Estimating the Emissions Reduction Due to the Use of Cargo Bikes: Case Studies for the Selected European Cities

Hanna Vasiutina, Vitalii Naumov, Andrzej Szarata and Stanisław Rybicki
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Hanna Vasiutina: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Str. Warszawska 24, 31155 Kraków, Poland
Vitalii Naumov: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Str. Warszawska 24, 31155 Kraków, Poland
Andrzej Szarata: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Str. Warszawska 24, 31155 Kraków, Poland
Stanisław Rybicki: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Str. Warszawska 24, 31155 Kraków, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-17

Abstract: Contemporary cities need new solutions to reduce the harmful impact of freight transport, such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and noise emissions, which have increased in the last few years. This especially concerns central parts of cities due to the architectural features of urban space. The concept of green logistics intends to replace currently used combustion engine vehicles with zero-emissions technologies such as the use of cargo bikes to deliver goods to final recipients located in the city districts with dense urban development. However, the use of cargo bikes for certain architectural, transport, and business conditions must be justified: the positive impact of that innovative means of transport should be evaluated and assessed by decision-makers. We propose a method to evaluate the environmental impact of cargo bikes that replace conventional vehicles in the central district of a city. Our approach assumes simulations of freight travel demand in the selected city area, the estimation of the part of trips to be replaced by cargo bikes, and, finally, the evaluation of the total distance covered by the replaced combustion engine vehicles to show the reduction of CO 2 generated by the conventional vehicles. The case studies of the central districts for selected partner cities (Vitoria-Gasteiz, San Sebastian, Dubrovnik, and Mechelen) that participate in the CityChangerCargoBike project are shown to demonstrate the developed methodology.

Keywords: environmental impact; cargo bikes; sustainable transport; transport modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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