Research led Andrew Brown, the founder and CEO of the New Amsterdam Project in Cambridge, USA to a British company, Cycles Maximus, that makes commercial trikes used by the government to deliver the Royal Mail. One of their trikes’ key features is an electric-assist. It allows even diminutive riders to haul 800 pounds up hill – and zip away from a stop at the pace of a car. It doesn’t replace pedaling: the driver must pedal for the assist to work.
That effort is a key point for Brown. Whether delivering pies, chocolates, organic produce, or green building products, NAP’s ultimate motive is to show people bicycles are a great way to stay fit, as well as break the internal-combustion stranglehold.
“It’s almost like cars are the sea within which we live and we’re so attached to them, it’s so habitual,” he says. “We are trying to lead the way, to set an example about how to get away from cars altogether.”
As utopian as that might sound, there are a few tentative signs that Brown might be onto something. High gasoline prices and rising concerns over climate change do seem to be opening the door to interest in cycling to work – and just perhaps, a new way of delivering many goods in crowded urban settings.
Signs include rising numbers of bike commuters, especially in places like Portland, Ore; Boston; Boulder, Colo.; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C., says Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, an advocacy group based in Washington.
“Gas prices are making people think twice about how they get around,” he says. “What NAP is doing is in the vanguard of this movement. Even if it isn’t common yet, it’s definitely coming. It just makes good sense.”
Perhaps so, but even Brown admits there is “a huge cultural hurdle” to overcome in the land of the pickup truck.
“People do laugh,” he says. “They can’t understand how a bicycle can possibly function in a way commensurate with an automobile, much less a light truck.”
But there are signs some do get it. Pedal Express in Berkeley, Calif., and Revolution Rickshaws in New York City are two companies specializing in bicycle-based delivery and pedicab operations that will also deliver heavy loads by cargo cycle. Greg Zukowski, president of Revolution, sells cycle vans from Cycles Maximus, including five sold to Brown for around $12,000 each.
“We’re mainly a courier messenger service that uses these trikes,” Mr. Zukowski says. “But [cargo delivery] is something we’re doing more of every day.”There’s also been a surprising, if somewhat elusive, endorsement of the cargo-cycle concept by a big industry player: United Parcel Service. UPS tested the cargo-cycle concept over the 2007 Christmas holidays in several Vermont communities with bicycles pulling small trailers, according to Seven Days, a weekly based in Burlington.
Just how much UPS likes the idea isn’t something the company is talking about right now, however. “It’s something I’ve been told is not public at this time,” says Heather Robinson, a UPS spokesperson.
April 6, 2008
January 18, 2008
January 11, 2008
August 23, 2007
November 23, 2006
November 18, 2006
Image by Sam Stearman
November 1, 2006
Berlin and Brunnthal, October 9, 2006 – At the VDE/VDI „Mediatalk –Microenergy technologies – Market success with products made in Germany“ information forum Veloform will present its latest generation muscle powered 3-wheel electro bike with fuel cells. With this, a vehicle enters the market which – thanks to the liquid energy carrier methanol – will offer almost unlimited cruising range and an extremely positive environmental balance.
The CityCruiser II uses the established, commercially available EFOY fuel cells made by fuel cell market leader SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. With them, the CityCruiser II can draw upon an existing fuel infrastructure successfully established by SFC for existing markets. The EFOY fuel cells do not only reliably power the actual engine, but also additional features like lights, radiator, communication equipment etc. As the fuel cell continuously recharges the battery, the e-bike does not have to be charged at a power outlet , but can be used without interruption.
Fuel consumption in this constellation is absolutely sensational: the vehicle uses only 0.3 l gasoline equivalent per 100 km. Operation of the EFOY fuel cell is silent and environmentally friendly. The only “exhausts” produced are water and carbon dioxide, comparable to an adult’s breath. Thus the vehicle sets new standards with regard to the protection of resources, the air and the environment, and can also be operated within buildings, e.g. airports or fair halls.
“We are excited about our cooperation with Veloform. Electric vehicles are the future in traffic“, says Dr. Jens Mueller, Managing Director of SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. “Unfortunately, up to now many developments have been impeded by insufficient battery power or by the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure for conventional fuel cells. Our EFOY fuel cells use the liquid, easy to transport methanol in convenient safety cartridges for which we have already established a working European infrastructure. Thanks to this there are no limits to electrical vehicles anymore.“
“For the development of the CityCruiser and the DeliveryCruiser Veloform had at first considered creating a proprietary fuel cell. In SFC we found a partner who had the solution we needed already in a commercially available version“, says Dr. Anselm Franz, Director of Veloform GmbH. A simple maneuver turns the CityCruiser II with enough space for the driver and two passengers into a transport vehicle: the DeliveryCruiser. Various extra features are available for both models for extra passenger comfort or advertising function (e.g. cooling or heating system, illuminated advertising space etc.)
Veloform and SFC have been cooperating for more than two years. During that time they have impressively demonstrated the reliability and performance of this technology in a range of vehicles in everyday use.
June 29, 2006
From the Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon, USA:
One offbeat, Eugene-born and widely traveled bicycle enterprise may finally get its day - thanks to the run-up in gas prices.
Suddenly, the 16-year-old Pedalers Express bicycle cargo delivery business is reporting an uptick in pickup and delivery orders.
It’s the same in a half-dozen U.S. cities, where bike cargo delivery services have sprung up in the past decade.
As motor-based courier services raise their rates to cope with rising fuel costs, their business customers are taking a second look at the odd-shaped bicycles with industrial-sized baskets and thick-thighed drivers.
The bottom line clenches the deal.
“We’re just able to offer a better price than our competitors,” said Quinn Keogh, manager for Pedalers Express, which is an arm of the nonprofit Center for Appropriate Transport near downtown Eugene.
Pedalers Express delivers everything from organic vegetables to legal documents to newspapers in a geography that reaches from west Eugene to downtown Springfield.
The prices range from $6 for a single downtown delivery to $405 a month for multiple daily pickups at a large law firm.
The run-up in pedal-powered work is especially gratifying for Jan VanderTuin, a Eugene resident who is credited with founding the modern version of a bicycle cargo service.
The earliest version arose in 1907 in Seattle by the ancestor company to United Parcel Service. Founder James Casey delivered packages via bicycle for a half-dozen years before he bought his first motorized vehicle, a Model T Ford.
VanderTuin reinvented the practice in the late 1980s, when he modernized and began manufacturing the old European “Long John” or “Long Emma” bicycle with an extended front end and a cargo basket low in front of the handle bars.
His high-performance version features 21 speeds. “It’s the best way to carry 200 pounds on a bike, basically,” said Mike Cobb, a rider for Berkeley Pedal Express for 4 1/2 years.
The Berkeley service was founded in 1994 after members of the Auto-Free Bay Area Coalition chartered a Green Tortoise bus for a sojourn to Eugene to learn from VanderTuin. They bought four of his long-haul cargo bikes.
“Jan VanderTuin has some far-reaching ripples,” Cobb said. “He really was the beginning.”
Suddenly, bike cargo services are flowering not only in Berkeley, but Portland, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo and Chapel Hill, N.C.
Demand rises with bad news at the pump, operators say. And it has been a steep climb this year.
Today in Eugene-Springfield, the average per-gallon price is $2.98, or 72 cents per gallon over the same day last year, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
The high prices combine with increasing gridlock in urban centers, higher labor prices and better marketing by the bicycle companies to fan the flames of demand.
“All of these factors contribute,” said Rick Graves, general partner of Pedaler’s Express in Santa Cruz.
The Eugene service had to add a fifth rider when it landed a contract with Western Title & Escrow.
The company signed up in May, which coincided with the highest-ever spike at the gas pumps for Eugene-Springfield residents: They paid $3.16 for a gallon of regular.
“I put (Pedalers Express) on the streets for a couple of weeks and said, `This is a good deal,’ ” said Glenn Frank, manager of title operations, who later added: “I’m not paying for a car, gas or insurance.”
The service is speedy, Frank said. Some times of day, the riders can make it from the Oakway offices to clients on Country Club Road or the company’s branch at Village Plaza off Goodpasture Island Road faster than by car.
The riders are like fluid at rush hour. They know all 119 miles of Eugene’s bikeways. They know the alleys and parking lots - all the shortcuts.
Besides those advantages, the bike service still has its original selling points: Bike deliveries don’t boost global warming, they don’t use excess energy and they don’t contribute to the need for an oil-driven foreign policy.
“We’ve got a lot going for us,” Keogh said.
“We’re kicking in,” VanderTuin said.
January 30, 2006
From Relish:
Coffee to go is taking on new meaning in Winston-Salem [North Carolina, USA].A coffee bar and a bike shop have teamed up to create a coffee shop on wheels - bicycle wheels, that is.
“Bikes and coffee always go together,” said Bruce Hermann, the owner of Neighborhood Transportation, a bike shop at the corner of Liberty and Fifth streets in downtown Winston-Salem.
“When you travel on bike rides, there are three things you immediately find in any town: 1) a coffee shop 2) a Laundromat and 3) a bar. Coffee companies sponsor pro bike-racing teams. Culturally, coffee and bikes are very similar.”
So Hermann and David Franklin and John Bryan, the co-owners of Krankies Coffee Bar inside The Werehouse, decided to take the fusion of coffee and bikes to a new level.
Hermann provided a recumbent bicycle that Krankies and the residents of The Werehouse, a communal arts venue at 211 E. Third St. in Winston-Salem, have outfitted with all of the equipment necessary for a full-service mobile coffee shop.Starting today, the Werehouse crew will serve coffee and biscotti from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday through Friday in front of the old courthouse at the corner of Fourth and Main streets. Drinks will range from the standard cup o’ joe to more exotic espresso-based drinks.
Prices will range from about $1.75 to $4. To help introduce the bike to the community, all coffee drinks from the bike will be free today and Friday.
Krankies took over the Maria’s Coffee franchise from original owner Maria Braucht in March. When Franklin and Bryan began thinking of ways to promote Krankies to the community, the idea of the coffee bike seemed to be the perfect solution.
“Since we’re not in a foot traffic area, we were looking for a way to get our coffee out there to the public, without detracting from our initial location,” Franklin said. “We toyed with different ideas, but the bike seemed like the best solution.”
Werehouse residents Jeff Chapple and Tim Nolan will take turns manning the bike and selling the drinks. At the end of the day, they’ll ride the bike down Liberty Street to Hermann’s shop, where the bike, which features graphics by Henderson-Bromstead Art Co., will be parked overnight until the next day’s shift.
All parties involved are excited about the collaboration.
“For the coffee shop, we want a place where all types of people can come together, and the bike will be an extension of that,” Bryan said. “And Bruce is central to this, too - he has amazing bikes, and it’s easy to interface with others in Winston-Salem, with some imagination and hard work.”
Franklin agreed. “We have a good symbiotic relationship with the city. We’ve had a lot of momentum in this town. We want to take that inspiring energy and pass that along to the rest of the community.”
“One of our hopes,” Bryan said, “is that people will try the coffee, and then come check out the cafe.”
At Krankies, a wide variety of coffees are available, from individual drinks to bulk sales of freshly roasted whole beans. Franklin said regular customers often call in orders ahead of time and have their own individual mix of beans waiting for them when they arrive.
Krankies imports fresh beans from California and New Jersey, then Krankies resident roaster Chris Leiser roasts the beans on site. Mary’s Of Course cafe and The Zevely House serve their proprietary blends of Krankies coffee at their restaurants.
Krankies may offer 10 to 15 varieties at any time, including popular beans such as Colombian, Ethiopian Harrar and Guatemalan.
Hermann understands the long-term potential of the bike. “The more activities that happen on the street in downtown Winston-Salem, the more this will become a real town. And these guys are helping that become a reality.”
December 15, 2005
A symbol of Javanese culture undergoes changes
to enhance its competitiveness and allure.With the support of the Toyota Foundation, ITDP has been working with its partners in Yogyakarta to develop a modernized becak. The becak is a non-motorized, three-wheeled rickshaw and is unique in having the passengers sit in front of the driver. Based on ITDP’s successful modernization of the rickshaw in India, the becak modernization project aims to revitalize the becak as a mode of transportation. The purpose is to increase the becak’s safety, comfort, and status, while reducing the weight for the drivers. In addition to providing pollution-free transportation, the project also directly benefits the poor – increasing the earning power of drivers who are often in the lowest income groups.
ITDP has received strong support from other organizations. The Yogyakarta Tourism
Department has directly ordered 50 of the modernized becaks to serve as special tourist vehicles. A Muslim charity organization has also purchased modernized becaks in their efforts to help the poor. Local becak manufacturers and the tourism industry have offered their support and cooperation.
During 2005, the modernized becak model was further refined and update to address the suggestions of the drivers and passengers who used the 2004 model, the Bisma. The current model is now undergoing initial production, and efforts are focused on marketing it to reach a wider audience.
As part of the project, a special workshop has been constructed to serve as a laboratory for development and production of the initial models. Under Instran’s management, the project utilizes local workers with the guidance of local design assistant, Mr. Jufri Tengga, an engineering student at Yogya’s Gadjah Mada University. Technical direction is provided by Ms. Shreya Gadepalli of India, while oversight and guidance is provided by ITDP Vice President, Mr. Matteo Martignoni. Matteo and Shreya bring to Yogyakarta their experience from the development of the design for the Indian modernized rickshaw.
ITDP will provide modernized becaks to transport participants in the Better Air Quality conference to be held by the Clean Air Initiative for Asia in Yogyakarta during September, 2006.
From the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy’s latest Sustainable Transport E-Update.