Delivery vans are fine. The real issue are mom tanks and giant trucks that are taller than people
this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
30 points (89.5% liked)
micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility
2332 readers
291 users here now
Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!
"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.
micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"
Feel free to also check out
It's a little sad that we need to actually say this, but:
Don't be an asshole or you will be permanently banned.
Respectful debate is totally OK, criticizing a product is fine, but being verbally abusive will not be tolerated.
Focus on discussing the idea, not attacking the person.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
They're both problems. If you watch the video you'll see that most delivery vans aren't even half full. They account for less than 3% of vehicles in cities but a third of bicycle deaths. Due to the fourth power law, heavier vehicles do the vast majority of road damage, which we all pay for.
I wouldn't have expected this community to be pro delivery vans instead of cargo bikes. Europe is switching to ebikes because of good regulation and laws. We should also demand better in places like Canada and the US.
Sure reducing vans is fine and great but full on replacing them seems not very plausible
No one is proposing "full on replacing them". We can, however, replace a whole LOT of them like they're starting to do in Europe.
Sheesh, is this really the micromobility community? This is such a modest proposal. "Well, we still need cars sometimes!" is exactly the sort of nonsense straw-person you hear all the time that prevents any iota of change from the car dependent status quo.
like they're starting to do in Europe.
so u dont live in europe and presume that u live in the states, so it shouldn't be strange to u that there are parts in the us where the weather isn't forgiving and temps could reach aggressive levels. u can't surmount that heat/and humidity with cargo ebikes/bikes.
Of course there are exceptions where biking won't work, but the US is enormous. There are plenty of places where the weather is much more forgiving than almost any part of Europe. The US is not some "exceptional" geography. Delivery bikes are spreading in boiling hot Spain and freezing cold Finland. These excuses are mindboggling.
its better for a shipping company to run a van that does efficient same day deliveries than fragmenting shipping using utility vehicles that wouldnt handle shipping surges in certain periods, which also not sustainable from a business stand-point, and probably adds more to emissions.
Add more emissions? More bike emissions? Even in Europe, it was financially better for delivery companies to use vans until they changed the policies and incentives. I have no idea why people like you are against this. Yes, this won't work in some places, but there are many places where it will work. We just need to demand better laws and incentives.
Delivery bikes are spreading in boiling hot Spain and freezing cold Finland. These excuses are mindboggling.
i am not denying the existence of those, but i hope they involve some form of climate controlled cabin
Even in Europe, it was financially better for delivery companies to use vans until they changed the policies and incentives
if it is fiancially viable, then all the better (hopefully also with less emissions when using ebikes)
I don't think I've ever read a comment that said so much and yet so little at the same time
Sorry I didn't get any sleep last night. Ignore me
Lol maybe both can be problematic. Why does it need to be one or the other?
mom tanks
😂
Get that man a helmet instead of a hipster beanie though.
You know, I was thinking that the vans having more capacity and greater speed would mean they're hard to replace. But then I also just remembered that our local postal service does use bicycles and small scooters for their last mile deliveries. I can't remember what my postman uses though. XD
The freelancers who do deliveries for the ecommerce sites however, are likely to be sticking to vans or bigger vehicles, since having that capacity and speed is the only way to get a living wage out of what they do.
This isn’t a problem of delivery vehicles so much as a problem with city design.
This might work in NYC. Not so much in LA. Most places in the US are not really friendly to bike traffic and urban sprawl is an issue.
Contrary to its reputation, LA is actually one of the most dense cities in the US, and more dense than many European cities where this is already happening. LA is undergoing a renewal of public transportation and biking for this reason.
And yes, the whole point is change how things are now so that it works. Biking didn’t work in many places in Europe until recently. Paris and London has shown that massive bike infrastructure can be built in just a few short years.
Too easy to rob an e-cargo delivery bike than it is a van. Unfortunately, you have to plan these ideas factoring in the degenerates of the world.