Brighton Families Help Prove E-Cargo Bikes Are A Viable Alternative To The Car
Families in Brighton and Hove have helped demonstrate that e-cargo bikes could offer a realistic alternative to car travel for many everyday journeys, according to new research involving the University of Brighton.
Image Photo by Evgeny Klimenchenko on Unsplash
Researchers worked with 15 local families who swapped car trips for e-cargo bike trips for a month, using them for school runs, shopping trips, commuting and other everyday travel across the city.
The project found that more than half of all journeys made during the trial replaced trips that would otherwise have been taken by car. Following the trial, one in five participants went on to buy an e-bike or e-cargo bike.
The Brighton element formed part of the wider ELEVATE project (Electric Vehicles for Active and Digital Travel), led by the University of Leeds and involving households in Brighton, Leeds and Oxford.
University of Brighton researcher Dr Mary Darking, Principal Lecturer in Social Policy and Innovation, and Dr Sally Cairns worked with families to understand how e-cargo bikes fitted into daily life.
Mary Darking said: “Having an e-cargo bike at home meant people could experience the realities of what it would be like to own one. It gave people time to do their own experiments – to try out specific journeys and find out what it was like to carry people and cargo on the bike. We have steep hills in Brighton and Hove so knowing for sure that you can get to where you need to go with two children and a bag of shopping on the bike is important!
“What struck us most was the enjoyment people got from using the bikes. An ordinary journey was turned into something fun that could be shared with a passenger. We were also impressed at how entrepreneurial some of our Brighton and Hove participants were, using the bikes to combine small business activities with care responsibilities, cleverly blending these into their daily travel routines.”
The final study, E-liveable – unlocking the potential of electric micromobility through e-bikes, e-cargo bikes and e-scooters, found that:
- Participants used e-cargo bikes for a wide range of purposes, most commonly to escort children to education, and for shopping and commuting, travelling an average of 38-42km per week.
- Over half of the e-cargo bike mileage ridden during trials was a substitute for car use.
- After the trial, 20% of participants went on to buy an e-cargo bike – showing that ‘try before you buy’ schemes encourage longer-term take up.
Lead researcher, Dr Ian Philips from the University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies, said: “The ELEVATE project shows that e‑micromobility – especially e‑bikes and e‑cargo bikes – has significant untapped potential to reduce car use, improve health, and enhance everyday life beyond large cities.
“But realising this potential will require coordinated action by policymakers around promotion, affordability, infrastructure, safety and regulation, rather than relying on individual behaviour change alone.”
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While the research highlights a bright future for these vehicles, the team identified significant barriers to widespread use, including high purchase costs, concerns regarding theft and a lack of secure charging and parking infrastructure.
Mary Darking said: “Storage and security were big questions for our Brighton and Hove participants as many households lived in terraced houses. On trips into the city centre, they wanted to know that they could lock up the bike and it would be safe. The bikes we used in Brighton and Hove were brand new and cost £5,000 each so knowing it was securely stored and parked was a big concern.”
The team behind the report are now calling for more trials to be rolled out elsewhere.
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