Cargo e-bikes 60% faster than vans in city centres, says study

Cargo e-bikes deliver around 60% faster than vans in city centres, making ten deliveries to every six from vans, according to a report from the Car-Free Megacities project.

The e-bikes also cut carbon emissions 90% compared to diesel vans.

The Car-Free Megacities project is led by climate charity Possible and funded by the KR Foundation. Three of the four writers of the report are researchers at the Active Travel Academy at the University of Westminster, while a fourth is a data scientist and rider for cargo bike company Pedal Me, which also provided the GPS data used in the study.

Pedal Me operates within nine miles of central London. Using data from 100 randomly chosen days throughout the year, they compared this data with routes taken by vans.

The study calculated that replacing just 10% of van-km with e-bikes could reduce emissions by as much as 133,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, and 190,400kg of nitrous oxide. It could mean 32,000 fewer vans, clearing 384,000 square metres of public space and losing 16,980 hours of daytime vehicle traffic per day.

The report noted that while cargo bikes would not be a panacea for all urban logistics issues, they not only help to reduce emissions and free up public space but “can help us to rethink traditional problems in urban logistics and readapt them to new needs.”

Source: The Guardian