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How Germany became Europe's cargo bike hub
- dochtman 5y agoThose numbers don’t seem to adjust for population size, wonder what the numbers are per capita. Here in NL cargo bikes are extremely common for transporting kids.
- mrweasel 5y agoSeems correct, so they became a hub by having 80 million citizens. Denmark have a population 14 times small, but the sales number for cargo bikes are only 4 times smaller and no subsidising.
- Kon-Peki 5y agoThe point of a subsidy is to encourage behavior that wouldn't otherwise happen. If the subsidy is used up within 30 minutes, then no behavior was changed. Demand was pulled forward by a few weeks or a few months, which is not a good use of public money.
- masklinn 5y ago> If the subsidy is used up within 30 minutes, then no behavior was changed. Demand was pulled forward by a few weeks or a few months, which is not a good use of public money. That is not true. Even if it only pulled demand forward by weeks, it would create a strong signal of desirability, which enables surrounding projects (e.g. infrastructure) by unambiguously demonstrating interest. Furthermore subsidy can be the difference between ability and inability, it won't do anything if there's no interest, but it can very much jumpstart or create a market where there previously was not one because the investment was too steep.
- Kon-Peki 5y agoI think it is clear that desirability was already there. What they did was create a reward for jumping to the front of a line that you were already in. As everyone knows, the people most able to do this kind of thing are the people with the least concern over time and money. I can go into work and put an appointment on my calendar that says I am busy. Nobody cares. I could even walk out of the office and say "I've got to go take care of something; be back in an hour". WFH makes all that even easier. If you work at a restaurant, drive a truck, etc? Not a chance. You have no flexibility at all.
- mrweasel 5y agoWell yeah, but why focus on Germany and not Denmark or the Netherlands. Both have more cargo bikes than Germany per person? It’s more interesting how this happened with the goverment throwing money at it. Perhaps there’s something Germany could have done to get even better result, without a subsidy.
- user568439 5y agoNetherlands and Denmark have many more per capita and also much better infrastructure for cycling. I was in Germany this weekend and in some cities is quite a risk to ride a bike since there are definitely not enough bike lanes
- ahartmetz 5y agoUhm yes, I (German) thought "How is it not the Netherlands?".
- simongray 5y agoGoing by the numbers presented in this article, it's actually Denmark. And our bike culture is mostly a feature of Copenhagen, so really Copenhagen is the global hub. Cargo bikes were always quite popular in Copenhagen. The dominant brand for several decades was produced in Christiania (a hippie/anarchist commune), so just a few years ago they were all still known as "Christiania bikes" in Denmark. I think the more recent addition of electric assists made them explode in popularity and other brands became more popular.
- jacquesm 5y agoChristiania is a quality product, one of the very few early aluminum cargo bikes, much easier to handle for a smaller person than the steel ones.
- masklinn 5y agoThe dutch don't seem to be very into cargo bikes. They certainly do exist (bakfiets are pretty famous, and the reference), but the vast, vast majority of the parc seems to be more of the granny bike variety, possibly with panniers and child seats, rather than dedicated cargo. E.g. in BicycleDutch's station area video, while it was not 4 uninterrupted minutes of bike traffic around utrecht's station I only noticed 3 cargo bikes.
- wyclif 5y agoThey'll take my opafiets when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
- jacquesm 5y ago> The dutch don't seem to be very into cargo bikes. Go visit any gradeschool in the morning between 8 and 8:30. You'll see traffic jams of cargo bikes. We have >> 10 different independent cargo bike manufacturers. https://cargobikefestival.com/news/dutch-manufacturers-of-cargo-bikes/ https://cargobikefestival.com/news/dutch-manufacturers-of-ca...
- jacquesm 5y agoExactly. Once you adjust for population size Germany is a (distant) third in Europe.
- chrisseaton 5y ago> cargo bikes are extremely common for transporting kids Seems like a contradiction in terms?
- jlelse 5y agoIt's true, cargo bikes are everywhere here now. But it's only practical if you have a garage or another ground level storing place which many people in cities don't have.
- riedel 5y agoMy city (Karlsruhe) actually gives subsidies to anyone buying a cargo bike. Mostly they are used to transport kids. I, however, have to go up and down a stair to get my bike out (typically Gründerzeit house) . Further than that they are totally impractical if the one bringing your kid to kindergarten isn't the one picking it up. They are also difficult to park anywhere. However, to me this is the green version of the SUV . Makes not much sense but keeps your middle class happy... I guess there are worse trends
- jlelse 5y agoTotally agree! I have to get my bike up and down stairs as well. But instead of a cargo bike I use just a normal bike with trailer. A lot more flexible.
- FourthProtocol 5y agoI have a custom electric-assist bakfiets and it's got a lock on the back wheel, and a very heavy-duty steel ring for an equally heavy-duty chain. The battery and display are removable. You're subject to vandalism of course, but this is Germany. Vandalism happens, but rarely. Happily I have a little garden with street access, but I have parked all over Frankfurt and surrounds with no issues. I do a minimum of 32km a day on the school run (8km from home, there and back for delivery and collection), come rain, snow or shine. Never thought I'd see the day that the BMW gathers dust.
- jacquesm 5y agoSame here, my car has hardly moved in the last two years. I keep it serviced and of course there is the APK (TUV in Germany). But this is the first time that I'm worried about stabilizing my fuel.
- jacquesm 5y agoBy having a very large population. But by cargo-bikes-per-capita Denmark and NL are much further along. In Amsterdam I even saw a cargo-bike-hits-cargo-bike accident once, which must hopefully be very rare still. Those things have a lot of momentum.
- hutzlibu 5y agoAre there any advantages of a cargo bike, compared to a ordinary bycicle and a trailer? Because I see none. My e-bike is a normal bike all the time and if I make a tour with the kids or shop a bit more, I just attach the trailer and seem to have the best of both worlds.
- wheels 5y agoCargo bikes are more effective as a yuppie status symbol. It shows, "I could have spent this much on a car, but I chose to spend it on a bike instead." Honestly, I don't really get it. I have a €50 used bike, a €100 used bike trailer, and for that matter, a €3000 used car, and don't see where a €1500 cargo bike, or €4000 e-Cargo Bike would bring into that mix. I regularly haul stuff in my bike trailer too. (And in the winter months, where it's dark, cold and wet, I just fall back on my damn car. I use it so little that I only have to fill up the 20L tank about once every 3 months.)
- jdavis703 5y agoThe price of a good electric cargo bike is still way cheaper than a fairly decent used car. That said, a cargo bike seems like there’s less fussiness if you’re routinely hauling cargo (kids, groceries, etc). With a regular bike you’re going to be reconfiguring panniers, back seats, etc.
- wheels 5y agoMy 9 year old Hyundai i10 with 30k km and no accidents on it cost €3200. I'd call that "fairly decent". That's less than an electric cargo bike costs.
- phatfish 5y agoAs a "yuppie" status symbol it has to be the least offensive I can think of. Better a fancy electric bike than some obnoxiously big SUV, or sporty-off-road thing that has never even seen grass.
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- yholio 5y agoSounds like a good playground for self driving tech. Low speeds and risk, low regulations, dedicated infrastructure. The Uno electric trike at the end of the article looks like a ultra lightweight automobile, it would be quite something if it could drive me around safely with no intervention to any point reachable via a bike lane.
- Tade0 5y ago"One example is the recently released Ca Go, featuring an electronic gearbox, a crash cushioned box, cable steering for tighter turning and folding seats with vibration absorption and adjustable headrests. With all optional extras it costs more than €10,000." Is it me or are these vehicles gradually evolving into kei-cars, just from the other end of the spectrum comparing to the original?
- diblasio 5y agoWell in Netherlands we also do have cars similar to kei-cars called brommobielen (micro cars). Canta is a good example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canta_(vehicle) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canta_(vehicle) These things are allowed on some bike paths too.
- wyclif 5y agoHow much of this is social signalling instead of practical transport? At some point, people are going to say to themselves, "I have a 100 mile trip to make so yeah, might as well buy a car."
- gpvos 5y agoAlmost no-one will make a 50 km trip with a cargo bike. But it's quite likely they don't own a costly and space-hogging car, but will rent one for the few times they need one. (Note: 50 km is the equivalent of the 30 miles in parent's original comment.)
- Xylakant 5y agoNote: GP edited up to 100km, then 100mile. I do trips in that range for weekends and holidays. Kid loves sitting up front and 70-90km is definitely an achievable distance - about 5 hours of riding time.
- Xylakant 5y agoI have a similarly priced model, but from a different brand. Some of the extras are definitely debatable, but convenient. A second battery, belt drive, Rohloff electronic gear box. A chain with a derailleur definitely does the job, but belt and Rohloff need much less maintenance and I’m bad at maintaining chains. Second battery is useful since we actually do trips that go past 50 miles. So even if both are not strictly needed, this bike replaces my car. And it’s pretty bad at social signaling, most people don’t realize what the ride costs.
- aussiegreenie 5y agoSo Germany is building e-bike "SUVs" and they are popular.
- masteruvpuppetz 5y agoI always thought China was the world's largest bike user. Oh nobody should talk good of China. I'm sorry to even mention China.
- em-bee 5y agobikes in china were used because most people could not afford a car. now they can and bikes are almost gone from the streets. in the meantime in europe people are discovering bikes as a meaningful alternative. chinese cities are larger, and travel distances longer, so bikes are less convenient making a bike revival in china less likely
- zeristor 5y agoGermany if you were wondering, and trying to ignore the clickbait title.
- tlb 5y agoAdded to the title, thanks