Bikes for urban freight? - Experience for the European case

Abstract

In light of the necessity of finding new ways of reducing motorized road traffic, above all in city centers, in Europe focus is switching more and more to cycle freight. At the present time there is very little research work and systematically prepared findings on this area. Against this backdrop, this article demonstrates that the use of cycle freight is already widespread, although this is restricted to larger cities. The cause of this is the necessary density with respect to demand. Existing firms mostly operate as pure cycle freight operators. A parallel operation in fleets with motor vehicles has, however, been tried out successfully on several occasions. The availability of city-center hubs, to ensure the necessary efficiency, is one of the special requirements associated with the use of cargo cycles. Until now, clear reservations can still be found amongst customers, although it may be assumed that this is more a case of initial resistance, which could be overcome through information and advertising campaigns. In total, it is expected that around a quarter of city-center freight transport can be carried out by cycle. This will only work, however, if this mode of delivery is given greater consideration in city and transport planning. Initial estimates lead one to expect that the contribution to the reduction of air and noise pollution of cycle-based commercial traffic could be quite significant, although systematic analysis is also lacking here. To date there have been no studies on the effects of cycle freight on city center traffic.

Full text

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 1
BIKES FOR URBAN FREIGHT? – EXPERIENCE FOR THE EUROPEAN 1 CASE 2
3 Barbara Lenz * 4 German Aerospace Center, Institute of Transport Research 5 Rutherfordstr. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany 6 Phone: +49 30 67055-206, Fax: +49 30 67055-283 7 Email: barbara.lenz@dlr.de 8 9 Ernst Riehle 10 TU Dortmund University, Faculty of Spatial Planning 11 August-Schmidt-Str. 10, 44221 Dortmund, Germany 12 Phone: +49 152 54079864 13 Email: ernst.riehle@tu-dortmund.de 14 15 16 17 18 19 * Corresponding Author 20 21 22 Paper Submitted for Presentation and Publication at TRB 92th Annual Meeting 2013 23 Submission date: July 30, 2012 24 Number of words in text: 6,150 25 Number of tables and figures: 4 26 27
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Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 2
1
ABSTRACT 2
In light of the necessity of finding new ways of reducing motorized road traffic, above all in city 3 centers, in Europe focus is switching more and more to cycle freight. At the present time there is 4 very little research work and systematically prepared findings on this area. Against this 5 backdrop, this article demonstrates that the use of cycle freight is already widespread, although 6 this is restricted to larger cities. The cause of this is the necessary density with respect to 7 demand. Existing firms mostly operate as pure cycle freight operators. A parallel operation in 8 fleets with motor vehicles has, however, been tried out successfully on several occasions. 9 The availability of city center hubs, to ensure the necessary efficiency, is one of the special 10 requirements associated with the use of cargo cycles. Until now, clear reservations can still be 11 found amongst customers, although it may be assumed that this is more a case of initial 12 resistance, which could be overcome through information and advertising campaigns. In total it 13 is expected that around a quarter of city center freight transport can be carried out by cycle. This 14 will only work, however, if this mode of delivery is given greater consideration in city and 15 transport planning. Initial estimates lead one to expect that the contribution to the reduction of air 16 and noise pollution of cycle based commercial traffic could be quite significant, although 17 systematic analysis is also lacking here. To date there have been no studies on the effects of cycle 18 freight on city center traffic. 19 20

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 3
1
INTRODUCTION 2
Cities suffer notably from road traffic. The consequences are congestion, poor air quality and 3 noise pollution. This is especially true of city centers. In Europe’s cities 16-50% of traffic 4 emissions are attributable to commercial transport, which is almost exclusively carried out with 5 motor vehicles (1, p. 281; 2). In view of this situation ways must be found to reduce motorized 6 road traffic in cities. This is particularly challenging in commercial transport, as the traffic 7 displays a large heterogeneity and improvements in the organization of the whole system are 8 only achievable with difficulty. Changes on the vehicle side therefore represent an important 9 starting point for greater sustainability in urban commercial transport. 10 Alongside the switch to efficient freight vehicles, the bicycle is becoming increasingly a 11 matter of focus – not least because of the growing significance of cycles in passenger 12 transportation. For some time now cycle courier firms have primarily been operating in city 13 centers; as a rule that means couriers who operate with a cycle and a backpack. Beyond that, 14 though, there are more and more couriers using cargo cycles and in this way satisfying the rising 15 demand for city center point-to-point small-scale consignment delivery. An extension and 16 improvement in the range of service offered is expected through the introduction of cargo cycles 17 electric motors, which will increase the cycle’s performance with regard to its load capacity, 18 speed and also range. Tied up in this are the hopes for an appreciable potential for substituting 19 motorized city center delivery vehicles with cycles. 20 At the present time, however, there is hardly any available knowledge regarding the range 21 of use of cycles in city center commercial transport, the general conditions of their use and their 22 acceptance with operators and customers alike. On the operator’s side questions arise above all 23 concerning the operational integration of cycles. Research has until now hardly broached this 24 subject. This article pursues these questions, and so gives an overview of the current use of cycle 25 freight across Europe, reviews the current state of research on the usage, usage problems and 26 acceptance of cargo cycles in Europe, and from that derives the potential use of cycle freight. In 27 conclusion the most urgent areas needing research will be discussed. 28
TESTS AND EXPERIENCE OF CYCLE FREIGHT USE IN EUROPE 29
Cargo cycles are in no way a recent invention. Rather, they were developed from the tricycles 30 built as a stable alternative to bicycles at the end of the 19th century. “Doctors and businessmen 31 used tricycles, but also grocers, milkmen, messenger boys and public authorities” (3, p. 72). At 32 the same time the first cycle courier services arose, which carried out tasks for traders, 33 businessmen and the wealthy in the same way as the long-standing foot messenger boys (4). 34 However, it is not possible to trace a tradition of cycle freight in Europe from this. Thus the 35 usage of standard cycles and cargo cycles is nowadays strongly varied; quantitative indications 36 are neither available for Europe as a whole nor individual countries, however. In view of the 37 growing attention paid to cycle freight, though, various work and projects have recently been 38 carried out which certainly enable a complete view on the current state of affairs. 39
User experience of cycle freight 40
A series of cycle freight tests, partly carried out by businesses themselves, partly within the 41 framework of publicly supported projects, have attracted particular attention. Hülsbusch (5) gives 42 an illuminating overview of this, which mainly refers to the experimental use of cycle freight. 43

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 4
Riehle (6), in carrying out an extensive survey as well as internet research to determine the 1 European-wide use of cycle freight and available user experience, takes things a clear step 2 further. 3
Tests conducted by companies 4
Tests conducted by businesses, in as far as they are known through publications, have been 5 chiefly concerned with questions of the general applicability of cycle freight and whether its use 6 makes sense for the respective business: 7 - UPS has been using six cycles in Germany since 2010, of which two are in Cologne, and 8 one in each of Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover and Bochum. The essential aim is to assess the 9 usage possibilities for those locations which are difficult to reach with other vehicles. They are 10 not therefore concerned with determining the replacement of motorized road traffic with cargo 11 cycles, but rather see cycles exclusively as complementary to their existing fleet. The cycles pick 12 up the package from “mobile depots”, for which UPS use conventional delivery vehicles. Not 13 needing to repeatedly search for parking space is named by the firm as a particular advantage of 14 this distribution system. High capacity utilization of the cycles is ensured by the possibility of 15 delivering packages for onward distribution through the mobile depots the whole day long (7). 16 The results of these experiments, however, were not published. 17 - In Hamburg (Germany) city center in summer 2011 the CEP service provider Dynamic 18 Parcel Distribution (DPD) tested the application possibility of using cargo tricycles. The main 19 target in this test was the assessment of the necessary general conditions for the efficient use of 20 cycle freight and the resulting advantages and disadvantages. A delivery area characterized by a 21 high spatial drop-off density and low drop-off factor was chosen for the test i.e. the drop-offs 22 were supposed to be close together but only need one or a few packages per drop-off. A basic 23 requirement of successful implementation, in view of the limited loading capacity of the cycles, 24 proved to be the possibility of providing city center storage facilities at which the cycles can be 25 reloaded right next to their area of use. The possibility, permissible in Germany by various 26 means, of simplifying and shortening the route through riding up one-way streets in the opposite 27 direction was one particular advantage of delivery by cycle as opposed to by light goods 28 transport arose. Another was not needing to look for a parking space – cycles may be parked on 29 the sidewalk. DPD came to the conclusion that significant cost advantages could be achieved in 30 city centers with cycle freight. Furthermore, DPD stated that there was acceptance of the mode of 31 goods transport with both riders and clients (5). 32 - The CEP service provider Outspoken Delivery reports successful use of cycle freight in 33 Cambridge. The particular interest in city center delivery in Cambridge results from the fact that 34 the city center is basically closed to cars during the day (8). 35 - Companies who deliver their own products also practice the use of cycle freight, for 36 example the German takeaway pizza company Joey’s. Because their delivery area of their 37 product is in general restricted to a few kilometers from the production location, cycles are 38 generally very well suited for delivery. The use of cycles for delivery of similar services can be 39 found worldwide. In the case of Berlin, Nordenholz was able to show that this potential is 40 dependent on the size of delivery area and the frequency of delivery (9). 41 - A further similar example are home delivery services in Switzerland, who deliver the 42 shopping of customers in supermarkets to their homes within a relatively short time-frame. These 43 services are financed in part by the trade in order to be able to offer competitive prices (10). 44

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 5
- The transport company Gnewt Cargo uses cargo cycles and electric delivery vans for 1 deliveries in London city center. The loading of these vehicles takes place in secondary hubs that 2 lie outside the Congestion Charge Zone and to which the goods to be delivered are transported by 3 truck. This means that cargo cycles and electric delivery vans take over the last mile distribution. 4 From this, Leonardi et al. calculated a CO2 reduction of 62% and a cut in the mileage driven per 5 package of 52% (11). 6
Publicly funded projects and studies of the use of cycle freight 7
At the national level there are hardly any publicly funded projects on the use of cycle freight. 8 Isolated projects are currently appearing in the context of electromobility, amongst others, for 9 instance, the project “Ich ersetze ein Auto” (tr: “I substitute a car”), which is being carried out in 10 various cities in Germany and is funded by the Federal Environment Ministry. 11 The project CycleLogistics, which has been funded by the European Commission since 12 2011 and will run until 2014, is still without publicly released results (12). The target of this 13 project is on the one hand general information about the potential use of cycle freight vis-à-vis 14 potential customers and on the other raising awareness in cities and communities with respect to 15 the creation of appropriate conditions for the use of cycle freight. Beyond that, various cargo 16 cycles are being tested in terms of their applicability for different areas of use. 17 With the aim of examining the potential use of cycle freight for goods transportation in 18 London city center and identifying starting points for possible projects, in 2009 Transport for 19 London (TfL) was commissioned with a corresponding study. Both practical factors directly 20 connected with the use of the cycles as well as questions of the general perception of or attitude 21 to cycle freight were examined. The essential result of the study is a drawing up of the pros and 22 cons resulting from the use of cycle freight in London. The advantages and disadvantages prove 23 to be a mixture of operational, “human”, urban and environmental factors (Table 1). The most 24 important factor is seen as being the still poor perception of cycle freight and a rather resistant 25 attitude on the part of customers. At the same time the experts surveyed in the study assume that 26 these obstacles can be overcome with information and advertising campaigns. (13, p.ii) 27 28 TABLE 1 Pros and cons of cycle freight use in London 29 (source: modified following TfL (13, pp. ii-iii)) 30 31
Pros:
(+) Purchase cost – Cycles are cheaper than vans, but for either mode this cost is small
compared to running/staff costs and the turnover associated with the work done by the
vehicle.
(+) Running cost – tax, insurance, storage and depreciation are all lower for cycles than for
vans, which can result in a significant cost savings. For those cycle-
freight operators
interviewed, these savings in running costs keep their pricing competitive.
(+) Parking costs and congestion charge – Cycles can be parked (almost) anywhere without
incurring penalties, and are not liable for congestion charges.
(+) Speed in congestion charge area – Because there is a lower volume of traffic in inner
London due to the congestion charge, cycle freight has only a low speed advantage over
va
ns. However, one point cited by many customers of cycle freight is the comparative
reliability of cycles as their journey times are much less affected by variable traffic
conditions.

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 6
(+) Driver training requirement – special licenses or training that may be needed by van
drivers are not needed for cargo cycles. This is especially relevant for large fleets; small
companies who hardly use vans are not so affected.
(+) Low environmental impact (and associated PR benefit) – Those customers already using
dedic
ated cycle freight companies mostly cited speed / cost / reliability as more important
than the “green” benefits of cycles. However, for large companies, the environmental
benefits were the number one factor. This is because of the pressure corporate customers put
on their suppliers to be “green”.
Cons:
(-) Security – Security concerns came up in almost every interview with those not already
using cycles. However, the evidence from interviews with the companies already using
cycles suggests that these fears may be exaggerated, as there are almost no instances of theft
of cycles or payload reported.
(-) Limited range and payload – Range is mainly an issue when a company’s logistics model
has led them to have their distribution hubs at the edge of, or outside the city. With either a
secondary city-centre hub, or the use of vans themselves as „mobile hubs‟, large niches can
be created for cycles. Payload is also an issue, but again less so with secondary hubs. Also,
payload is the issue where awareness is lag
ging well behind the technology available, as
many managers underestimate the payload of currently available cycles.
(-) Driver fatigue – This is a significant issue for smaller operations, where there are existing
staff who would not want (or be able) to switch to using a bike.
1 As the first interim conclusion, it can consequently be stated the use of cycle freight in 2 city center goods transport is basically positively appreciated, especially when combined with 3 market and/or cost advantages. In all cases for which experience is to hand, cycles were part of a 4 larger vehicle fleet and used as a complement to motor vehicles. Due to the performance 5 restrictions of cargo cycles with respect to weight and range, the availability of city center 6 storage was often an essential prerequisite. This prerequisite did not exist where the delivery took 7 place within a short radius of the main depot. 8
A SYSTEMATIC OVERVIEW OF CYCLE FREIGHT USE IN EUROPE 9
Whilst the examples named so far refer exclusively to tests, studies and projects which were 10 made more accessible to a wider public through publication on the internet, Riehle carried out a 11 systematic European-wide survey (6). Through this survey it is possible to draw a more general 12 picture of cycle freight use in Europe, depicting spatial distribution, the commercial operating 13 areas, the acceptance of cargo cycles and the external general conditions for cycle freight use. 14
Methodology of the study 15
At the present time there is neither official data nor larger studies on the type and extent of cycle 16 freight use in commercial transport. The study that this article is essentially based on pursued the 17 target of producing, through contacting and questioning as many experts in the field of cycle 18 freight as possible, an initial overview which give a comparatively reliable idea of the current 19 situation. The necessary contacts were determined through a preliminary investigation 20 concerning relevant web pages, research reports, related newspaper articles and potential contact 21 persons. At the same time, the research material was evaluated with regard to information on the 22 use of cycle freight by European firms. 23

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 7
The research took place in several stages. In the first stage, tradesmen, manufacturers and 1 experts identified in the preliminary investigation were surveyed directly by email. Precise 2 contacts and onward-leading information resulted from this. In the second and subsequent stages, 3 tradesmen, manufacturers but above all experts continued to be surveyed, following the same 4 pattern as the contact-establishing stages. The procedure thus followed a snowball methodology 5 particularly suited to explorative questioning dependent on expert knowledge. In total 140 direct 6 international contacts were able to be established. Of these, 116 were questioned directly by 7 email about the commercial use of cycle freight in Europe, types of cargo cycles and further 8 productive information. 9 Amongst the 116 contacts were 38 companies who were questioned on their motivation 10 for and experience of using cycle freight. In addition, supplementary in-depth interviews were 11 carried out in four companies (6, p. 103ff). The following comments introduce the results of this 12 survey of companies, which in occasional places is supplemented through statements from the in-13 depth interviews. 14
The spatial distribution of cycle freight use in Europe 15
From the research of companies and example projects a distribution which identifies Western 16 and Central Europe as core areas of cycle freight use results (Figure 1). Of the 38 identified 17 companies, eight are found in Great Britain, five in Belgium, five in Austria, five in Germany, 18 and four in Spain. In Central Eastern Europe there were hardly any relevant examples. In 19 Scandinavia, too, only a single example in Copenhagen (Denmark) could be identified. This last 20 is all the more astonishing as most – next to Germany – of the manufacturers of cargo cycles are 21 found here and cities such as Copenhagen are “famous” for their cycling culture. According to 22 the opinion of one expert, private cargo traffic is of clearly greater significance than commercial 23 goods transport: “Most of the cargo bikes in Copenhagen are used by families to transport 24 shopping and their children. 25% of all families with small children in Copenhagen own a cargo 25 bike” (6, p. 88). 26 The use of cargo cycles takes place exclusively in cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants. 27 A few companies use their cargo cycles in several cities. 28 29

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 8
1 FIGURE 1 Distribution of example companies in Europe. Adapted from (6, p. 90) 2
Company characteristics and commercial areas of use of cycle freight 3
Companies that use cycle freight are for the large part small businesses with a small number of 4 employees, or also one man operations. Half of the companies identified in the study have a 5 maximum of 15 employees. Larger and occasional regional, national and international firms are 6 the exception. The mostly low number of cycles per company also demonstrates that with 7 companies, it is a matter of smaller units. La Petit Reine from France, who have 80 cargo cycles 8 in operation, provide an exception here. 9 As the spatial observations have already shown, all these companies are operating in 10 medium and large sized cities. The operating area of the company is often restricted to a certain 11 area of the city, though. The declared distance limits for carrying out a delivery i.e. per single 12 trip, lies in the region between 4 and 50km. In most cases a usual distance limit of between 10 13 and 20km is given. Cycles with electric motors give a range of 80 to 120km. 14 In 16 companies cargo cycles represent the sole means of transport. In total 25 companies 15 declared that they used exclusively non-motorized transport. Conventional cycles are thus used 16 alongside cargo cycles. 12 companies also use motor vehicles, though there are some companies 17 for whom motor vehicles represent the main mode of transport and others for whom motorized 18

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 9
transportation is solely a supplement. In four cases this involves electric or gas-powered vehicles. 1 It is possible to conclude from the parallel use of cargo cycles and motor vehicles at 30% of the 2 companies that it is perfectly possible to integrate cargo cycles into a complete fleet. 3 As is to be expected, the greater part, that is to say 26 of the 38 identified companies 4 operate in the CEP sector. These firms offer multi-faceted delivery services from same day to 5 following day deliveries, likewise express delivery or parcel services. The second most common 6 field of activity of these companies, with 16 entries, is the general transport sector. It is thus 7 demonstrated that the companies form an exception with regard to the goods to be transported 8 only in rare instances. Occasionally there are legal regulations that exclude certain goods, such as 9 stored blood units. In the main, however, everything that fits within the size of the cargo cycle 10 and general terms and conditions of the company is transported. Various possibilities result from 11 the variously employed cycle models in the companies. The load capacity thus ranges from 50 up 12 to 450kg. Indeed it does not make sense to give an average value for the load weight, as the 13 transport characteristics depend on the cycle used. However, in the greater part of the examples 14 observed a maximum capacity of around 100 to 150kg per cycle can be seen. The dimensions of 15 the goods are likewise dependent on the cycle used and can amount to up to 2.7m in the 16 examples identified. 17 Seven of the 38 companies are in the catering sector, six offer logistics services such as 18 warehousing or a comprehensive last mile concept, five can be classified as retail companies. 19 Only one of the examples operates in manual trades. Two of the examples identified are 20 municipal service providers, two others are other types of service provider. 21 At the same time it should not be overlooked that a large portion the companies are 22 represented with multiple activities on the market. One industry sector or specific activity does 23 indeed form the core area of the company most of the time, but this is supplemented through 24 additional ancillary activities. Company activities in occasionally very diverse areas of operation 25 can be found in somewhat more than half of the identified example companies; 45% of the 26 examples constitute companies with only one area of activity. A good half of the latter firms are 27 in the CEP sector. A similar focus of company activity can be seen in the case of the catering and 28 manual trade firms, and the municipal service providers. Specialization within a broad spectrum 29 of activities arises where companies become specialists for specific types of goods. This mostly 30 involves companies in retail who have specialized in the transport of certain products such as 31 groceries or electronic equipment. Product specialization and the use of cargo cycles have 32 developed independently from one another. 33
Service life and evaluation of cycle freight 34
In most of the companies surveyed cycle freight has only come into use within the last decade, 35 with usage clearly increasing in the last three years. In many cases the use of cargo cycles 36 coincided with the founding of the company. In these cases, then, the use of cargo cycles is an 37 expression of company philosophy. This means that the use of cycle freight – and therefore non-38 motorized vehicles – is the result of conviction and awareness. At the same time the advantages 39 of cycle freight and the traffic problems in the respective area of operation play an important 40 role. Transimpex, based in Munich, are a notably interesting example in this respect. They are a 41 logistics service provider who have been in existence since the early 1990s and have now been 42 using cargo cycles since March 2012 in order to be better able to deal with the increasing traffic 43 density in inner Munich. Other motivations that can be named for the use of cycle freight are cost 44 factors, the speed of cycles in use in the city in comparison to other vehicles, the advertising 45

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 10
impact of cycle freight, bans on motor vehicles or difficult spatial conditions in the area of 1 activity, resulting especially from restricted vehicle access. 2 Although most companies use cycles out of conviction, objections and critical voices can 3 be heard. Thus the potential use of cycle freight is in part still deemed to be too limited. Critical 4 points are the weight of the vehicle, the lack of security, but also the too low capacity. If the 5 cycles are to be used in topographically eventful areas, then multi-lane cargo cycles with larger 6 capacity are hardly usable. Beyond that the contribution to the reduction of environmental 7 damage is deemed to be relatively low; this, however, is mainly connected with the small extent 8 of cycle freight use. 9
CARGO CYCLES AS AN EFFECTIVE TRANSPORT MODE IN URBAN FREIGHT 10 TRANSPORT? 11
In summary the statements of the Europe-wide surveyed companies can be interpreted to the 12 effect that, particularly in urban city centers, there is certainly a market for transport services 13 with cycle freight. In the frame of the four supplementary in-depth interviews, the companies 14 were asked explicitly about their assessment of the market in the future. This involved a firm 15 from each of Great Britain, Belgium, Austria and Germany. 16 Within the companies the view was consistently expressed that cargo cycles have until 17 now been paid scant attention, by urban transport planning as well: “It is very hardly recognized, 18 that cargo bikes can be used for transporting cargo” (6, p. 116). 19 There was also unanimity in that cycle freight could only serve a narrow segment of 20 urban commercial transport – “a bike is not the answer for everything” (6, p. 116). This means 21 that cycle freight is not seen as a replacement for HGVs, but rather predominantly for light 22 commercial vehicles or estate cars which make deliveries with small volumes and comparably 23 low weight – “however (...) for sort of just medium size vans it would be possible for the cargo 24 bikes to be an alternative” (6, p. 116). 25 As essential preconditions for the consolidation of the potential for city center cycle 26 freight delivery, various aspects were named, particularly the provision of space for depots on the 27 edge of the city center and also the (higher) pricing of city center streets and parking lots, thereby 28 increasing the cost of driving in the city center for motorized traffic. A system which functioned 29 as a flexible collection center for packages, parcels and smaller consignments and was open to 30 multiple providers, was successfully tested in Berlin in 2011. Its direct integration into the 31 company’s dispatching was achieved by means of a GPRS connection (13). 32 Surprisingly, however, the interviews also showed that the use of cycle freight relies 33 heavily on the acceptance of customers – the service providers are faced “[with] the large 34 challenge of proving to the customer that it is possible to transport freight with cycles” 35 (6, p. 114). The perception of customers is currently identified as the largest limiting factor: 36 “People don’t know about a cargo bike and what it is”. People have certain ideas about the use of 37 cargo cycles – “(...) the moment you talk about a bike, people automatically think of their bike 38 they got in their shed” (6, p. 116). It can be concluded from this on the one hand that the lack of 39 knowledge concerning cycle freight and its potential use must be made up for with extensive 40 marketing. On the other it can be assumed that there needs to be as many good visible examples 41 as possible to establish the potential application of cycle freight. 42 This also applies to the environmental effects resulting from the use of cycle freight and 43 which until now have hardly been put across. For instance, Ecopostale puts the saving – derived 44 from comparison with the use of light commercial vehicles – of CO2 in its two-year existence at 45

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 11
17tons, Eco Green Company saves 18.75kg of CO2 per day according to its own figures and La 1 Petit Reine estimates a saving of 89.125t-oe on 1 million packages in 2008, avoiding 599,000t-2 km and saving 203t of CO2 (t-oe = ton of oil equivalent. The ton of oil equivalent is a 3 conventional standardized unit for measuring energy, defined on the basis of a ton of oil with a 4 net calorific value of 41,868 kilojoules/kg (14, P. 22).). The project Recicleta estimates a CO2 5 saving through cycle freight of 3.2t in the last two years within a total of 86.4t of saved CO2, 6 thus demonstrating that even if the percentage is comparably low, cycle freight can certainly 7 provide a significant contribution to climate protection. It would surely be more important to 8 highlight the contribution to reducing air pollution and noise levels in the city. On these, though, 9 there have not been any calculations thus far. 10
POTENTIAL FOR CYCLE FREIGHT USE IN THE CITY 11
In the interviews conducted by Riehle, a relatively high substitution potential of motorized 12 transport by cycle freight transport is assumed (6, p. 135). The experts surveyed thus expect that 13 in Europe approx. 25% of goods transported in cities and approx. 50% of light goods could by 14 transported by cargo cycle. The EU project CycleLogistics expects a somewhat higher potential 15 (Table 2): 16 17 TABLE 2 Expected potential of the use of cycle freight in urban commercial transport 18 (Source: derived from the EU project CycleLogistics presentation) 19 20
Type of trip / trip purpose
Share of urban trips
Potential for Cycle
Freight
Heavy goods transport
5 %
0 %
Light goods transport (1.5 – 3.5 t)
5 %
1 %
Very light goods transport
5 %
4 %
Total freight / goods transport
15 %
5 %
21 One study of German cities arrives at the result that the substitution potential may lie at around 22 6% of total commercial transport volume and 15% of city center freight transport. These values, 23 determined mathematically on the basis of empirical studies, probably turn out to be somewhat 24 lower than the figures from the experts and those figures given by CycleLogistics because a 25 maximum package weight of 50kg was applied to the calculation of the substitution potential 26 (15). 27 The project “Citylog” concerning overnight delivery in a district of high density in Berlin 28 determined a very high substitution rate of 85% (16). 29 A rough assessment of the substitution potential by way of the national survey of commercial 30 Transport, “Kraftfahrzeugverkehr in Deutschland” (KiD 2010) yielded the following: the extent 31 of delivery journeys that are carried out daily with vehicles of the class “light goods transport up 32 to 3.5t” and “passenger cars” in large German cities amounts to just under 134 million trips. This 33 number refers to the number of delivery trips i.e. trips with the purpose “fetching, bringing, 34 transporting of freight, goods, materials, machines, appliances etc.”, which were carried out per 35 day with vehicles of ≤ 3.5t total weight and passenger cars, whose vehicle location (= location 36 where the vehicle is registered) is in the category “core city” of BBSR (Bundesinstitut für Bau-, 37 Stadt- und Raumforschung). “Core city” in Germany is the spatial category which cities of over 38 approx. 100,000 inhabitants fall in. The number of delivery trips in the core city may actually be 39

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 12
somewhat higher, on the one hand because vehicles whose location is outside the core city also 1 make such trips. On the other, it needs to be taken into consideration that in KiD a maximum of 2 11 trips per day were measured, though clearly more trips are to be reckoned with in delivery 3 transport. In this respect it is to be assumed that of commercial transport journeys in the “core 4 city”, the actual percentage of delivery trips out lies above the 11.5% measured. 5 Figure 2 demonstrates that a significant substitution potential certainly exists. It shows 6 the distribution of delivery-trip distances covered by vehicles with a “core city” location. From 7 this it is clear that a large proportion of trips lie in the area of delivery journeys that are 8 substitutable in principle: over 30% of the trips were under 5km, a further 15% between 5 and 9 10km. 10 11
12 13 FIGURE 2 Distribution of delivery trip distances of vehicles with “core city” location. 14 (source: own calculation based on KiD data) 15
RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS 16
The basic considerations on the suitable description and typification of cycle freight commercial 17 transport have been available for some time (17). At the same time, as this article has shown, a 18 series of research works have appeared which have to a very considerable extent produced 19 findings regarding the usage conditions and potential use of cycle freight. What is currently 20 lacking is systematic research on the operation of cycle freight and the effects resulting from the 21 substitution of motor vehicles with cycles in city center commercial traffic. This research 22 requirement is application-driven – its significance is high, above all for urban and transport 23 planning, but also for commercial players, for whom the needs of the market and the tendencies 24 in implementation and demand become more transparent through the research works. 25 Essential questions that are currently to be answered include demand in city centers, 26 above all in respect of the type of (potential) demand and its spatial distribution; spatial and 27 temporal route patterns for delivery; requirements and design of the specific logistics 28

Barbara Lenz, Ernst Riehle 13
infrastructure; the potential for extending the market through the use of new technologies 1 (electric motors, ICT based information and organization); the effects on the environment. The 2 answering of these questions implies that a systematic consideration of the spatial context of 3 cities should follow, for example with respect to the extent, density and spatial concentration of 4 the (potential) consumer or also the transport infrastructure and its terms of use. To answer these 5 questions it will be essential to set up pilot projects. 6
CONCLUSION 7
Motivated by the necessity of finding new ways of reducing air and noise pollution in European 8 city centers, this article has examined the use and potential use of cycle freight in commercial 9 transport in European cities. It can be shown that cycle freight is being used today in many cities, 10 but especially concentrated in western European countries. The main areas of application are 11 CEP services and the delivery of basic products in catering. Results until now, resulting primarily 12 from tests carried out by companies in the CEP sector, basically show a significant potential for 13 cycle freight to carry out deliveries with small volumes and comparably low weight. The 14 provision of space for depots on the edge of the city center and an appreciable pricing of city 15 center streets and parking lots, thereby increasing the cost of driving in the city center for 16 motorized traffic, are essential preconditions for the improvement of the potential for delivering 17 in city centers with cargo bikes. Still the largest current obstacle for a broader implementation is 18 the perception of cargo cycles as a suitable mode of transport and its acceptance with (potential) 19 customers. In sum it can be estimated that in the medium term cycle freight can form around a 20 quarter of city center commercial traffic. In addition, a much more consideration of the specific 21 demands of cycle freight delivery is required on the part of urban planning. 22
REFERENCES 23
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