More than a million meals are delivered to needy families using cargo bikes that zip along the streets of Seattle without producing pollution or noise. It’s an initiative that connects the U.S. to Vicenza because the person designing the logistical, marketing, and economic part of this solidarity-based activity is Giacomo Dalla Chiara from Vicenza. Dalla Chiara is researcher at the University of Washington Urban Freight Lab, an innovative partnership between private companies, university researchers, and public transport agencies aimed at finding low-cost and low-impact solutions to urban freight problems.
Together with the mayor of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, Dalla Chiara presented new publication Biking the Goods at a food bank event to celebrate 1.2 million pounds of food transported through the Pedaling Relief Project. In collaboration with Cascade Bicycle Club, the service, which is based on the use of bikes and cargo bikes, is a real “pedal rescue” that also does good for the planet, reducing food waste and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by using two wheels which improve the efficiency of food deliveries in the last mile.
“It is cycling as a community service,” explains Dalla Chiara. “It’s a model that can be exported to any city, even Vicenza. Cargo e-bikes, electric bicycles specially designed for the transport of goods, represent an ecological and safer alternative for the delivery of goods and services in densely populated urban areas, even if the lack of adequate infrastructure, legal uncertainties and a cultural and economic attachment to motorized vehicles have so far hindered their adoption.”
Changing pace and mentality will be an obligatory choice to activate virtuous economic circles and fight against pollution. “Cities have a crucial role in breaking down these barriers, allowing cargo e-bikes to become fundamental for urban logistics systems,” adds Dalla Chiara.