Words by Smiley Team
Cargo bikes are by far the greenest (and fastest) way to transport goods across cities.
That’s according to a new report, which found that not only are the bikes 60% faster than vans, they also produce 90% fewer emissions. This means air pollution, which is at illegal levels in many cities, can be significantly reduced.
The benefit of cargo bikes for speed is that they can bypass traffic, which vans are often stuck in, as well as take shortcuts through smaller streets to get to the customer quicker.
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The study, run by the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy, analysed GPS data from cargo bike delivery company Pedal Me. Researchers compared deliveries on 100 days with routes that vans would have taken. The cargo bikes saved nearly four tonnes of CO2, even when accounting for the food the riders consumed.
“Recent estimates from Europe suggest that up to 51% of all freight journeys in cities could be replaced by cargo bike,” said Ersilia Verlinghieri at the Active Travel Academy at the University of Westminster and lead author of the report.
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“So it’s remarkable to see that, if even just a portion of this shift were to happen in London, it would be accompanied by not only dramatic reduction of CO2 emissions, but also contribute to a considerable reduction of risks from air pollution and road traffic collisions, whilst ensuring an efficient, fast and reliable urban freight system.”
These benefits are not just specific to London, the report added, with the 100,000 cargo bikes introduced in Europe between 2018 and 2020 estimated to be saving, each month, the same amount of CO2 needed to fly about 24,000 people from London to New York and back.
Image credit: David Fuentes Prieto / Shutterstock
