Rio de Janeiro — Cargo Bike Capital
Copenhagen, of course, is a benchmark city regarding use of cargo bikes. With around 50,000 cargo bikes in use in Greater Copenhagen each day, it’s safe to say that cargo transport is mainstream in the Danish capital. A quarter of all families with two or more children have one and a growing number of services are provided via cargo bike.
All well and good. But let me introduce to you Rio de Janeiro, because there are a few tricks THAT city can teach the rest of us. While the city is not exactly an urban cycling paradise, the modal share is 3.5%, which is still ahead of so many other cities in the world.
I’ve previously written about the cargo bike culture in Sao Paulo, which was fantastic to experience. I worked in Brazil for a period and while there, Ze Lobo, who works at the Transporte Ativo NGO, filled me in about the state of the nation in Rio de Janeiro regarding cycling and, not least, cargo bikes. The latter is something worth broadcasting.
The active transportation NGO Transporte Ativo did a cargo bike count a few years back, focusing on the Copacabana neighbourhood in the city, with a population of around 500,000. The research counted bicycle and cargo bike deliveries in fantastic detail.
Here’s the rub: There are 11,541 deliveries made by bicycle or cargo trike every day in the neighborhood. Eleven thousand five hundred and forty one. Making 23.082 journeys — back and forth.
As the report puts it: “One of the most important and expensive urban freight stages is the last-mile, when the goods are delivered from shops to consumers. Cargo vehicles powered by human propulsion have been used worldwide to reduce cost and air pollution related to the last-mile. Cargo bicycles are the best option for transporting goods over short distances and can easily be integrated into city’s busy streets. Its use lightens the burden of motorized transportation, such as congestion, parking issues, air pollution and its impacts on climate change.”
Above are the graphs about the kind of establishments that use cargobikes. It’s a wide variety of goods and services. 372 establishments and a total of 732 cargobikes — essentially two per business on average. At right, above, is the total delivery count.
Here are the details of the establishments, the number of deliveries, cyclists and bikes/trikes. Anything you need can get to you by bike.
372 Establishments
42 Drugstores: 2377 deliveries; 132 cyclists; 124 bicycles.
38 Bakeries: 1307 deliveries; 71 cyclists; 68 bicycles.
36 Construction & electrical supplies: 768 deliveries; 60 cyclists; 56 bicycles.
35 Snack and juice: 844 deliveries; 57 cyclists; 51 bicycles.
32 Restaurants: 724 deliveries; 59 cyclists; 58 bicycles.
32 Laundries: 557 deliveries; 41 cyclists; 42 bicycles.
29 Supermarkets: 1398 deliveries; 86 cyclists; 79 bicycles.
22 Beverage Distributors: 1812 deliveries; 101 cyclists; 90 bicycles.
20 Pet Shops: 489 deliveries; 39 cyclists; 42 bicycles.
11 Retail kiosks: 96 deliveries; 16 cyclists; 14 bicycles.
11 Bars: 68 deliveries; 10 cyclists; 15 bicycles.
9 Freelancers: 160 deliveries; 9 cyclists; 9 bicycles.
9 Mattress stores : 68 deliveries; 9 cyclists; 9 bicycles.
9 Butchers: 378 deliveries; 17 cyclists; 17 bicycles.
6 Electronic workshops: 52 deliveries; 8 cyclists; 8 bicycles.
5 Video rentals: 91 deliveries; 9 cyclists; 8 bicycles.
4 Auto parts stores: 40 deliveries; 5 cyclists; 4 bicycles.
3 Flower shops: 50 deliveries; 5 cyclists; 5 bicycles.
2 Woodworks: 34 deliveries; 4 cyclists; 4 bicycles.
2 Cleaning supplies stores: 26 deliveries; 4 cyclists; 4 bicycles.
2 Cobblers: 22 deliveries; 3 cyclists; 3 bicycles.
Other: 180 deliveries; 23 cyclists; 22 bicycles.
The count found some interesting details hidden in the data, too:
— More than half of pet shop deliveries are for animal transport. Approximately 120 pets are transported by bicycle per day in Copacabana.
— In certain stores, flat tires virtually stopped after repairing puncture became rider’s responsibility.
— Some tricycles move more than 300 kg of cargo.
— The largest fleet is owned by a drugstore, with 13 bicycles.
— 95% of deliveries are within a 3 km range. 4% go beyond 3 km. 1% are in the immediate area.
— 95% of bicycles are property of establishments, 5% are property of employees,
— More than 50% of all deliveries include food.
— The count did not include the many custom-made trikes selling popcorn, churros, steamed corn and other foodstuffs.
In addition to the Transporte Ativo report, there was an annex produced by Transporte Ativo and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which sought to discover further details and motivation behind this transport behavior.
In the above graphs you can see WHY the establishments choose to use bikes, the weight of loads delivered by three-wheelers and bikes and a graph about the safety.
There you have it. Not a bad report at all, is it? European cities are moving forward with cargo bikes as a solution to the transport logistic problems. Then there’s Rio de Janeiro. Just getting on with it.
Enjoy these photos:
