CYCLE logistics: Moving goods by bicycle

Achieving concrete reduction in energy used for urban freight transport

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

As societies face urban congestion, rising fuel costs and increased air and noise pollution, using bicyles to move goods is now being seen a viable transport solution. This is clearly the idea behind CYCLE Logistics, the EU funded project being launched in May 2011.

“All modern sustainable companies and cities will incorporate delivery of goods by bikes in their logistic systems” proclaims Dr. Bernhard Ensink, Secretary General of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), and one of the key partners involved in the project. The CYCLE logistics project will build upon this new trend of moving goods out of trucks and vans and onto bicycles.

Running from May 2011 to 2014 and spanning across 12 countries, this project will draw upon the expertise of local authorities, the private sector, cyclists’ groups, communications experts and energy agencies. With ECF as a main partner of this project, CYCLE logistics will strive to remove unnecessary motorized vehicles from roads by using more bikes to transport goods in city center across Europe.

A clear example of bikes being used as part of every-day business

“Currently, half of all trips in the city are related to the transportation of goods with light goods representing over a third of these trips”, explains ECF Project manager Dr. Randy Rzewnicki, noting that “there’s a huge potential for CYCLE logistics to shift these trips away from motorized vehicles and towards cycling-related solutions”.

Despite the mammoth task ahead of him, Rzewnicki is upbeat: “In Berlin, London, Paris, and many other cities elsewhere it’s happening already for business. Even for those who have the most efficient delivery networks, cycling solutions lead to increased efficiency”.

But, let's face it: this is not a new concept now. Baker's, butcher's, etc., used to do their deliveries around towns, villages and even part of the countryside by “cargo” cycles and the postal service, even in rural areas of the UK, for instance, has been using bicycles until they enlarged the delivery areas too much.

Germany has seen a return of the courier, as in DHL kind of, and also other delivery services, including grocery home deliveries, so I understand, on “cargo” cycles and also in Britain some small ventures have taken up that option once again.

On a larger scale, I should think, as far as Britain is concerned, the talk would be about needing “pilot” projects before, say, local authorities and such would take up this option of bicycle deliveries.

In other countries of Europe, for instance, this is happening and also other alternatives to car and truck are being used and not just “explored” such as horse-drawn dustcarts in a number of areas in France, including, so I understand, some districts of the capital.

According to reports from France the savings are huge in switching from the huge diesel-turbine trucks to horse and cart and even collection speeds do not seem to have suffered.

As far as deliveries in towns and cities are concerned if one considers that, due to the congestion, the traveling speed of a truck may be less than that of a bicycles, especially if cycle paths are available, deliveries by bike might just be rather a viable option, and maybe not just in towns and cities.

© 2011

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Increase in rail and bicycle usage in Britain

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

According to recent figures rail journeys in the UK have increased tremendously pointing to the fact that people leave the car at home more because of the cost of fuel going up, and up, and up.

Bicycle usage also has risen rather greatly from what I can observe on a daily basis and more and more people seem to join the throng of those riding through our parks on their way to work or from work, or to take the children to school, or to go to the stores.

With the equivalent of US$8 and more for a US gallon of ordinary gasoline this change in choice of mode of transport really is not surprising. What is surprising that not more bikes are about on the commuting trail and the school run or the trip to the stores for the pint of milk or the loaf of bread.

The way people are and have been using the car is not really sustainable and nor has it ever been. We clog up the village and town centers, the roads to and fro, and we pollute the air. Short journeys cause much greater emissions than the loner runs and vehicles idling are the biggest cause of automobile air pollution.

While most readers of this journal will know the facts as to pollution caused by idling cars and such like very well indeed already it is, nevertheless, interesting and, dare I say, encouraging, to see that rail journeys are going up and, as far as I can see, the use of bicycles too is very much on the increase, for commuting as well as for taking the kids to school or for the run to the shops.

Let us just hope – and, those who do, pray – that this increase will not just dissipate again if and when oil and gasoline become cheap again. Not that I, personally, think that this is going to be the case again, ever.

And if it is indeed the case that the era of cheap and abundant oil has come to an end everyone best prepare for a return to mass transport, such as, especially, rail, for the longer journeys and to the use of the bicycle and walking for the shorter journey. Unless, that is, you can afford to keep and maintain (no, not a musket, silly) a horse and cart.

The problem though is that this fact is not, as yet, really sinking in with the majority of the people who still think that they are entitled to a car and to be able to be running it.

I don't know about such entitlements. Even the Constitution of the United States of America does not make mention of any of that. There is no right to have access to cheap gasoline enshrined in that document, not even in any of the many Amendments to said Constitution.

© 2011

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Downsizing from Tractors to Camels

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The world is finally, even in the developing world, waking up; in Rajastan, India, at least.

There farmers are giving up on their gas- and diesel-guzzling tractors and are returning to using their trusty camels for haulage again, as they have done in times not so long ago.

Due to rising fuel prices farmers are rediscovering the "ships of the desert", and this is good too. Why they ever gave up the use of the camel for haulage is a question that can only be answered by them, but I would assume that they encountered the kind of salesman that can sell refrigerators and freezers to the Eskimos.

The price of a good camel has gone up sharply as a result: two years ago camels, good camels, were almost the same price as goats, now they are three times the price.

A good male camel will live for 60 to 80 years and costs about £500.00 while the cheapest tractor is £2,500.

This is good news according to the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development because the camel population has been falling over the past ten years and this could lead to a revival of this age-old usage. So, let's hear it for the camel!

Camels have a long and regal history in India. They were, traditionally, used by Maharajahs and had great status and so did their breeders. Now decreasing amounts of grazing land and lack of investment in the existing lands have resulted in inadequate nutrition and lowered the resilience of the herds. Camel slaughter is forbidden in India but in fact sources believe that it is rampant, with the meat exported to Bangladesh. Not only is the use of camels being promoted but also its by-products such as camel milk, camel leather handbags and camel bone jewellery.

Well, this is in Rajastan, India. What about the Arab countries for camels and some of our countries, such as the USA, the UK, and countries in the EU for horses, mules and donkeys, once again?

The Amish in the USA still use the horse and many of their farms and businesses are, in their way, far more productive than many of the modern ones. In the UK in a number of areas the horse is making a comeback as a foresters timber moving animal and its use is beginning to spread. While a horse, alas, does not live as long as a camel, it nevertheless, I am sure, beats a tractor in acquisition and running costs.

Fair enough, you do not have the power of a tractor, but then you neither have the noise, the cost of fuel and maintenance – not that a horse may not need the vet or the farrier at times and neither of them are cheap – and neither the other associated problems you have with running a motor vehicle.

In Egypt and some other countries thereabouts the donkey is still in use as a means of haulage and in some of the new EU member states so is the horse, and not just by the Romani People in those countries. In Poland in the rural districts the horse and wagon are still a normal sight and they can even, at certain days, be found in the larger towns.

This might be something that we all should look at again. We also must not forget the ox and the bullock and others...

© M Smith (Veshengro), May 2008

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Share and share a bike

New York City is putting training wheels on a new bicycle-sharing program to demonstrate to city-dwellers that two-wheelers can be a viable form of alternative transportation. Sponsored by the Forum for Urban Design, a group of architects, designers, and planners, the five-day trial run has made 20 bikes available for free from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. for 30 minutes at a time.

Bicycle-sharing programs are already thriving in European cities like Barcelona, Spain, and Lyon, France. A program in Paris will soon make 10,000 bicyclettes available for public use.

"A ride-share program would reduce the dependency on automobiles," says David Haskell of the Forum for Urban Design. "It would be a great alternative to subways and bus services -- and a lot cheaper for the city."

Also, less smelly.

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Ken looks at radical new plans for cycling in London

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, announced today that he has asked Transport for London to examine the feasibility of bicycle hire scheme to promoting cycling in London. The Mayor recently saw at first hand the successful 'Velib' - Freedom bike - hire scheme introduced by the Mayor of Paris, which has enjoyed great success since its launch a few weeks ago.

The Mayor and Peter Hendy, the Commissioner of Transport for London, witnessed the Paris Velib scheme at first hand during the recent Tour de France.

Transport for London have been asked to look at international best practice in promoting cycling, including hire schemes like that of Paris, with a view to introducing a scheme which meets the specific needs of London. Cycling groups and other stakeholders will be consulted on the options.

A London scheme would require the support of London Boroughs, as well as the Mayor, as most London roads are controlled by the boroughs.

The Paris scheme offers 10,000 bicycles sited at 750 dedicated hire-points every 300 metres around Paris, with plans for 20,000 bikes at 1,400 hire points by the end of the year. The bikes are available at any time of the day or night and cost just about 70 pence to hire for half an hour. Theft is minimal because of the unique design of the bicycles, their highly secure parking facilities and because payment is via credit or debit card. If a bicycle is not returned the hirer is charged around £100.

The Paris scheme has been an instant success, with the distinctive Freedom Bikes now seen all around the centre of Paris.

Transport for London officials have been working with the Clearzones Partnership and central London boroughs to examine the potential for a similar scheme for some months and will be meet their opposite numbers in Paris, and other European cities, to discuss the practicalities of such schemes. Other cities with a strong record on cycling or with public cycle hire scheme include Barcelona, Lyon, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Oslo and Copenhagen.

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, said:

‘Cycling is a clean, fast and cheap way to get around London and we have seen an 83 per cent increase in cycling since I became Mayor. I have seen the Paris Freedom Bike scheme, and discussed it with the Mayor of Paris. It clearly works and is highly popular. I have asked transport officials in London to study the Parisian and similar schemes in order to draw up proposals for a scheme which would meet the needs of London. I am sure that we can learn from the success of the Parisian and similar schemes to expand access to cycling in London.'

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The Bicycle as Means of Personal Transport

The bicycle was the first affordable private transport for the masses. It was the poor man's horse and it is more valuable today, in the this era of climate change and the need to reduce our environmental footprint than ever.

The invention of the bicycle proper and especially the “mass production” of them made personal transport for the poor affordable and enabled them to get further afield for word and leisure than ever before. In fact the bike itself also became a leisure activity and many a person went on bicycle tours around the countryside on Sundays and during vacations, once they had actually arrived for the masses.

The bicycle still has a place as a means of personal private transport and not just for children. It is a viable alternative to the motor car, at least and especially around town and village. But it also has a place in the countryside for personal transportation over shorter distances. The bike also gets through were a car often cannot. This was shown by the Viet-Cong on the Ho Chi Min Path during the Viet-Nam war.

While the bicycle may not be the best means for long distance transportation this could be solved with a proper cycle policy on mass transit systems, such as trains, underground, and similar, and here ideally a carriage or two dedicated to those with cycles. This would, probably, have to mean longer trains, but so be it.

For this to be getting anywhere, however, we need to take the public transportation systems back into public ownership and the fare set at an affordable level; affordable to the poorest and not the richest.

In addition and especially we need, everywhere, networks of cycle lanes. While in some countries of Europe cycle path nigh on cover the entire country, in the UK, alas there are very few proper ones of them. This needs to change if the use of the bicycle is to become more widespread in the UK as a means of personal transportation. The current type of “cycle lanes” - now there is a joke – is entirely inappropriate as it doe not give the cyclist any safety from the traffic and all too often vehicles are parked in said cycle lanes and the cyclist has to move into the fast flowing traffic. This is especially dangerous for children and it is therefore not surprising that in the UK very few children, compared to other EU countries, actually go to school by bicycle. In addition to that the so-called cycle lanes in the UK are often just little strips here and there that end as abruptly as they started.

© M V Smith, August 2007

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