MICROMOBILITY
‘IF THE GOVERNMENT CAN PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE VEHICLES LIKE E-BIKES, WHILST CONTINUING
TO DISCOURAGE THE USE OF PETROL VEHICLES, WE WILL MAKE HUGE STRIDES TOWARDS MEETING OUR NET ZERO TARGETS’
an ambitious target - 50% of all journeys in towns and cities should be walked or cycled by 2030. E-bikes can make this a reality and provide our best chance of making urban mobility as sustainable as possible. E-bikes are incredibly diverse, they can be applied to almost any fleet and logistics sector and have countless use cases across the globe. They are the perfect solution to accelerating decarbonisation, we just need to give them more of a chance.
Health benefits
Sustainable transport methods provide countless benefits that go far beyond just cutting down carbon emissions. Sustainable transport alternatives like e-bikes allow individuals and couriers to save considerable time on their journeys, and on a bigger scale are doing so much towards our goal of reaching carbon neutral cities. Walking and cycling, two of the most sustainable modes of transport possible, also bring significant health benefits to individuals. Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK, and is responsible for between 28,000 and 36,000 premature deaths per year. Of course, not every journey can be made on foot or by
bike, but every journey that is made on more sustainable vehicles such as e-bikes means one more polluting car is off the road, making the air we breathe marginally safer and providing fewer health risks to the local and global population. Amsterdam is an interesting proof point for how sustainable transport can provide a multitude of health benefits for entire societies. The city’s cycling boom is estimated to save 50,000 sick days a year, and interestingly this is having an impact on a far wider scale as this approximately adds €15.3 million in annual economic value. The health benefits of sustainable vehicles can bring economic value at a local and global scale, with the health advantages of cycling corresponding to more than 3% of the Dutch GDP.
These economic benefits of sustainable transport are something that isn’t talked about enough, with many sustainable vehicles also providing significant financial relief at an individual level. E-bikes for example are much cheaper to run than petrol vehicles, and remove the need to spend on petrol, emission charges, insurance, fines, parking... the list goes on.
34 | October 2022
Of course, this isn’t the case for all sustainable vehicles, yet the low barriers to entry that many light electric vehicles have provides even more of a reason for the Government to incentivise their uptake, especially during a cost-of-living crisis.
If we can increase the number of journeys that are completed on sustainable transport methods like e-bikes, our cities will transform dramatically for the better. Congestion will reduce the need for huge infrastructure like roundabouts and high-rise parking will fall, and ultimately, we will create more space in our cities for humans.
This is such an exciting prospect, and if this can be replicated around the world, we can globally create happier and healthier cities to live and work in.
2022 and beyond Further investment into bike-friendly infrastructure across the UK must be a priority. Without adequate and safe cycling infrastructure such as bike lanes and bike storage, people won’t make the switch from cars to sustainable vehicles like bikes and e-bikes. I would love to see more Government subsidy for
alternative, greener vehicles like e-bikes, as they have done in the past for electric cars. The uptake of e-bikes in the UK is much lower than in other European cities, despite the huge potential for growth in the country. We need to provide safe biking infrastructure, e-bike charging points and appropriate legislation for all types of light electric vehicles. It is not just about the journey though; we also need to think about the destination. E-bikes and cargo bikes are bigger and heavier than standard bikes and users need secure places to park and store them. Currently there are not enough storage facilities for bikes in cities like London, with it being reported earlier this year that it is five times more expensive to access a monthly parking space for a bike in London than a monthly permit to park a car. There is also a five-year waiting list for these bike
spaces. This is crazy, and something that needs to be rectified as soon as possible. If the Government can promote sustainable vehicles like e-bikes, whilst continuing to discourage the use of petrol vehicles, we will make huge strides towards meeting our net zero targets.
www.bikebiz.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
