Cargo Bike Sharing Scheme in East Dulwich

[cargobikeshare]

Hello there!

We are currently exploring a possible Cargo Bike Sharing scheme in East Dulwich and other areas of London.

This service would enable Cargo Bike based journeys for families (carrying 1 to 4 children) or for the transportation of cargo (upto 250kg). For example:

? School runs

? Transportation for after school clubs

? Journeys where there is no / difficult public transport option

At the moment, we think this would operate similar to other bike sharing schemes operating in London (e.g. Santander Cycles, Lime Bikes, Mobike, UBER Jump) but focused on the transportation of cargo (e.g. a weekly supermarket shop) and for use by families (transporting children).

Cargo bikes are one possible solution with benefits including:

? Reducing short, local car journeys (leading to reduced air pollution and congestion) and promoting sustainable transport.

? Carrying signficant cargo (upto 250kg)

Cargo bikes also have a high cost of ownership and are difficult and bulky to store especially in flats and Victorian terraced housing. A Cargo Bike sharing scheme would make cargo bikes accessible to many more local people.

It is absolutely vital that we get feedback from local residents (and other parties) to assess whether or not this could provide a valuable and worthwhile service to the community.

If you are interested to find out more and be the first to know about any updates. Please register your interest here:

Register your interest

If you know anyone who may be interested in this service, please feel free to share! Thank you.

 

[dbboy]

Sounds like an interesting idea.

[Passiflora]

Looks quite dangerous to me.

[NewWave]

Passiflora Wrote:

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> Looks quite dangerous to me.

I agree..a tricycle would definitely seem more stable.

the full of kids or cargo on our busy roads? no this isn't Amsterdam

[Jane!]

Great idea. We?re thinking of doing similar just over the border in Lewisham! Have pm?d you.

[tracymcdavis]

Id be interested in such a scheme for things like my weekly shopping. I agree a trike design might be a bit more easily usuable for those of us not used to using a cargo bike. As with all these schemes my usage would depend on how easy it was to be able to get it - would it be bookable for example - and how far I'd need to go to pick it up.

[cargobikeshare]

NewWave Wrote:

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> I agree..a tricycle would definitely seem more

> stable.

> the full of kids or cargo on our busy roads? no

> this isn't Amsterdam

Thanks for the feedback NewWave. At the moment, we just exploring which Cargo Bikes maybe best suited for different purposes and areas of London. A tricycle could definitely be part of the fleet and is something we've been looking at:

There are some good examples from these suppliers:

https://www.babboe.co.uk/cargo-bikes

Additionally, here are how some of the 2-wheelers are kitted out for children (example here is a Riese & Muller model):

 

[wulfhound]

Have you considered electric assist? Even relatively mild gradients will be demanding for most people on one of these with kids/shopping in the front. Not impossible but enough to put people off. Electric assist makes them usable by a much wider audience and for bigger loads.

For what it's worth they have a great safety record, even in London. I've ridden two-wheelers a few times, they are more stable than a normal bike because of the low centre of gravity. You seem them everywhere in the City these days, DHL and the like have found them to be more efficient than vans for last-mile deliveries of small packages in the centre of town.

Think it may be best to go hyper-local, focus on a small area with the most demand. A walk of much more than 5 minutes to collect the bike (and again after returning it) and you won't persuade anyone to switch from their car. Perhaps talk to one of the primary schools - lots of potential takers within a short walk.

[cargobikeshare]

wulfhound Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Have you considered electric assist? Even

> relatively mild gradients will be demanding for

> most people on one of these with kids/shopping in

> the front. Not impossible but enough to put people

> off. Electric assist makes them usable by a much

> wider audience and for bigger loads.

>

> For what it's worth they have a great safety

> record, even in London. I've ridden two-wheelers a

> few times, they are more stable than a normal bike

> because of the low centre of gravity. You seem

> them everywhere in the City these days, DHL and

> the like have found them to be more efficient than

> vans for last-mile deliveries of small packages in

> the centre of town.

>

> Think it may be best to go hyper-local, focus on a

> small area with the most demand. A walk of much

> more than 5 minutes to collect the bike (and again

> after returning it) and you won't persuade anyone

> to switch from their car. Perhaps talk to one of

> the primary schools - lots of potential takers

> within a short walk.

Hi wulfound and thank you for your post! Totally agree with you. We've included a survey in the Register Interest link above to capture peoples attitudes / expectations around electric. A lot of the suppliers are now providing electrically assisted cargo bikes and it makes a lot of sense. Trying to get 10 bags of shopping up Champion Hill after a weekly shop at Sainsburys would be tough otherwise.

The use of Cargo Bikes is see strong growth in London like you say. A lot of couriers are now switching to them and we are seeing Waitrose and Coop shift some of their grocery deliveries to cargo bike.

https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3073042/co-op-launches-first-pedal-powered-delivery-service-with-e-cargobikes

https://waitrose.pressarea.com/pressrelease/details/78/NEWS_13/10108

If there is a good interest and demand for such a service, the next step would mostly likely be to run a local pilot (hyper-local is an excellent idea) possibly in collaboration with local schools, supermarkets and leisure centre. (or anywhere else local residents would feel this would add value).

Thanks again.

[cargobikeshare]

Thanks for the information Andrea, thats really interesting will PM you for more info. Could be a great way to involve the whole community (businesses and residents).

Have also discovered a company near Regents Park offering Cargo Bike Hire to local residents: https://www.londongreencycles.co.uk/

[ReclaimedBrickPaths]

I was involved in a cycle taxi service in Downham, Catford about 16 years ago. We had two bikes, big heavy 3 wheelers and would pickup pensioners from their homes and take them to the local Tescos and then take them home again. We were sponsered by local business owners. Most of the elderly people we picked up had relatives who lived far away and could not help day to day, we were a reliable and friendly bonus to their lives, often giving them lifts to their friends two or three streets away. At the time I was surprised how hardy they were, getting on the back seat of our three wheelers in the middle of winter. I'd be happy to get involved, my skills as a filmmaker might be of some use. Andrea who posted previously used to run a fantastic bike shop,I have a handlebar fetish and he had lots of really nice ones!

[largeginandtonic]

Hello, I think this is a great idea and I've just completed your survey but wanted to add a few other comments. We live at the top of Champion Hill and we've chosen not to have a car for 20 years for environmental reasons. The kids are now older and cycle independently but I can think of lots of occasions over the years when a cargo bike would have been very useful - especially when they were very small and also when they started going to activities in locations which are hard to get to by public transport. The attraction of the cargo bike would be (a) carrying two kids simultaneously and (b) the ability to carry other stuff too - eg kit, musical instruments etc. I also would have used it for shopping (and would use one now for shopping if the scheme is set up). But it would need electric assist. I can barely get myself up Champion Hill without electric assist, let alone any cargo.

I don't think it would be easy to persuade families with kids to give up their cars altogether. But I do think you could persuade couples who may currently be cycling (eg to work) not to buy a car as soon as they have kids. So many people told us we'd need a car when we had the kids and I've seen a lot of couples get a car at this point because they feel they just have to and it's difficult/exhausting to manage without. But of course once you get a car, you can become quite dependent upon it. I think your scheme could help deter people from ever buying a family car in the first place, and that could have a significant impact.