Community Support delivered by eCargo bike
About the department:
- Engages people who live and work across the city
- Leads on third sector policy and development
- Coordinates city wide neighbourhood support
- Leads on community engagement
Original operations
When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the nation, our team was charged with helping to ensure food supply to our most vulnerable residents by setting up a weekly food delivery service. We had not done this before and needed to start from scratch.
Action
We needed a quick and effective means of transport which worked for the narrow streets and traffic restricted areas of the city centre – a zero emission cargo bike seemed the obvious solution and the eCargo Bike Accelerator Project team helped us identify a suitable machine which we then purchased through a local retailer.
eCargo bike specification
Mid Sussex electrical chose the Riese & Müller Packster, which features:
- rear rack to increase carrying capacity
- removal tarpaulin to keep produce dry
- front suspension to keep ride smooth
- dual battery option to extend range to cover the team's longest rides
Outcome
Our food delivery service has been running for nearly a year now with our e-cargo bike supporting deliveries on a weekly basis:
- With the ecargo bike, we can deliver literally to the door, we don’t waste time looking for parking or needing to carry packages long distances
- Air pollution increases vulnerability to Covid-19, making our zero-emission deliveries even more important
- In Central Brighton, being able to use the cycle lanes is a huge advantage
As and when things return to a more normal footing and we are able to scale down our emergency delivery services, we plan to use the e-cargo bike as an environmentally- friendly tool to support community events across our housing estates.
We have had a lot of interest from community and residents groups across the city and also plan to let other groups use the bike to support their activities.