Update December 2025
What are they doing?
Amazon are using their own version of ‘Last mile delivery.’ Seen in Roman Way and Station Road, they unload parcels from a large van into trolleys. Then the trolleys are pushed round the area to deliver their load. We’d prefer to do that with a cargo bike!
Unanswered questions:
Are there other locations? Is this just a trial? Are the workers on zero-hour contracts? Sub-contracted or employed by Amazon?
Link to article about Royal Mail trial of cargo bikes, renamed Micro Electric Vehicles.
And another, showing a different vehicle in 2019
Royal Mail clearly invested in the idea – in 2021. It appears that it went no further than a trial. Perhaps there was resistance from the workforce. We understand that delivering parcels is part of their business that makes a profit. The bicycle was once a major part of the Royal Mail service, but vans and trolleys have replaced them.
Last mile delivery is slightly misleading. The concept is that shorter distance delivieries can be made with non-polluting vehicles. They would collect from a hub, where long distance vehicles would deliver goods for the area that the hub served. Customers could collect from this hub – the theory is simple but the will (political or financial) to achieve this was unknown. That’s until we heard that the underground car park at Finsbury Square is to be redeveloped as a ‘logistics hub.’ It’s a great start – we look forward to seeing it develop – but we need many more hubs! It’s the third of our current 5 asks.
One day all home deliveries will arrive from a local hub in vehicles like the one below – even chilled and frozen food. This website provides answers about food.
Here’s another example – but the driver/rider said he’d only seen one other used by this firm…
The rider for zhero.app said he’d moved all the furniture from a house using this bike only.
This rider said he’d moved a small brewery and a fridge with this one.
Flowers are delivered with this – the rider said he didn’t mind working all hours.
The rider of this bike said he’d helped develop a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in Haringey.
Ben Hume-Wright, a local heating engineer, formerly used a large pick-up truck but he’s very happy with this cargo bike. Contact him on email ben@tollington.co
More detail at http://tollington.co/plumbing.html
Check out Ben’s contribution to this short video – at 1 minute 16 seconds in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s91k3qgpkdQ&t=1s
Nothing new about delivery by bike! Walls Ice Cream was delivered like this from 1923 and by 1939 there were 4,000. “Stop me and buy one,” was the sales line.
Photo from the Science Museum Group Collection.
We’ll catch up with India one day, where the bicycle is used so much for deliveries!
It’s completely possible that neighbourhoods in towns and cities will have all deliveries by non polluting vehicles. It should be sooner rather than later.
A report published last year…https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/future-last-mile-deliveries-understanding-local-perspective
More on the Finsbury Square project:
British Land to develop logistics hub at former City of London car park
The Guardian reported that site had been acquired in November 2021.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/17/british-land-to-turn-car-parks-into-hubs-for-same-day-delivery-firms