Thursday 21 May 2020

UK local authorities and businesses secure £2m eCargo bike grant fund

An extra boost to a low carbon transport future has been given to 18 local authorities and businesses with the announcement of a £2 million eCargo Bike Grant scheme.

Councils were invited to bid for up to £200,000 each to purchase ecargo bikes for use by local businesses or deployment within their fleets.

Limited companies and organisations are also set to benefit with up to 20% grant funding towards ecargo bikes.

Cambridgeshire County Council plans to deploy 30 ecargo bikes across four initiatives in Cambridge covering first mile deliveries, a residential sharing scheme, a ‘try before you buy’ leasing scheme and pool ecargo bikes.

The programmes aim to reduce travel emissions and encourage active and sustainable transport options.

Devon County Council’s work will also encourage the uptake of ecargo bikes across partner organisations to support sustainable active business travel as an alternative to car and van use.

A total of 13 ecargo bikes will support Exeter’s ambition for net zero service with two of them used by the local hospital’s adult and social care teams to help care for the most isolated people in the city.

Tim Anderson, Head of Transport at Energy Saving Trust, said: “eCargo bikes are an attractive low carbon transport solution that are becoming more widely adopted. With more deliveries to our homes than ever, last mile delivery is an important area for consideration in our journey to reduce transport emissions to net zero by 2050. We expect the eCargo Bike Grant Fund to support wider and longer term uptake of these light vehicles.”