San Sebastian promotes cargo bikes as a way to green logistics

The campaign saw two cargo bikes travel all over the Basque Country

The European Mobility Week concluded last week and as expected it was a period that gave the chance to many local and regional authorities and startups to demonstrate some new ideas and innovation around transportation.

One example came from the Basque Country in Spain where the CargoBizi Route project demonstrated the usefulness and potential of the so-called cargo bikes – bicycles equipped to carry different kinds of products. The San Sebastian-Donostia City Council, as part of its commitment to the European City Changer Cargo Bike (CCCB) project, promoted this type of mobility as a greener approach to inner-city logistics.

The CargoBizi Route included 17 municipalities and 355 kilometres

Two cargo bike riders set out on a 9-day journey across the Basque country travelling 355 kilometres to allow other local authorities and residents to discover what cargo bikes are all about.

Upon their arrival back to San Sebastian-Donostia, they were received by the Councilor for Mobility and Transport Pilar Arana, who thanked the cyclists for their involvement, in addition to highlighting that “Donostia has been a pioneer in promoting the cargo bikes in the Autonomous Region, and with this action, it has managed to unite 17 municipalities in promoting this sustainable means of transport with multiple advantages for all citizens".

In all these places, the CargoBizi Route project participants carried out different activities, such as the distribution of brochures provided by the Donostia City Council coinciding with the European Mobility Week.

With rapidly pedestrianizing city centres and the exclusion of large vehicles from downtown areas, the turn to cargo bikes would only seem logical. However, for the time being, and according to a recent European Cargo Bike Industry survey, their popularity is for now mostly restricted to Germany and Belgium.

However, even there they captured about 2% of the total bike market (in Germany). Most of the sales, however, go towards motorized bikes with electric bikes being a good sustainable alternative to delivery transport vehicles.