Overview
Close to 100% of goods transport within cities is done by motorised vehicles, ranging from private cars to commercial lorries. Light goods are often transported over very short distances by heavy vehicles. Individuals often use their car in the same way, despite the fact that every second trip in urban areas is shorter than 5 km and therefore, could easily be done by bike.
Approximately every one of these second trips involves goods transport. Even if the length of trips and the possibility for trip chains is taken into consideration, this still leaves a potential of 25% of all trips that could be shifted from motorised vehicles towards cycling-related solutions.
The CYCLELOGISTICS Project worked with reducing the energy used in urban freight transport by replacing unnecessary motorised vehicles with cargo bikes for intra-urban delivery and goods transport in Europe.
The CYCLELOGISTICS Project used several approaches to reach its goal. The main approaches were:
- to communicate and promote the use of lighter vehicles/bikes to the transport industry,
- to motivate municipalities to create regulations favourable to this type of transport,
- to encourage private individuals to use lighter vehicles/bikes,
- to test and report on various cargo bike transport products, and
- to establishing the European Cyclelogistics Federation.
Results
The CYCLELOGISTICS Project yielded the following results:
Focus Group Seminars and Work Shops have been conducted in order to enable the consortium to determine supportive frame conditions for cargo bike use in the different partner countries.
A presentation about the project and its advantages at the International Transport Forum in Leipzig in May 2012 to about 56 transport ministers from all over Europe.
The establishment of the European Cyclelogistic Federation.
Strategy targets
This project contributes to promoting more sustainable development in Europe.