speaking on a recent webinar, the company’s regional director Simon Hayman said that Bouygues is the first UK FM provider to incorporate cargo bikes extensively into their fleet, having initially trialled four of the vehicles at the outset.

“We now have 300 vehicles in the fleet, of which 15 are e-cargo bikes,” said Hayman. “Two diesel vans have now gone from our healthcare sites, which is an important point because the NHS is speaking more and more about air quality in the surrounding areas to their hospitals.

“We’re running e-cargo bikes at two-thirds of our healthcare sites and we also run them on some other contracts such as with Westminster City Council. And the way we’ve integrated them into our fleet is by changing the way we work. They’re not just for delivering material from our stores out to hospital buildings, or for collecting material from local shops. They’re more for moving

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(SOURCE: around quickly and sustainably around our sites. We use them to collect waste from the bins, for example; instead of driving a three and a half ton diesel van around the site, we cycle around maybe once or twice a day collecting the rubbish.”

Cultural change

Some barriers seem reasonably straightforward to surmount, from the ability to charge and maintain the bikes onsite, to the adapting of delivery / service patterns to accommodate new ways of working. But others are more deep-rooted and human: not all van drivers will be happy with becoming ‘riders’, swapping the warmth of a cabin for the physical demands – albeit reduced by electric motors – of cargo bike riding. Nor will many be physically capable, electric drive chains notwithstanding, of becoming routine cargo bike riders. There’s also a new training requirement, and it’s not just about learning to ride the bikes, “It’s also about training on manual handling,” says Hayman; “how to load the bike, how to unload the bike and how to manoeuvre with a bike in its loaded or unloaded state, because it changes.”

It is also about inculcating a new culture. Facilities personnel who really take to cargo bike-riding tend to already enjoy cycling.

Immediate future

Challenges aside, there has been a burst of energy around the potential for cargo bikes in recent months. Beyond their use on fixed sites, they are already becoming more commonplace in major city centres like London and Manchester where their use is able to cut journey times for service and deliveries between buildings. They also offer a welcome flexibility in service provision as the prevailing mix of requirements evolves in order to adapt to new working patterns.

Event: The National Cargo Bike Summit 31 March, Guildhall, London cargobikesummit.uk