How cargo bikes are changing the way people work
From Road.cc
From electricians to plumbers and gardeners, more and more people are using pedal power for work
One of the more common objections you will hear about efforts to promote active travel or restrict motor traffic, whether through the implementation of low traffic neighbourhoods, or congestion charging schemes or those based on vehicle emissions, is the impact they might have on tradespeople who rely on their vans to get to their jobs, and who cannot be expected to do so by bicycle.
But increasingly, electricians, plumbers, gardeners and others, as well as major businesses are taking to two (or sometimes three or four) wheels to carry out their work, and as this image posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter by Richmond Cycling Campaign makes clear, you can shift a lot more by bike than many people might imagine.
Ferrying big loads around by bike – something we are big fans of here at road.cc, and which was featured in a blog post by the author of this article earlier today – is becoming an increasingly common way for companies to get goods around our cities, often using specialist companies such as Pedal Me, which has even used its cargo bikes to perform office moves such as for Fusion Media, owned and run by Adam Tranter, the active travel commissioner for the West Midlands.
As part of its Transport Decarbonisation Plan (link is external)published in 2021 under then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the UK Government encouraged the use of electric cargo bikes for last mile deliveries, and from florists to online grocers, many businesses are increasingly turning to them as a way of quickly getting purchases to customers in our congested cities.
Photo by Mark Stosberg on Unsplash
