Study finds that once people use cargo bikes, they like their cars much less
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
Doesn't have to be. What about one bicycle and one bicycle cart (that's also a bicycle caravan) instead of a bicycle and another cargobike!? Like the cart/caravan from https://www.theredpanther.org (shameless plug)
It takes me 3x as long to get the trailer outside, attach it to my bike, seat the kids etc. than it does with my cargo bike.
Trailer does have bigger capacity, so it is nicer for extended trips. But for everyday riding, a cargo bike is 100x better.
Ice is not problem with studded tires. And isn't snow is usually plowed from the roads so cars or bikes could pass?
The bike paths are a bit less busy but basically nobody changes their behavior except to go slower around the icy corners.
This is in Netherlands
Better comment:
I'd think that many people still commuting, doesn't erase the fact that cargo bikes (the thread topic) don't do well in those conditions.
And a critical factor is, hills. I live in a countryside that alternates between flatlands and all-hills. The towns are all around rivers (the pioneers needed water) and built close to them, and it's very hilly around rivers.
So here our experience is different from, say, the flattest country on earth.
It really depends on how well the roads are maintained, this winter they were quite good at clearing the snow in my city, so it wasn't much of an issue.
I took the bus when it got to -30, though. Or, as they reported it then, a wind chill of 2400 watts per square meter.
In some places there's Winter, not just the pause between autumn and spring.
And my kid/dog sit nice and dry under the hood of the cargo area.
I've ridden motorbikes for many years in a subtropical city, had all the right rain gear and it still sucked to ride in the rare +5°C rain. Even southern Germany gets snow and icy rain, good luck clothing for that.
Edit: of course it already exists: https://newatlas.com/entrosys-motorcycle-airconditioner-revi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_cooling_and_ventilation...
A much bigger problem here is cycling paths not being maintained in the winter and salt on the roads.
today it was 25 deg C at 6am and over 32 deg C at 5pm when I would have to ride home.
I'll ride it every now and again, but honestly its too much to do on a regular basis.
So I think also just changing your environment to a more walking-friendly one is another great way to ditch the car. What a pity so few in the Western world can experience the delights of their own self-locomotion being sufficient to their daily needs ..
Most countries do indeed have cities and high-population areas that support this, and many folks do experience it.
I lived that life for ~15 years, and it was truly great at the time. Turns out I started disliking the sheer density, and prefer to be slightly more self sufficient.
Some cities especially near the ocean or just less dense etc. are not as encaging.
Also walking everywhere is good and bad. Getting a lot of shopping home a car is much better at. Maybe one of those cargo bikes had I know of its existence would have done the trick! But walking for everything can be tiring. Depends on your health level.
I live in a city of 5 million people and if I needed to get across town in a hurry I’d take my cargo bike, not my car.
My cargo bike usually beats the google maps car estimate by about 20%.
Take with a pinch of salt though, I can also see counter studies[3].
1. https://www.slideshare.net/JamesTate22/exposure-to-the-traff...
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00489...
But modern cars usually have cabin filters, which, if good enough, well maintained, and leak-free, should result in a significant improvement. I know Tesla made it a marketing point for the Model X, but I believe all cars built in the last decade or two have at least some kind of filtration.
The roads are car-dominated and not very friendly to bike on. There are a few bike trails which are great, but they aren't well-connected to each other, so aren't useful unless there happens to be one exactly where you want to go.
Case in point I am not, I was convinced to buy a cargo bike, and I still like my car very much, particularly when it's rainy and/or cold
Still like the bike in warm summer days, but in winter... only car
Nothing against bicycles here, just pointing out that it is not a solution for everyone.
Well, basically it all comes down to density and infrastructure if people will use other means of transportation. Bicycle accounts for 1/3 of all trips city wide.
Forcing people to active by either (partly) walking or cycling has great benefits for the public.
I have seen this passive/aggressive policing in my city against the car commuters (I'm using public transport mainly) while the main cause of the problem is not the commuters but the city that doesn't encourage enough residential real estate development near the large office hubs.
Here (Pacific Northwest coastal areas) winters don't get cold enough for long enough to freeze the ground. We don't get a lot of snow but when we do it often starts as snow that is barely frozen. It melts and we get a layer of water on top of roads. Then if the air temperature drops to near freezing as the storm progresses that layer of water freezes, and gets covered with snow, We end up with snow on top of big patches of ice.
Compare to places where they get frozen ground and the air too spends a lot of time below freezing. They get snow on top of frozen ground instead of snow on top of an ice layer.
Fortunately we only get days where the air is cold enough to keep the ground heat from keeping the ground clear a few days a year and with plenty of warning so most people can just avoid traveling then.
Joking apart (for I am joking, I'd never sponsor something that forces people to do things they don't want) My only point is that whenever I read something like this... well it stinks, because it goes against what I perceive as common sense.
Someone took my first comment too seriously, my point being that after so many studies read, weighted, measured and found wanting... I don't want to waste my time reading something that doesn't pass the smell test.
Who did they interview? People who have cargo bikes Do they like them? Yes they bought them and either liked them to begin with, or are rationalizing, then there is a minority who's objective.
Ask people with Mercedes what's the car brand they like the most.
For example: I drive an Alfa Romeo and once I was stopped by a guy (in Germany) that asked me if I wanted to join a Italian Car Club... and he was the proud driver of a FIAT Tipo, not a car I'd buy for it's beauty or one I'd show in a car club, yet he liked it, and we are discussing a study that hinges on what people like?
EDIT: just to say... I agree with you, there's a bit of selection bias at work here
"That's bollocks, I still like my car very much"
A completely valid study can find something to be true, one person's anecdote doesn't change the result.
Doesn't mean this isn't a valid study, but "it's bollocks because I don't think so" is not really a scientific reaction
By now we know that Studies confuse correlation with causation, fail to isolate correctly, are paid for by vested interests, are not reproducible or fabricated
Not to be too tin foil but that’s how it is, so it’s ok to call BS but I get your view that calling anything we don’t like BS leads no where
Electric cargo bikes could replace a lot of 'city' traffic for many people. Definitely in countries like Belgium / The Netherlands where there is a bigger cycling culture.
It mostly handles the use-case of "larger grocery shopping".
The long distance travelling is still the one that will require most people to own a car.
TLDR: From my observation. I use my car for 2 things:
- Larger shopping for cheaper goods ( supermarket). Electric Cargo bikes could fix this.
- Further distances > 20 km.
Edit: After my comment, I started reading the article and it's similar to what the article claims:
> It's not likely to totally replace your car, nor will it probably be your only bike. But access to a cargo bike can reduce car trips, and even car ownership, a study from Germany suggests.