As the urban studies theorist Richard Florida has observed, cities today are experiencing a "third wave" where the distance between home and work has suddenly shrunk after decades of sprawl and expanding suburbs. In a short time, city centres have become centres of wealth, and this wealth has taken the form of greater urban density. Want proof? Perhaps the most striking correlation between wealth and density is tied to real estate value and the tools we use to measure this value. Today, property value is tied to "walk scores," a metric that fundamentally measures the density and therefore the convenience of one's life. The closer work and amenities are to home, the higher the walk score, and the higher the property value.

As a result, urban distances have shrunk, and this density has created a new set of problems: bottlenecks, congestion and stress. And this congestion is costly. It's estimated that 28% of a courier company's cost to deliver a package occurs in the "last mile." When that last mile is in a congested city of gridlocked movement, construction, and parking detours, that shouldn't be surprising.

In 2015, DHL in Europe started using two-wheeled, lightweight, e-assist Bullitt cargo bikes in thirteen countries, across 50 cities and 80+ routes for deliveries. Cargo bikes now represent 10% of all DHL trips. That may not seem like a lot, but 60% of these trips are in dense city cores - and growing. While a cargo bike might not be able to take care of the trip to the distribution centre or from the distribution centre to the feeder, nothing has more free movement or parking in the last mile than a cargo bike. Since then, we have sold FedEx a similar program, with over 60 bikes on North American streets. The reports are the same: more delivery drops per hour than a van. Our work with FedEx has demonstrated the first proof-of-concept for last-mile logistics by cargo bike in North America.

The same is true for fleet bike programs. We sold the City of Toronto a fleet bike program for their employees when they realized that inter-office travel was consuming tax-payer dollars in gridlocked taxis. Fleet bike programs are also based on the same research principles around the "last mile." Studies in Holland show the average trip downtown rarely exceeds five miles, a distance that is simply too close to justify driving and yet too far to walk. Perhaps this five-mile distance is the best way to define the "last mile." That's why in Holland, most "last-mile" trips are handled by bicycle.

Finally, in a dense and congested city, it shouldn't be surprising that people like to enjoy themselves in car-free zones. This is especially notable in travel, tourism, and hospitality industries. We've sold cargo bike fleets to the Shangri-La Hotel, Drake Hotel, and Mr C Hotels so that their guests can access the city freely and enjoy it without barriers. Likewise, we've sold tons of cargo bikes to companies like Foodora and Coca Cola who want branding vehicles that can engage and transact equally off-the-streets and on-the-streets. That's the thing about a business bike: it has an an all-access-pass to the city.

It's also an undeniable fact that a bicycle costs far less than a vehicle. In 2010 we sold a fleet of bikes to Toronto's Not Far From The Tree, a volunteer-based NGO whose volunteers collect un-picked fruit from backyards (over 148,000lbs harvested!) and donate 1/3rd to the homeowner, 1/3rd to the volunteers and 1/3rd to a local food bank. While using a bike around town fits the organization's ethos, it was hard to shift from the default thinking around using a motor vehicle.

Until they did the math. With multiple sites to serve at a time, one van wouldn't be enough. And the cost of a single van was the same price as 12 cargo bikes, and that didn't include the added costs of insurance, fuel costs, and repairs - easily another $8000 per year. As one of our first fleet customers, Not Far From The Tree was definitely thinking out of the box, and they are pioneering proof-of-concept for cargo bike use in Toronto (they might very well be the first fleet of cargo bikes in North America). Today, Not Far From The Tree has added another 3 bikes (all e-assist) to their fleet.

The same is true for DHL in Europe and FedEx in North America. Each cargo bike replaced an entire van. Sure, the cargo bike needs to go back-and-forth more often between the feeder depot, but with better access and more efficiency, less onboard space didn't translate into slower delivery time. With an equal amount of packages delivered on time, huge costs were saved on motor-vehicles, parking and parking tickets, insurance, maintenance and fuel.

Then there's cargo bikes that play the role of company van. Many of our customers (whether they're restaurants like Brothers in Toronto or Hundred Acres in NYC, hotels like Algonquin Resort, or even schools/daycares like Toronto's Island Montessori) use a cargo bike to pick up supplies or drop supplies off (or kids). While Not Far From the Tree got 12 cargo bikes for the price of a van, these places got a cargo bike instead of a van. That's a lot of money left in your pocket.

In a dense, congested city, a bike is more efficient because it can cut though gridlock. But if all those cars were taken away, would a bike still be faster? The answer is yes.

This is confirmed by multiple North American studies and most recently, a 2017 study from the GERMAN FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY, which determined that – in an urban setting – bikes are faster than cars for trips up to five kilometres. More importantly, it concluded that e-assist bikes increase that distance to 10km. As Chris from Modacity says, "It turns out drivers vastly underestimate time spent sitting in traffic, searching for parking, and walking to their final destination."  

That's why DHL chose e-assist bikes as their transportation platform in Europe. If the figurative "last mile" is actually several miles, or, involves hills, e-assist cargo bikes not only flatten hills but have significant power, meaning they can accelerate rider, bike and cargo all with 60+ km on a single charge. It's the same reason the City of Toronto chose a bicycle fleet program for their employees. Sure, one aspect was again to lower taxi costs but at the same time to ensure meetings aren't held hostage by gridlock. It's the same reason restaurants, daycares, and schools opt for a cargo bike to get the job done faster than a motor vehicle.

Time is money. And, while delivery companies bring the product to you, it's also equally true for a mobile kiosk, where you bring the product to the customer. Not only is your product accessible on-and-off the streets, all free movement and parking has financial return. You've saved your customer time, and that's worth money.

Thankfully, in today's world companies are beginning to understand that they have an environmental responsibility. PostNL in Holland has said that by 2025 all package delivery (using Centaur cargo bikes) in the Benelux region will be carbon neutral. DHL plans to reduce their CO2 emissions by 30% for the year 2020.  

We're not saying bicycles can replace motor vehicles, but they do have their place. If this place is given, this positively affects people, planet and profit. Motor vehicles are environmentally costly: according to the ECF a car's production counts for 42g of CO2 per kilometre driven. But it's the act of driving that really bumps things up; driving emits over 270g of CO2 per kilometre.

Compared to this, a bicycle's production only costs 5g per kilometre ridden. And, even with a rich meat diet, cycling only emits 21g of CO2 per year, more than ten times less than a car.

So, if your business or organization has a goal of reducing emissions, lowering cost, and raising efficiency, then you are well on your way to becoming more profitable too. You're what we call a good "roll model," and your clients will notice.

In our current world of social media, there is a strong correlation between 'likes' and profit. That's not a bad thing. Customer service is not just about transactions, it's about shared values and goodwill.

As a recent Forbes article stated, companies today must recognize that the largest transfer of wealth in the world is shifting from boomers to millennials, and millennials care about your company's social responsibility.

In 2015, Nielson published its annual Global Corporate Sustainability Report. It indicated that, globally, 66% of consumers are willing to spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable brand. Millennials gave an even more impressive showing, with 73% of surveyed millennials indicating a similar preference. Additionally, 81% of millennials even expect their favourite companies to make public declarations of their corporate citizenship.

Brands like Fjallraven and Foodora get it. These are young brands that don't want to spend their advertising money on billboards or magazine ads - instead they'd rather publicly engage potential clients using a platform that demonstrates their own shared values.

Public engagement is one of these shared values, and its undeniable that a brand ambassador on a bike has significantly more public engagement that a brand ambassador in a motor vehicle. Bicycles are not only more engaging, they are all-access; that means they can meet people in parks or farmers markets, places where people allow themselves to be curious. But, more than that, a bicycle represents a different vision of the way we imagine our cities. Bicycles are tied to a vision of urban health, of living close to your friends, supporting local businesses, of cleaner air and more open civil engagement.

If this is your vision, it's also ours too. Best of all, this vision works. Not only is a bicycle your best brand statement, it lowers costs, increases efficiency and raises profits. It's good for your business, your customer, and the world.

Want to know more? Be sure to read "DELIVERING LAST MILE SOLUTIONS," a white paper produced by the Pembina Institute, a feasability study we continue to consult on.