International Cargo Bike Festival 2019

Of course it’s not just Groningen where
these things happen. What’s your opinion on
developments in sustainable transport and
city logistics elsewhere?
There are several developments in the Netherlands,
and internationally too, that will support the increase
of the use of cargo bikes in our cities. Recently the
authorities in Amsterdam launched a plan to forbid
fossil fuel vehicles within “the Ring” (the highway A10,
which encircles the city centre) from 2030. That could
have a great effect on the rise and development of
all kinds of small electric vehicles, including e-cargo
bikes. And cities all over Europe are working on
that, such as Paris, London, Oslo, Edinburgh and
Madrid. This generates a very positive vibe. You know,
five years ago I saw a cargo bike in the streets of
Nijmegen, where I live, just every now and then. The
other day I counted ten cargo bikes during a twenty
minute bike ride to the train station. Surely that’s a
good sign! And another thing: even Mark Rutte, the
fairly right-wing Dutch prime minister, has said he
considers cargo bikes the perfect replacements for
small vans, with zero nuisance and zero emission.
Not everybody is happy to exchange their car
for a bicycle, though.
Maybe not. Or not yet. (laughs) But do not
underestimate the amount of people who want their
cities to be safer, cleaner and healthier places to
live in. There are a lot of people who long for cities
that are not built around cars, but are designed for
humans, on a human scale. That makes low or zero
emission inner cities politically much more viable.
And I don’t think we really have a choice. Cities are
overcrowded with cars.
‘It’s just common sense.
Cargo bikes are a lot
quicker than cars’
Fossil fuels will not be around forever. Besides,
it’s just common sense. Cargo bikes are a lot
quicker than cars these days. Cargo bikes
delivering goods is an everyday occurrence
already – not only for companies such as DHL,
PostNL and Coolblue, but also, in the very near
future, for the likes of Bol.com and Amazon.
Apart from that we can expect a serious amount
of growth in the use of cargo bikes and light
electric freight vehicles in the field of service
logistics.
The tide for cargo bikes is definitely
turning, do you think?
Yes, definitely. Countries all over the world
are interested in developing cycling policies.
And that creates a much bigger international
market for developing, building and selling cargo
bikes. The potential is huge. (smiles) Even car
manufacturers such as Volkswagen are now
producing cargo bikes – low quality bikes for
now, but the fact that they’re interested shows
that cargo bikes are seen as a serious business
opportunity. And another example: Gazelle,
owned by PON Group, started a new cargo bike
line and PON Group also took 20% shares in
the Accell group of Babboe and Centaur Cargo.
Cargo bikes are becoming big business.
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