Promoting Cargo Bike Integration for Urban Logistics

Naomi Kloostra presents a new toolbox designed to help governments and municipalities integrate cargo bikes into their urban planning strategies. This flexible toolbox is developed as addition of a comprehensive research project for the municipality of Rotterdam, and addresses spatial, policy, market, and logistical requirements essential for effective integration. To create practicality and real-life experience, Arup conducted interviews with people in New York, Sydney, and London to identify similarities and comparisons.

Key findings were the influence of differences in cultural levels, political levels and market experiences, and the approach towards urban planning as a whole. These findings led to the importance of flexibility in the toolbox that should allow for adaptation to different contexts.

Municipality leaders and urban planners are invited to learn how this toolbox can support cities to redesign public spaces and cultivate cargo bike-friendly environments. Join Naomi to explore how cargo bikes can enhance your city’s logistics system, advancing sustainable urban transport solutions and positioning your municipality at the forefront of innovative, green transport solutions.

Riders on the Street

Why should last mile delivery be part of street design?

New trends and innovations in commerce and delivery have a significant impact on the quality and the use of streets. It is therefore essential to deepen our understanding of the subject and develop new methods (design tools, strategies, models) to integrate present and future demands of logistics. The research focuses on the question of how streets can incorporate this new demand, not as a pure technical issue, but as an opportunity to improve public space, especially streets.

In collaboration with urban logistics experts, municipalities, and innovative companies in the last mile delivery sector, the design team of Riders on the Street explores various models that can be used in spatial policy, urban plans, and public space projects. And they can be integrated in the periodical upgrades of existing streets or in new streets.

Riders on the Street is led by Giacomo Gallo (NEW ENVIRONMENTS) and Daniel Casas Valle (Urban Dynamics) and counts with the collaboration of the municipalities of Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and Leiden, Goudappel , Francesca Miazzo (founder of Foodlogica), Renaud Sarrazin (founder of urbike), the @Future Design of Streets association, and other experts. The project is funded by the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, as part of the programme De Nieuwe Ruimte / Ways to Wellbeing, and the Municipality of Leiden.

LEVA-EU host a free information session on standardisation. The meeting is free of charge for all interested professional visitors and press, but for practical reasons, registration here is required. The session will guide participants through the intricacies of standardisation, including how standards are developed, approved, and connected to legislation, as well as how companies can get involved in the process.

To find out more about the session, click here.

Author Franck Girardot presents – and reads extracts from – his new novel: Vélo Cargo.

The book will also be on sale at the ICBF on the Friday – visit Stand 12 to meet the author himself and chat about the book.

In this session Dr. Tom Assmann, research group lead at the University of Magdeburg, provides new insights into the development of self-driving cargo bikes.

At first glance, the concept of a self-driving cargo bike may seem odd. However, upon closer examination, combining the advantages of a cargo bike with the convenience benefits of modern self-driving technology not only takes bikes to the next technological level but also opens up new use cases and opportunities to improve efficiency in current applications.

Tom, his development team, and numerous partners have been leading the development of this technology for over five years. In his talk, Tom will discuss not only the enormous potential of making cargo bikes self-driving and the technology behind it, but also provide insights into the most recent prototype and initial experiences from real-world tests. Tom is looking forward to a fruitful discussion with you and the audience.

The City of Utrecht was built around logistics. In the 12th century, Utrecht was at the cross roads of trading routes. It developed an inland port with no less than 5 kilometers of canals, wharves and cellars that stored and transshipped goods. Nowadays, this UNESCO world heritage cellar system forms a popular hide-out for bars, restaurants, dwellings and businesses. However, these also form a unique challenge. Wharf cellars were built to allow the ‘truck of the middle ages’ – horse and carriage – to pass through the streets built on top of them. Now that our urban logistics system has been designed around trucks, that’s a problem. And we need to find other ways to supply goods to these leisure hot spots.

Utrecht is therefore forced to reconsider its urban logistics system and it follows several lines of action: (1) Limit the use of heavy and fossil fuel vehicles within the city, (2) Promote and facilitate the use of lightweight, fit-for-purpose cargo vehicles, such as cargo bikes and LEFVs (3) Promote and facilitate the bundling of goods by giving space and perks to urban distribution centers (4) Reinstate the original function of the canal system: transport by water, supported by human-scale vehicles such as cargo bikes.

This session will highlight the latest developments in cycle logistics in Belgium, France and Germany, and Europe more broadly. It will provide information leading data,  trends, opportunities and challenges operators are currently experiencing.

The Belgian Cycle Logistics Federation (BCLF), ColisActiv (FUB), the Germany Cycle Logistics Federation (RLVD) and Cycling Industries Europe (CIE) will present data, and best practices and initiatives that illustrate how cycle logistics in Europe continues to transform and mature.

The data that will be presented highlights valuable employment and growth figures within the sector, information regarding fleets, and crucial accident and safety data. All data is anonymous and is one of Europe’s only sources of cycle-logistics operator-based information. The best practices that will be highlighted will aim to improve policy making, incentivisation, job creation, economic growth, and the environmental and lifestyle benefits associated with decarbonising last-mile logistics.

During the International Cargo Bike Festival, you can join Vegan Food Tour; the most fun, delicious and sustainable bike tour in the Netherlands. A vegan guide with cargo bike will take you through the city of Dom and let you taste the most delicious vegetable snacks of the city. Cycling, eating and enjoying the cycling city of Europe, what more could you want? And all that for a promotional price of € 55,- (excluding bicycle*). Be quick, because the number of tickets per tour is limited. So book your spot for the Vegan Bike Tour in Utrecht quickly.

The tours start at 12:30 p.m. and last about 2.5 hours. The exact start location and other information will be shared at a later date.

Book here: https://veganfoodtour.nl/en/the-tours/utrecht/cargo-bike-festival/

Questions? Contact Cargo Bike Guide Patrick on +31 (0)6 44 21 79 99

*No bicycle in Utrecht? No problem! You can easily and quickly rent a rental bike while booking. It will be waiting for you at the starting point!

Makan Dramé of Les Boîtes A Service, Mali

Makan Drame discusses an innovative project aimed at designing a prototype cargo bike, crafted from a second-hand electric bike sourced locally. With the support of a skilled metal worker and welder, this project highlights a creative approach to overcoming the high cost of cargo bikes by utilizing local resources. Video and images showcasing the manufacturing process will be featured.

The goals of this initiative include experimenting with cargo bikes in Mali for the first time, with the vision of making them a popular means of transport. The team aspires to develop a home-grown brand of cargo bikes, made affordably from repurposed classic bicycles and the expertise of local craftsmen.

The presentation will also cover:

• The role of bicycles in the daily life of the Malian population.
• Barriers to bicycle usage in Mali.
• Opportunities for the company’s cyclologistics project.
• Challenges in executing practical actions, raising awareness, and advocacy efforts.

Bouwer van Niekerk of STROOM, South Africa

STROOM is a South African e-cargo bike manufacturer, specialising in hyper-efficient and light-weight construction, designed for ultra-durability in South African conditions. With a zero compromise approach on our reinforced, in-house battery systems and insanely strong, light-weight and innovative frame designs, they bring an interesting offer to the European market: affordable, bombproof e-Cargo bikes and e-trailers – evolved and hardened from heavy duty in South African townships.

STROOM offer a range of configurations and load capacities, from 50kg/200L up to 200kg/2000L. Their FrontRunner, a highly configurable, front-loading style e-cargo bike, is the cornerstone of their range and can be fitted with a cargo-box, cargo-plate or child-seat. Their Delta e-trailers are available as open cargo platforms or fully enclosed boxes, suitable for diverse uses such as food vending. And their latest offering, the Solo, is a fully enclosed van-style vehicle coming in just over 70kg.

With multiple partnerships actively supporting job creation and skill sharing in South African townships and cities, STROOM believe that their viability in economically and environmentally challenging environments will make an interesting and compelling option in the European market.

You can visit STROOM on Stand 30 at ICBF 2024.

CargoBikePacking is the story for riding 1000km on a cargo bike home for Christmas. Since moving to Edinburgh in 2009 Markus has done the journey a number of times, first on a singlespeed bike, then in record speed in 3 days – and in 2023 he decided to load a Hase Gravit Dust with his presents, his stuff and some books to sell along the road to test ride a new route in Yorkshire and carry to Erfurt in Germany.

In Chasing Rainbows Markus teams up with Jenny Graham, who set the world record in cycling around the planet. Both avid mountain bikers, Markus and Jenny take the Tern Orox to Moray – one of the lesser known parts of their home country Scotland, to show what cargo bikes are REALLY capable of. Trail centers, beaches and, as you would image, everything enjoyed with a wee dram of Scotch.

Markus is the founder of bikepackingscotland.com, filmmaker and book author. He became the first person to cycle around the world on a singlespeed bike in 2016, and is since involved in cycling in many ways.

The streets of Portland, Oregon (pop. 620,000) are not designed with bikes in mind, and yet a large community of people has embraced everyday biking as a radical act of positive affirmation. Cargo bikes stand out in Portland, with especially inventive adaptations. Learn more from urban planning researcher Cathy Tuttle about cargobikes and how they amplify Portland bike culture in bike moves, school bike buses, bike businesses, Pedalpalooza, the Disaster Relief Trials, and the World Naked Bike Ride with 10,000 riders.