An electric cargo bicycle has begun to deliver groceries around the town of Inverurie in Scotland in a demonstration of green vehicle technology. The bike is being trialled by family supermarket Mitchells in an effort to speed up deliveries and reduce traffic congestion.

 

The cargo bicycle can carry 100kg of goods and features a small motor and battery pack to help the rider up hills. The trial is being run by Aberdeenshire Council, transport partnership Nestrans and Inverurie Business Association and is funded by the Government’s ‘Smarter Choices Smarter Places’ programme. 

The project is part of a wider ‘Integrated Travel Town’ initiative being implemented by the Council which aims to support more modal choice in five of the area’s largest settlements.

Project manager Chris Menzies said: “Electrically powered vehicles in any form are going to have a huge positive impact on travel and last mile deliveries and, like any new technology, we need to demonstrate that it is effective.

“We currently run an E-Bike loan scheme for staff which has already transferred a significant amount of road miles to bike and led to a new generation of E-Bike owners and commuters. Our car parking officers carry out their patrols using E-Vans and together with our E-Bike commuters and now Mitchells’ deliveries, we have some great ambassadors for the new technology.”
 

Cargo bikes are a common sight in continental Europe and there is no reason why these bikes can’t have a place in more towns in this country, adds Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee chairman Peter Argyle. “In an average European town, half of all motorised trips related to transporting goods could be shifted to bike or cargo bike.

 

“The main focus of this scheme is to explore innovative solutions for the current challenges in transport and mobility, especially multimodal solutions to transporting goods in our towns,” he said. 

 

♦ In London the operator of a new ‘dockless’ bicycle hire service ‘oBike’ – a challenger to the established cycle hire scheme in the capital – has come under fire from the city’s cycling commissioner after bikes were “randomly strewn” on streets.

 

Transport for London has written to the company to ask them to remove its bikes until it can prove that a safe and high quality service can be offered that will not cause danger to the public. Unlike the established cycle hire scheme where bikes are collected from and deposited in docking stations, the new service allows riders to lock a bike wherever they choose. Riders locate an available bike using a smartphone app.

 

Cycling commissioner Will Norman said: “We’re furious that oBike has basically dumped hundreds of their bikes across London without any consultation with TfL or borough councils. We have asked them to withdraw their bikes immediately and warned that we will take enforcement action if necessary.” 

 

He added that dockless bikes have “real potential” to make cycling more accessible, but they “cannot be randomly strewn across the capital, causing disruption to other cyclists, road users and pedestrians”.

 

oBike said in a statement: “We are disappointed by the vandalisation of a few bikes, and are working closely with all stakeholders to prevent and sanction people who commit those acts. While consultations with local boroughs and TfL take place, we will be temporarily scaling back our deployment whilst optimising the user experience and public safety."

 

(Photo: Aberdeenshire Council)