CIHT Statement

The opinions expressed in the roundtable discussion section are those of the roundtable attendees. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the CIHT or its members. Neither the CIHT nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Key messages from the roundtable:

• There needs to be greater encouragement for cargo bike adoption.

• There needs to be a more level playing field between small cargo bike companies and large delivery companies that primarily use vans.

• Cargo bike riders need to be better supported by operators and the UK government.

  Better physical and digital cycling infrastructure should be provided to encourage and foster an even larger cycling culture within the UK.

• Stakeholders must come together to provide a united voice on common issues.

• Behaviour change is needed within the general public, so the seriousness of climate change is realised and there is less resistance to net zero related policies. 

Background

Why freight decarbonisation is important 

Reducing emissions and reaching net zero by 2050 is a very significant target the UK needs to meet, not just for legal reasons but to also leave the planet in a liveable condition for future generations.

Yet, despite many significant actions and programs seeking to reduce emissions, between 2021 – 2022 carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector increased by an estimated 3.8% with transportation remaining the largest emitting sector in the UK, accounting for 34.0% of carbon dioxide emissions in 2022. 

Emissions relating to freight (i.e., the delivery of goods) play a significant role in these figures. According to Dr Daniela Paddeu of the Centre for Transport and Society at UWE, freight transport is responsible for one third of the overall emissions from transport in the UK, and road freight accounts for 77% of that.

The impact of freight emissions is becoming an increasingly more important issue. During the pandemic, the rate of online shopping increased and has remained at elevated levels ever since, with 26.5 % of all retail purchases occurring online in 2022. This means delivery services are in higher demand and will need to use more vans to keep up with the rate of online shopping, which further increases congestion and emissions. This is already being evidenced, with van traffic increasing by 5.8% between 2021 – 2022 and estimates of van traffic are due to be 7.6% higher for 2022 than before the pandemic. 

The use of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) will go some way to help reduce freight emissions, but despite the freight transition to ZEVs beginning to take speed, the market share of electric vans is still low, at 5.5%.  Additionally, there is not one silver bullet when it comes to transport decarbonisation, and a multitude of solutions need to be provided. This was made clear in the government’s 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan where cargo bikes were highlighted as an additional mode  of sustainable freight transport. 

The benefits of cargo bikes

Cargo bikes are bikes that are designed to carry bulkier or heavier loads than a traditional push bike, and they can be either powered fully manually by the cyclist or with assistance from a battery (often referred to as an e-cargo bike). There are many makes and models of cargo bikes which can be used to transport a variety of things from children to cement mixers. 

A clear benefit of cargo bikes is that they produce zero direct emissions (emissions produced by the vehicle itself), and much lower indirect emissions compared to vans and electric vans.  There are also a number of additional benefits to using cargo bikes, especially for last mile deliveries (delivery from a local depot or transport hub to the final destination, e.g., a person’s home or business).  

Safety

When compared to vans, cargo bikes travel at lower speeds and are lighter, meaning they are less likely to cause serious harm if involved in a collision with a pedestrian.

Efficiency 

Cargo bikes are more efficient than vans in city centres. A 2021 study by climate charity Possible found that cargo bikes had a higher average speed and dropped off 10 parcels an hour, compared with six for vans. Reasons for this could be because cargo bikes can take shorter routes and utilise bus lanes, cycle lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods.
Cargo bikes are also a more efficient use of road space, taking up less volume than a van when travelling on a road or when parked.

Cost

Cargo bikes cost less to purchase and run compared to a van, as evidenced by Transport for London in their response to the UK government’s call for evidence on ‘The Last Mile – Delivering goods more sustainably’.

Figure 1: Evidence submitted to by Transport for London in their response to the UK government’s call for evidence on ‘The Last Mile – Delivering goods more sustainably’ on the price of purchasing and running a cargo bike compared to a small van. 
NB: EAPC stands for Electrically Assisted Pedal Bike. 

Roundtable discussion 

Roadblocks halting delivery and how to overcome them

CIHT held a roundtable with industry experts to gather information on what they believe is currently halting the advancement of cargo bikes. 
The roundtable attendees came up with an indicative timeline of issues (Figure 2) that need to be solved and categorised them according to which will be the least and most challenging to action. These challenges can be summarised into four main categories:

• Economic
• Infrastructure
• Worker safety
• Narrative 

Figure 2: Timeline put together by the roundtable attendees on the timeline of what needs to be achieved to advance cargo bikes, and how challenging each solution will be to implement. 

Economics

There needs to be greater encouragement for cargo bike adoption, as well as a more level playing field between small cargo bike companies and large delivery companies that primarily use vans. This can be encouraged through subsidies, incentives and taxation. 

• Subsidies
  Switching from vans to cargo bikes will require re-training existing delivery drivers or hiring new staff which will require upfront costs and resources which will be more of a burden for smaller businesses. Therefore, the UK government should provide subsidies to businesses looking to purchase cargo bikes. The financial benefit of these subsidies should be more substantial than existing subsidies for fleet electrification to promote a modal shift away from vehicles, towards cargo bikes. 
• Incentives
  The 2050 net zero deadline is not enough of an incentive for delivery businesses to switch from vans to cargo bikes. Instead, additional incentives such as progressive procurement frameworks that are focused on providing social value and building community wealth should be considered by everyone involved in procuring contracts. By doing this, contracts would be awarded to delivery services that use cargo bikes on the basis that they are less polluting, safer for pedestrians and take up less road space, so are better for communities. 
  
  
• Taxation 
  In Barcelona they introduced an ‘Amazon Tax’, i.e., a financial levy on large retailers that use public space to deliver products purchased online. The purpose of this taxation was to discourage large delivery companies that dominate the market and take up significant amounts of public space to deliver goods. Hence, the tax is not applied when cargo bikes are used or when deliveries are left at collection points rather than taken to a person’s home. Taxations like this could be something the UK government considers doing as another measure to incentivise the use of cargo bikes. 

Worker safety 

Cargo bike riders need to be better supported by operators and the UK government. This can be achieved by providing more training and equipment for cargo bike riders, ending the reliance on the gig economy within the delivery sector, providing more support to female and non-binary cargo bike riders and raising the standard of HR policies within delivery companies.  

• Training and equipment  
  There are assumptions that people who like cycling and can ride a traditional bike will know how to ride a cargo bike and make cargo bike deliveries and these assumptions do not consider that riding a cargo bike is a highly skilled job. Hence, there is a lack of comprehensive training for riders which creates unsafe working conditions. To improve this, operators should meet their employees’ training needs and provide riders with fully functional cargo bikes and other relevant equipment (e.g. high quality weatherproof clothing and a company phone). 
  
  
• Gig-economy 
  A large part of the logistics sector relies on the gig economy, where temporary and part-time positions are filled by people who are self-employed and work on zero-hour contracts. This creates unfair working conditions where delivery drivers have little job security for low-paid work. (54% of delivery drivers reported the reason for taking on more hours was due to fear of losing future work, highlighting their precarious situation and the uneven nature of ‘flexibility’). 
  
  
• Equity, diversity and inclusion 
  The cargo bike logistics sector is a white male dominated sector. Female and nonbinary riders report that interactions with other road users are highly gendered, and more likely to involve verbal, physical or sexual harassment. There is also a lack of public toilets and appropriate workplace facilities which have a disproportionate impact on female and nonbinary riders. Therefore, without any explicit focus on equity, diversity and inclusion within the cargo bike sector it is difficult to recruit and retain more diverse riders. 
  This is one of the harder issues to solve, as equity, diversity and inclusion issues in the cargo bike logistics sector both reflect and reinforce wider inequalities in cycling and logistics. 
  
  
• Health and wellbeing 
  A lot of the time, cardiovascular health and muscle strength are promoted as benefits to cargo bike delivery riders. This ignores the physically demanding nature of the job, including frequent experiences of road danger on car-centric streets, which has an adverse impact on riders’ mental health and general wellbeing. Operators can take immediate actions to improve rider health and wellbeing through their HR policies, such as paying a living wage, paying riders for breaks, guaranteeing paid sick leave and eliminating commission-per-drop payment models. 
  Operators should also encourage riders to report near misses and road aggressions which can be passed onto local and transport authorities, as well as cycle campaign groups. The police should also take a much more consistent effort to tackle road aggression. 

Infrastructure and logistics 

Better physical and digital cycling infrastructure should be provided to encourage and foster an even larger cycling culture within the UK. This can be encouraged through route planning software designed for cargo bike riders and cycle infrastructure that accommodate cycles which are wider and longer than average.

• Reoptimizing logistics 
  Existing mapping or route planning software available for delivery companies to plan where and when to make deliveries is based on vehicle journey data, even when planning a bicycle route. This can be dangerous, for example cargo bike riders can be directed the wrong way down one-way streets, which is usually okay for regular bikes, but not for larger cargo bikes. As well as being unsafe, it is also less efficient and impractical for cargo bikes to use the same route as a van. Therefore, specific route planning software needs to be developed with the potential of cargo bikes in mind which plan safe routes for cargo bikes and demonstrate how efficient these routes can be compared to deliveries made by van. 
  
  
• Cargo bike infrastructure  
  On the whole, cycle-friendly infrastructure such as cycle lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods help cargo bike riders to be more efficient than van drivers. However, many cycle lanes are too narrow to comfortably fit a cargo bike, especially when making turns as cargo bikes are much longer than an average push bike. This then forces cargo bikes onto the carriageway and causes a potential point of conflict between them and other road users. 
  LTN 1/20 Cycle infrastructure design states that cycle lanes should ideally be 2 meters wide so that they accommodate non-standard cycles (such as cargo bikes and cycles used by disabled cyclists). Despite this, many cycle lanes are less than 2 meters wide.  
  Local authorities should be encouraged to provide accessible cycling infrastructure which accommodates non-standard cycles. 

Narrative challenges

Stakeholders must come together to provide a united voice on common issues and help drive behaviour change within the general public so the seriousness of climate change is realised. 

• United sector approach 
  An alliance is needed between cargo bike companies, local authorities, sub-national transport bodies and institutions like the Bicycle Association and CIHT to collectively advocate for shared goals, such as investing in safer streets for cycling, optimising road use for communities and reducing emissions. 
  A sector wide conference that brings these stakeholders together is needed to create a joined-up approach and agree a way forward. This would also provide an opportunity for cargo bike companies to share ideas, concerns, best practice, and data. The sharing of data is crucially important as this will help to provide evidence on the efficiencies of cargo bikes compared to vans which can be used to build a business case in favour of cargo bikes. 
  
  
• Public behaviour change 
  Some members of society are anti-cycling which can create a hostile environment for all cyclists. This narrative needs to be addressed as a wider priority for road safety, not just in the context of cargo bikes. 
  Currently in the UK there is a hostility towards net zero policies such as Ultra Low Emission Zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. This ‘culture war’ against net zero policies makes it difficult to envision any advancements in UK policy that will support the cargo bike logistics sector and other green sectors. 
  As a society we have become very used to, and reliant on the idea that you can order something online and receive it the next day. This level of consumerism is not always necessary and puts high levels of demand on delivery services, which then puts demand on our road networks. Thus, attitudes towards online shopping and the expectancy to receive deliveries immediately needs to change. 
  This is an extremely large challenge that will ultimately be achieved with a considerable behaviour change by the UK public, such that the seriousness of climate change is realised and everyone tries to purchase new products less often. 

Actions suggested by the Roundtable

The UK Government should: 

• Provide subsidies to businesses looking to purchase cargo bikes.
• Consider taxations like the ‘Amazon Tax’, as another measure to incentivise the use of cargo bikes.

Local Authorities should:

• Provide accessible cycling infrastructure which accommodates non-standard cycles. 

Cargo Bike Operators should:

• Meet their employees’ training needs and provide riders with fully functional cargo bikes and other relevant equipment (e.g., high quality weatherproof clothing and a company phone).
• Take immediate actions to improve rider health and wellbeing through their HR policies, such as paying a living wage, paying riders for breaks, guaranteeing paid sick leave and eliminating commission-per-drop payment models.
• Encourage riders to report near misses and road aggressions which can be passed onto local and transport authorities, as well as cycle campaign groups. 

The police should:

• Take a much more consistent effort to tackle road aggression. 

The Logistics Sector should:

• Develop specific route planning software for cargo bikes that plots safe and accurate routes.

All Stakeholders should:

• Use progressive procurement frameworks that are focused on providing social value and building community wealth.
• Form an alliance between cargo bike companies, local authorities, sub-national transport bodies and institutions like the Bicycle Association and CIHT to collectively advocate for shared goals, such as investing in safer streets for cycling, optimising road use for communities and reducing emissions.
• Hold a sector wide conference that brings stakeholders together to create a joined-up approach and agree a way forward. This could also provide an opportunity for cargo bike companies to share ideas, concerns, best practice, and data. The sharing of data is crucially important as this will help to provide evidence on the efficiencies of cargo bikes compared to vans which can be used to build a business case in favour of cargo bikes. 

Final thoughts

Transport decarbonisation is a big goal that will require many small steps to achieve. One of the key things the transport sector needs to get right is good messaging around why measures are being taken and how they will benefit society. In terms of the transition from vans to cargo bikes, this will take a united sector approach that ensures evidence-based decisions are at the heart of net zero policies. 

Acknowledgements 

CIHT would like to thank our roundtable attendees:

Emily See, Highway Market Director, Amey & Chair of LGTAG Board 

Tiffany Lam, Strategy Lead - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Sustrans 

Ben Knowles, CEO and Co-Founder, PedalMe 

Ersilia Verlinghieri, Senior Research Fellow, University of Westminster

John Oosthuizen, Strategy Planner, Freight, Transport for London

The Bicycle Association 

Help & Support

For any press enquires please contact communications@ciht.org.uk
For any technical enquiries please contact technical@ciht.org.uk