Study on Infrastructure Needs for Cargo Bikes Submitted

An interdisciplinary consortium of science and practice has created a comprehensive “Study on the Infrastructure Needs of Cargo Bikes, particularly for their use in Last-Mile Logistics,” thereby laying the foundation for achieving the goal of “Delivering 25% of packages by cargo bike and similar objectives.”

(Hamburg/Berlin) Lutz M. Birke, head of the “Port and Innovation” department in the Hamburg Authority for Economic Affairs and Innovation since 2019, received printed copies of the 70-page study “Infrastructure Needs of Cargo Bikes, particularly for their use in Last-Mile Logistics” on January 18, 2022, together with Marieke Müller, specialist advisor for science, innovation, and sustainability in logistics.

The study was conducted in 2021 under the direction of the transport transition agency cargobike.jetzt in collaboration with the Institute for Logistics and Material Flow Technology at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (led by Dr.-Ing. Tom Assmann), the Transport Center of the Bergische University Wuppertal, and the Last-Mile consultancy first mile. The “catalog of measures and guidelines for a modular cargo bike infrastructure concept” alone takes up about 20 pages. The areas investigated included City (Jungfernstieg and adjacent streets), Ottensen (Ottensener Hauptstraße + northern and southern street sections), and Harburg (north and south of Marienstraße). For these study areas, demand calculations for cargo bike and vehicle loading zones were conducted.

Expansion of Cargo Bike Infrastructure Necessary

The experts come to the following conclusion: “If the city’s goal of reducing CO2 emissions from courier, express, and parcel services by 40% by 2030 compared to 2017 is to be successfully implemented, and at least 25% of shipments are to be delivered using alternative transport means such as cargo bikes, a significant expansion of cargo bike infrastructure is required. The study anticipates a significantly increased number of cargo bikes in Hamburg by the end of 2025 – approximately 38,000 to 51,000 units (of which about 30% are expected to be used commercially).”

The study is available online in the transparency portal of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

Photo: © Nicola Rübenberg / Image caption: Study handover in Hamburg at the office of the Economic Authority – left: Lutz M. Birke (BWI), right: Arne Behrensen (cargobike.jetzt). In the background: Cargo bike from tricargo