I'm personally not a fan of anything that isn't a bicycle occupying the bike lane. A truck like that is terrible for visibility and seem really annoying to get stuck behind. Unlike cars, bikes are...
I'm personally not a fan of anything that isn't a bicycle occupying the bike lane. A truck like that is terrible for visibility and seem really annoying to get stuck behind. Unlike cars, bikes are lucky to get a single lane and clogging them up with pseudo-cars seem like a great way to make bike lines both less usable and less safe. With that said, I live in Japan, where roads are fairly narrow, so maybe it'll work better stateside
Maybe I'm an optimist, but as bike lanes get closer to max capacity/traffic jam status it'll be all the more reason to take away more car lanes. Especially if these smaller "trucks" get...
Maybe I'm an optimist, but as bike lanes get closer to max capacity/traffic jam status it'll be all the more reason to take away more car lanes. Especially if these smaller "trucks" get normalized, it'll be more feasible and acceptable to entirely convert some roads away from cars.
My biggest fear in that scenario is that as bike-cargo delivery capacity increases, so will demand, driving the development/allowance of ever bigger bike-trucks, which in turn would discourage...
My biggest fear in that scenario is that as bike-cargo delivery capacity increases, so will demand, driving the development/allowance of ever bigger bike-trucks, which in turn would discourage cyclists. In that scenario, instead of giving more space to cyclists, they'll give more priority to small delivery vehicles.
And then we get yet more bike lanes. A broader demand for bike lanes will only fuel the development of more bike and small electric vehicle infrastructure. This seems good, even if there may be...
And then we get yet more bike lanes. A broader demand for bike lanes will only fuel the development of more bike and small electric vehicle infrastructure. This seems good, even if there may be some bumpy patches along the way?
That's the thing though, if the number of cyclists go down, they won't make more bike lanes. If anything, in America, I'd guess that those people would end up driving. So limited bike lanes with...
That's the thing though, if the number of cyclists go down, they won't make more bike lanes. If anything, in America, I'd guess that those people would end up driving. So limited bike lanes with preference for delivery drivers and the exact same number of car lanes to placate entrenched driving culture. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic. I've never lived in New York, and Japan's kei trucks fill the niche that these cargo bikes fill, so my perspective is limited
Yeah, I figure that, in a situation where there's enough small vehicles to fill the existing bike infrastructure to capacity, there will also be enough political will to push for an even bigger...
Yeah, I figure that, in a situation where there's enough small vehicles to fill the existing bike infrastructure to capacity, there will also be enough political will to push for an even bigger share of the infrastructure pie. Adding in that what's proposed here is a greater share of smaller transportation loads done with electricity rather than ICE engines, and it seems overall positive to me.
That's where I'm not quite as optimistic as you are. Bike infrastructure is limited as it is. Pushing it to capacity wouldn't take much at all. It's hard to imagine a situation where there's...
That's where I'm not quite as optimistic as you are. Bike infrastructure is limited as it is. Pushing it to capacity wouldn't take much at all. It's hard to imagine a situation where there's enough political will in the United States to build more bike infrastructure at the expense of car infrastructure. I'd love to be wrong about that.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with the general premise of finding smaller, less dangerous, and more environmentally friendly ways of delivering small transportation loads, but I would hate to see that come at the cost of cyclists. The pessimist in me sees this as leading to bike commuters being squeezed out of the limited bike infrastructure they've fought so hard for.
I live in Denmark and while larger-than-bicycle vehicles can be annoying, there's plenty of space and I highly doubt this new "truck" is gonna take over and invade like that. Just saw this for...
I live in Denmark and while larger-than-bicycle vehicles can be annoying, there's plenty of space and I highly doubt this new "truck" is gonna take over and invade like that.
Just saw this for example lol, dude is transporting an entire cabinet on his cargo bike - so from someone in a country with some of the world's best bicycle infrastructure.. it's no big deal, and when it happens, it's a rarity.
Huh, I just realized that only bikes and motorcycles have the ability to overtake any other vehicle at any time. All other vehicles like cars, buses, trams, vans, ambulances, etc. etc. just slow...
hogging the bike lane with no opportunity to overtake by those whom it's meant for is not a good solution
Huh, I just realized that only bikes and motorcycles have the ability to overtake any other vehicle at any time.
All other vehicles like cars, buses, trams, vans, ambulances, etc. etc. just slow down and wait if necessary.
Upd: maybe such tiny trucks-electric-bikes is a good thing in the end? Its a good reason to create more and more bike lanes across the city.
“New Yorkers hate to see big trucks in our street, but at the same time, they’re ordering online a lot more,” said Ydanis Rodriguez, the city’s transportation commissioner. That dependency on delivery has only grown, with a daily onslaught of 2.4 (some say 3.7) million packages dropped off at doors every day. Cargi B is a prototype that could meet that demand; unlike commuter cargo bikes with their back wagons or even the Amazon tricycles we’re used to seeing, it’s “longer, wider, and able to hold more weight to have all of those boxes,” Rodriguez said.
For Amazon, FedEx, and everyone else, the DOT has adopted rules in late March that finally spell out how e-cargo bikes can operate in the city. The rules include some restrictions: The bikes can only go up to 15 miles per hour (slower than an electric Citi Bike), and they’re not allowed to idle on the sidewalk, ever. But the main question until now has always been: How big can they be? And in that respect, the rules are surprisingly generous: up to 16 feet long, seven feet high, and four feet wide. (The average New York City bike lane is somewhere around eight or nine feet wide.)
...
Now the question is how cargo-bike companies will respond. Ben Morris, the founder of Coaster Cycles, a Bay Area–based cargo-bike manufacturer, says his company is now busy designing a vehicle that could meet the guidelines and satisfy what individual customers, not just delivery companies, might want. Compared to Europe, where cargo-bike sales are growing 50 percent each year, and where companies like FedEx and UPS are already using them, New York is the only place in the United States that has rules like this on the books, says Morris, and he has only heard of a few cities looking to join in.
He doesn’t expect cargo bikes to flood the streets tomorrow — or even this year. It’ll take time for companies to put an entirely new logistics chain in place, from batteries and cameras to drop-offs and training, and to create a bike that will meet what different delivery companies and individual consumers need.
I'm personally not a fan of anything that isn't a bicycle occupying the bike lane. A truck like that is terrible for visibility and seem really annoying to get stuck behind. Unlike cars, bikes are lucky to get a single lane and clogging them up with pseudo-cars seem like a great way to make bike lines both less usable and less safe. With that said, I live in Japan, where roads are fairly narrow, so maybe it'll work better stateside
Maybe I'm an optimist, but as bike lanes get closer to max capacity/traffic jam status it'll be all the more reason to take away more car lanes. Especially if these smaller "trucks" get normalized, it'll be more feasible and acceptable to entirely convert some roads away from cars.
My biggest fear in that scenario is that as bike-cargo delivery capacity increases, so will demand, driving the development/allowance of ever bigger bike-trucks, which in turn would discourage cyclists. In that scenario, instead of giving more space to cyclists, they'll give more priority to small delivery vehicles.
And then we get yet more bike lanes. A broader demand for bike lanes will only fuel the development of more bike and small electric vehicle infrastructure. This seems good, even if there may be some bumpy patches along the way?
That's the thing though, if the number of cyclists go down, they won't make more bike lanes. If anything, in America, I'd guess that those people would end up driving. So limited bike lanes with preference for delivery drivers and the exact same number of car lanes to placate entrenched driving culture. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic. I've never lived in New York, and Japan's kei trucks fill the niche that these cargo bikes fill, so my perspective is limited
Yeah, I figure that, in a situation where there's enough small vehicles to fill the existing bike infrastructure to capacity, there will also be enough political will to push for an even bigger share of the infrastructure pie. Adding in that what's proposed here is a greater share of smaller transportation loads done with electricity rather than ICE engines, and it seems overall positive to me.
That's where I'm not quite as optimistic as you are. Bike infrastructure is limited as it is. Pushing it to capacity wouldn't take much at all. It's hard to imagine a situation where there's enough political will in the United States to build more bike infrastructure at the expense of car infrastructure. I'd love to be wrong about that.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with the general premise of finding smaller, less dangerous, and more environmentally friendly ways of delivering small transportation loads, but I would hate to see that come at the cost of cyclists. The pessimist in me sees this as leading to bike commuters being squeezed out of the limited bike infrastructure they've fought so hard for.
Fair enough. Here's hoping for the best.
I live in Denmark and while larger-than-bicycle vehicles can be annoying, there's plenty of space and I highly doubt this new "truck" is gonna take over and invade like that.
Just saw this for example lol, dude is transporting an entire cabinet on his cargo bike - so from someone in a country with some of the world's best bicycle infrastructure.. it's no big deal, and when it happens, it's a rarity.
Huh, I just realized that only bikes and motorcycles have the ability to overtake any other vehicle at any time.
All other vehicles like cars, buses, trams, vans, ambulances, etc. etc. just slow down and wait if necessary.
Upd: maybe such tiny trucks-electric-bikes is a good thing in the end? Its a good reason to create more and more bike lanes across the city.
From the article:
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