Small Swedish town will test cargo e-bikes to supplant cars

Karlskoga municipal officials think this will save them money while providing better services

Karlskoga is a small Swedish municipality of about 27,400 inhabitants and its Competence Supply Unit has decided to see if ditching when carrying outs its activities will benefit the employees and the overall environment. For this purpose, the workers will be given a chance to choose between a car and an electrically-powered cargo bike when carrying out their delivery services.

The business unit in question transports laundry to and from users receiving in-home care. The staff employed at the municipal company will be part of the trial run for one year before evaluating the results.

Reduced emissions and more cash

The business unit manager Nils Warg sees many advantages in replacing the cars with cargo bikes. "We can both save money and protect the environment. In addition, the staff get exercise, which gives better health. So, we are very positive about this.”

And that is not all. “This makes it easier for those in the workforce who do not have a driving license. It also increases the opportunities to get to places where it is difficult to reach by car,” added Mr Ward in a press release by the Örebro Region.

Daniel Ekelund, an environmental strategist at Karlskoga Municipality, is also of the opinion that there is a three-sided benefit to the move. It improves the employees’ health, it reduces harmful emissions and it also just makes more economic sense, since the cargo bikes are much cheaper to buy and maintain than cars.

When the test period is over, the project will be evaluated, among other things through surveys and interviews with the employees in the company who have tested cargo bikes to find out how they experienced it.

Each bike also has an odometer so one can see how much it has been used. This will be set against driving records for the cars that are in the operation to calculate the actual size of financial savings and how much less carbon dioxide had been emitted.