VIDEO. Can bicycles replace trucks in the city?

BIKLOU, EPISODE 41 – Romain slips between two cones racing at 25 km/h on a modern electric bicycle in the heart of Strasbourg (67). Behind it is a large gray trailer that can support up to 200 kg.

A few months ago, this handsome brown man was traveling back and forth with some of the six tons of paving stones delivered to a construction site in the center of the Alsatian capital. “We have an engine that basically does everything for us. The numbers are impressive, the reality is completely different,” explains the bespectacled courier.

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“False dispute”

In Strasbourg, this swarm of couriers loaded with paving stones made headlines in November 2020. The delivery solution chosen by Urban Logistic Solutions has been accused by many inspired internet users of being a “return to the Middle Ages” or a “phenomenal regression”. . According to Romain, this is a “false dispute”: “It was packed on pallets, we arrived with a trailer, attached to it and could immediately leave.”

“It’s suitable for. Gestures and postures are taken into account, bicycles are taken into account,” Thomas Kastan, founder and director of the company, also reassures. It only takes 19 seconds to attach a bag of paving stones to an e-bike thanks to the smart trailer.

15 bicycles and a boat to replace 150 vans.

The company also offers a hybrid boat/bike solution for delivering to city centers without the pollution of vans or heavy goods vehicles. A 27-minute barge ride from the warehouse allows almost 122 tons of goods to be transported to the center of Strasbourg.

“All cargo arriving in the city center can pass through this delivery system,” says Thomas Kastan. Currently, drinks, flour bags, parcels and recyclable boxes are transported in large trailers.

“It can replace 150 vans,” says the manager. However, replacing these 150 cars with 150 bulky bicycles is out of the question. The solution developed in Strasbourg favors short trips around the pier to unload barges. “It’s like a beehive,” notes the business manager, “bikes are constantly coming and going. So here we will probably replace 150 vans with 15 bicycles.”

A bicycle to help the last mile of delivery

In Strasbourg, as in many large polluted and congested cities, “carrying goods by bicycle is interesting,” analyzes Laetitia Dablan, junior researcher at the Laboratory for Urban, Mobility and Transport. According to this logistics specialist, cycling has its place in very dense urban areas, “where more and more road sharing favors the creation of bike lanes.”

“This becomes a significant competitive advantage for urban logistics companies using bicycles,” explains the scientist.

Moreover, the last link of delivery, the famous “last mile,” concentrates huge economic and environmental problems. This last step alone accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the total cost of transporting goods, according to logistics consulting firm Logicités. It also accounts for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions.

“The bigger the car, the more interesting it is”

No matter what, the bicycle cannot be expected to replace all heavy-duty vehicles, pickups and vans in the city. “We would end up with an absurd situation where we would have too many vehicles and too much space occupied,” assures Laetitia Dablanque, “the larger the car, the more interesting it is.”

“The solution is a combination of modes [de livraison]. We need heavy vehicles to consolidate the arrival of goods into the city, and then vehicles of all sizes.”

Including, therefore, bicycles and cargo bikes to easily navigate the twisting turns of miles of traffic jams, avoid terrible parking, and go much faster than motorized vehicles.

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