Bikes for Business – Part of a Cargo Revolution
We have a vision in London Bridge to be one of the most sustainable places for business in the world.
Our Bikes for Business project is helping us achieve that vision. We are very pleased to release the Final Evaluation Summary, perhaps the biggest study of a cargo bike initiative ever done. For that we can thank our funders at Impact on Urban Health (IOUH) who have been keen to see change on the ground, but also understand what it will take to scale up clean logistics.
Transport, including business freight, is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gas in the UK and it rapidly needs to decarbonise if net zero and air quality targets are to be met.
Taking Bikes for Business to the Low Line
From 2019 to 2020 (pre-Covid) we helped over 50 businesses make a switch to cargo bike. Building on this success and with new IOUH funding from mid 2021 to June 2023, we were able to scale this work up to businesses along the Low Line corridor, working with partners in Bankside, Bermondsey, Elephant & Castle and Walworth.
Working with our knowledgeable and passionate consultants at MP Smarter Travel, we have supported another 150 businesses to make a switch, including 34 businesses that purchased their own cargo bike. We provided over £50K in subsidies towards those switches, money well spent with satisfaction rating over 90%. We’ve reduced carbon emissions, pollution and congestion, and supported local sustainable business practices to succeed.
Evaluating success, influencing policy
We have been working with Just Economics for two years to evaluate this work, and through ongoing review were able to apply learnings to our approach. The Evaluation Report Summary (July 2023) shows the impact of the work in terms of businesses switching, their motivation, their satisfaction, impact on their business and future plans. Through research and interviews with the sector, they were able to make 9 key recommendations for projects, commissioners and policymakers in order to help cargo bikes to flourish in the future, as barriers to their expansion remain.
One such barrier was cost, and an additional report, Delivering Value, indicated how gig economy arrangements with van drivers make those more harmful deliveries advantageous. Indeed, they uncovered that the hidden environmental and social costs of diesel vans were eight times higher than cargo bikes, and that EV was not much better. This work was presented directly to the London Assembly members of the GLA Economy Committee, who released their own report on the promotion of cargo bikes. Moreover, our work was also influential in TfL’s own first Cargo Bike Action Plan released earlier this year.
Cruising – a culture of cargo bikes
Cargo bikes are also about showing off new technology and creating a collaborative and competitive culture amongst operators and riders. The London Cargo Bike Cruise has become THE event on the cargo bike calendar, the 4th annual event taking place on 29 June with 40 vehicles of all shapes, sizes and colours parading through central London from our base here in London Bridge with Fully Charged, the UK’s no. 1 retailers and service hub. Enjoy our short film above (always better with sound).
All these efforts have helped London Bridge become a focal point for the Cargo Revolution – a campaign to celebrate the amazing benefits cargo bikes bring to Londoners.
This culture of cargo bikes has permeated so much of the work at London Bridge. Today we have some work being done by our handyman (on a bike). Our electrician and window cleaners work from cargo bikes. We move almost all our goods by cargo bike, including our office move! We proudly generate almost zero motor traffic – treading, or wheeling, lightly.
And best of all, so many of our businesses have shared in this journey, moving legal contracts, blood samples, catering, even waste sacks. Now Amazon use cargo bikes in SE1, following much pleading and pushing, the second place in the UK (the world actually) where they did this.
Help us make cargo bikes mainstream
Cargo bikes are definitely becoming mainstream in London Bridge, and I’m sure you’ve noticed this every day, and hopefully see how this is reducing traffic, noise and pollution through the area. I think of every cargo bike as one less motor vehicle stuck in traffic.
We will continue to support any of our business members that want advice on switching to cargo bikes. Look at our Cargo Bike Service Directory that we will continue to update, and we will put you in touch with our cargo bike advisers at MP Smarter Travel.
We will also be working with other partners like Cross River Partnership, Better Bankside and Southwark Council to deliver wider London sustainable transport programmes. This revolution is business friendly and helping us build a sustainable business district, so if you haven’t joined already, join now!
- Jack Skillen, Placeshaping Director, Team London Bridge