Cargo bikes vs delivery vans? Climate charity Possible reckons there’s one clear answer

A challenge has been issued to delivery companies in London.  What travels through the city in the fastest time? A cargo bike or a delivery van? Climate charity Possible and cargo bike courier service Pedal Me believe that the cargo bike can win, but want delivery companies to take up the challenge so they can be proved right.

The challenge comes as Possible and the Active Travel Academy release a new report, produced with help from Pedal Me, that finds that, on average, cargo bikes can deliver goods in London 1.61 times faster than delivery vans. The report used GPS data from Pedal Me cargo bike routes and compared them to the routes that vans would have had to take to deliver the same parcels - with this remarkable variation in efficiency coming to light.

A cargo bike and a delivery van would both be given a predetermined route, including a number of delivery stops. While vans can travel along clear stretches of road at higher speeds than cargo bikes, they are restricted by congestion, traffic restrictions, and the difficulty of finding parking in London. Cargo bikes, on the other hand, benefit from dedicated cycle lanes, being able to take shortcuts through streets blocked to motor traffic and can quickly park up close to their destinations to drop off packages.

The report also calculates the notable difference in carbon emissions between the two forms of transport. Across the 98 days of work that were analysed it was calculated that the cargo bikes saved a total 3,896kg of carbon emissions and over 5.5kg of nitrogen oxides meaning that not only are cargo bikes a more efficient option for courier and customer, they will also reduce the environmental  footprint of traders who utilise these courier services.

Making freight transport in the UK carbon neutral is a pressing challenge, especially in built-up, urban environments. Currently, freight relies on high polluting vehicles like heavy goods vehicles and, both, large and small delivery vans. This report shows that cargo bikes could be an important part of the puzzle in decarbonising urban deliveries. 

In places such as Germany and France, there are 100,000 and 50,000 cargo bikes purchased respectively, each year, compared to the 2,000 that were sold in the UK last year. These urban-friendly, climate-friendly freight alternatives certainly have room for expansion in the UK.

Hirra Khan Adeogun, Head of Car Free Cities at climate charity Possible, said:

“We’re backing Pedal Me in this challenge because we believe in the potential of cargo bikes to transform deliveries in London. Cargo bikes mean more speed and efficiency for the customers, better health for couriers, a decreased carbon footprint for traders, and ultimately cleaner air and more public space for all Londoners to enjoy. Delivery vans contribute significantly to worsening air quality and take up valuable space on our roads. We’ve seen home deliveries skyrocket during the Covid lockdowns and that trend is likely to continue. We urgently need to put on the brakes and reevaluate how goods move through our cities. Cargo bikes are one solution that we need to get behind. ”

Ersilia Verlinghieri, Senior Research Fellow at the Active Travel Academy, said:

“When we undertook this study, we wanted to understand the potential benefits of cargo bikes in London. Pedal Me provided some extremely useful GPS data which allowed us to develop one of the first detailed simulations comparing actual cargo-bikes’ with vans’ routes. We used the result of the simulation to develop a realistic scenario of what proved to be a promising alternative to the thousands of the delivery vans that make their way through our city each day. With recent estimates from Europe suggesting that up to 51% of all freight journeys in cities could be replaced by cargo bike, 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 mitigation of risks from air pollution and road traffic collisions whilst ensuring an efficient, fast and reliable urban freight system.”

Benjamin Knowles, CEO and co-founder of Pedal Me, said:

“Cargo bikes are the best way to transport loads (or people) around cities - our cargo bikes, ridden by our highly trained riders, are faster to do the same work, allowing them to also to make logistics cheaper in the right operating systems. This research shows just how much more efficient we are than traditional motor based logistics for equivalent work - while also showing how far we are ahead in terms of carbon savings. Don’t believe we’re more efficient?  Then find us someone in a motor vehicle to accept our challenge to a race!”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For media enquiries and further information please contact press@wearepossible.org or 07806431577.

For the full report and infographics on the data please click HERE.

  • Hirra Khan Adeogun, Head of Car Free Cities and campaigner Emma Kemp, at climate charity Possible, are available for comment. Please contact press@wearepossible.org for more information.

  • Possible is a UK based charity that brings people together to take positive, practical action on climate change. Combining individual and local actions with larger systemic change, we connect people with each other, and communities with ways to address the climate crisis. wearepossible.org 

  • Possible changed its name from 10:10 Climate Action on 10th October 2019.

Alex Killeen