E-cargo bikes in Milton Keynes

Before COVID, when times were simpler, Energy Cities favoured visits and peer-to-peer meetings to exchange and share ideas and experiences. During a visit in Växjö, as part of the Citizen project in 2015, Jérémy Draper from Milton Keynes, noticed the “Try it, Like it, Buy it” initiative, a campaign for electric bicycles.

5 years after, the city is introducing e-cargo bikes to its vehicle fleet in a drive to improve the ways that deliveries are made across the city.

Discover this initiative in this article, originally published on the Intensify project website.

Milton Keynes Council (MKC) intends to lead the way with sustainable transport solutions and will continue to explore alternative travel options to help meet its ambition for MK to become zero-carbon by 2030.

In May 2020, Milton Keynes Council successfully bid for funding to buy 21 e-cargo bikes.

These are new additions to the MKC fleet for use by Highways inspectors, local businesses and a food charity. In 2019 the fleet added four electric cars for use by the social services.

The Highway team’s tree inspections will reduce carbon emissions by around 5,000 miles of council travel each year by using the e-bikes.

E-cargo bikes for business

Businesses across Milton Keynes are encouraged to get on board and trial a new way to make deliveries across the city.

The Council is launching a new e-cargo bike lease scheme and 13 bikes will be available to businesses to loan at a heavily reduced rate on a short and long-term basis.

Capable of carrying loads of up to 630 litres, the bikes can replace cars or vans for most local journeys and are perfect for first and last mile deliveries.

E-cargo bikes for food charity

In December 2020 MKC donated two of the e-cargo bikes to Food connect, a food redistribution charity set up by Hubbub. They deliver supermarket surplus to food banks and organisations that arrange food parcels for people most in need of help.

For more information: www.getsmartertravelmk.org/cycling/e-cargo-bikes