Bikes for urban freight? - Experience for the European case

Abstract

In light of the necessity of finding new ways of reducing motorized road traffic, above all in city centers, in Europe focus is switching more and more to cycle freight. At the present time there is very little research work and systematically prepared findings on this area. Against this backdrop, this article demonstrates that the use of cycle freight is already widespread, although this is restricted to larger cities. The cause of this is the necessary density with respect to demand. Existing firms mostly operate as pure cycle freight operators. A parallel operation in fleets with motor vehicles has, however, been tried out successfully on several occasions. The availability of city-center hubs, to ensure the necessary efficiency, is one of the special requirements associated with the use of cargo cycles. Until now, clear reservations can still be found amongst customers, although it may be assumed that this is more a case of initial resistance, which could be overcome through information and advertising campaigns. In total, it is expected that around a quarter of city-center freight transport can be carried out by cycle. This will only work, however, if this mode of delivery is given greater consideration in city and transport planning. Initial estimates lead one to expect that the contribution to the reduction of air and noise pollution of cycle-based commercial traffic could be quite significant, although systematic analysis is also lacking here. To date there have been no studies on the effects of cycle freight on city center traffic.