Genoa to test last-mile solution with new cargo bikes

These were delivered as a bonus to its 2021 Urban Award for sustainable mobility

Yesterday, 3 May, the Municipality of Genoa received 3 electric pedal-assisted cargo bikes as part of its 2021 Urban Award for sustainable mobility. The award, given out last November, was in recognition of the efforts and initiatives that the city had implemented in fostering and promoting the use of bicycles locally.

The 3 cargo bikes will themselves form part of a new initiative. The Municipality plans to use them to test out the viability of last-mile delivery solutions.

The initiative is carried out with the collaboration of ANCI, the National Association of Italian Municipalities. They consider that it is essential to raise awareness of the projects devised by the administrations in order to convince more and more municipalities to invest in future cities that are increasingly suitable for two wheels.

Bicycle transport as part of future urban planning

Two of the cargo bikes will be assigned on loan to small Genoese companies, which will use them in turns on an experimental basis. The third one will be temporarily made available to Aster, the territorial services company of the Municipality of Genoa.

The municipal company will use, also on an experimental basis, the means to support the maintenance interventions of the public green areas and inside the city parks. These activities require the transport and use of small and medium-sized tools.

Cargo bikes are an agile means of transport that allow the transportation of small loads and equipment quickly and in a versatile way, without congesting traffic and polluting. It is also easy to find parking for them. This makes them particularly suitable for activities such as deliveries and short trips, helping to build more sustainable urban mobility and improve the quality of life and air in the city.

The Municipality is currently accepting applications from private companies for the trial use of the other two cargo bikes. Ten local enterprises have already expressed vivid interest in borrowing soft mobility devices.