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A report by the London Assembly Economy Committee has concluded that further funding should be provided to local authorities in London for cargo bike sharing schemes and cargo bike training.
The Committee found that cargo bikes allow businesses to travel within the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) for a relatively low upfront cost, compared to other low emission vehicles such as electric vans. It heard that the cheapest electric van costs around £24,000.
Transport for London (TfL) runs a scrappage scheme to enable Londoners and smaller businesses to replace vehicles that do not meet the ULEZ emissions standard with cleaner vehicles, including cargo bikes.
The Committee is urging TfL to consider increasing the scheme to incentivise more businesses to switch to cargo bikes once the current funding runs out, as well as raising awareness among different types of businesses to incentivise them to purchase a cargo bike using the scheme.
In addition, the Committee notes that congestion costs money for businesses as workers spend time queuing in traffic and it is difficult to make deliveries on time.
Key recommendations of the report are as follows:
- The Mayor should explore providing further funding to local authorities in London to support cargo bike sharing schemes and to provide training to local businesses, to help them integrate cargo bikes into their operations in a cost-effective way.
- TfL should share with the Committee any analysis it has done on ensuring that there is uptake for purchasing cargo bikes as part of the ULEZ scrappage scheme from a wide variety of businesses. It should also consider increasing the funding for this to incentivise more businesses to switch to cargo bikes when the current funding runs out.
- TfL should inform the Committee of how it is raising awareness among different types of businesses to incentivise them to purchase a cargo bike using the scheme.
- The Mayor should introduce a quality mark which is awarded to London’s businesses that use cargo bikes, in order to incentivise more businesses to take up cargo bikes.
- The Mayor should lobby the government to introduce a further round of funding for local authorities to procure e-cargo bikes, to support the growth of e-cargo bikes in London.
