Vision

A Vision for logistics in Cambridge City

Outspoken has a vision for a brighter future – by using a combination of freight bicycles and electric vans for the ‘last mile’ delivery, we have a model for Cambridge that will give Council bosses something to cheer about – a less polluted, less congested and more liveable city.

The past 25 years have seen huge increases in the use of motorised vehicles for the movement of people and goods. Vans and lorries have become ubiquitous on our roads, whilst bicycle use has steadily declined. But with rampant congestion, spiralling fuel costs, harmful emissions, and an environment dominated by high levels of noise pollution, can this trend continue? Even Cambridge, with its large cycling community, is not immune to these problems.

We are currently involved in an EU project analysing how bicycles can play their part in moving goods in city centres.  Conventional wisdom holds that the best way for deliveries to enter a city is for vans and lorries to operate out of large hubs, often many miles from a city, delivering everything from 0.5kg packages to large pallets. The problem with this is that a lorry is designed to take large pallets but is incredibly inefficient at taking small items which often constitute the majority of the load. These items could easily be moved from lorry to bicycle/electric van.

We have a two stage vision for how deliveries can be made in a small town such as Cambridge. The model is based on using micro hubs on the edge of town where packages come in from larger hubs further away. These packages are sorted by size and location and then the ‘last mile’ is delivered using the appropriate bicycle/electric vehicle.

Stage 1 – current situation

Stage one is the model that we are currently trialling – taking large volume deliveries off some of the national and international freight carriers.

Using our office/workshop as a hub, companies drop off their deliveries (up to 25kg) for the inner city centre early in the morning. Throughout the day, we deliver the ‘last mile’ using our range of freight bicycles.

By taking packages from more than one company we can consolidate deliveries making them more efficient. We also overcome some of the access issues for van couriers.  

Who uses us?

• National/International freight carriers
• Businesses  delivering magazines, food, laundry etc
• Waste management – collection of recycling material from the inner City centre.

Stage 2 – moving forward

Stage two requires greater investment in developing hubs on the edge of the city. Rather than working mainly in the inner city area, stage 2 will cover the whole of the city, ensuring residential as well as business areas have fewer vans & lorries in them.

Delivery by van/lorry will be to hubs on the major roads surrounding the city, such as Park & Ride sites. From there, the ‘last mile’ will be delivered by a range of bicycles and electric vehicles.

The larger volumes will require electric vehicles that will be used for direct delivery but also as mobile hubs from which smaller freight bikes can more efficiently work an area.

Stage 2 hubs would be able to take small volume deliveries on an ad hoc basis from e.g. builders merchants, florists, food companies etc.  Vans from these types of companies are currently entering the city, often to deliver just one or two items which is extremely inefficient. We can keep these vans out of the city by encouraging them to instead drop their goods off at the hub and have the ‘last mile’ delivered by bike/electric van.

Who will use the service?

• National/international carriers
• Wide variety of individuals and businesses - essentially an opportunity for a third party to do the final mile delivery into the city centre 

Why adopt this model?

With better access to the city centre, freight bicycles offer more flexible delivery windows and give local Council bosses something to cheer about – less polluted, less congested and more liveable town centres. Who wouldn’t want to see fewer vans on our streets? And with fit riders who clearly love a day’s work out, customers get to receive their goods from a cheery cyclist who brings a natural enthusiasm to their job.

What we need to realise is that the freight bicycle is a serious choice for transporting goods and services around city centres.  We need to be active in ensuring the freight bicycle becomes an integral link in the logistics chain.