UPS Cargo Bike in Seattle (Courtesy of UPS)
Dec. 4, 2019 By Allie Griffin
New York City will pilot a six-month cargo bike program to reduce delivery truck congestion on Manhattan streets just in time for the holiday shopping season, the mayor announced today.
The Commercial Cargo Bike Program will bring an estimated 100 cargo bikes from major delivery companies, including UPS, DHL and Amazon, to the most crowded streets in midtown and downtown Manhattan, south of 60th.
It may expand further into the city depending on initial results, according to the Mayor’s Office.
The initiative will study whether cargo bicycles can successfully fit into the city’s streetscape, the mayor’s office said. Participating companies will send data to the DOT about the speed, parking, use of bike lanes and the size of the cargo bicycles. The DOT will then use the information to adjust its rules regarding cargo bike speed, parking rates and size.
Any freight company can participate in the program, but must follow the DOT’s rules including that the pedal-assist bikes cannot exceed speeds of 12 MPH and that cargo bike operators must attend safety training sessions.
- The pilot program will initially run for six months, with the possibility of additional six-month incremental extensions, depending on its results.
Wednesday’s announcement follows a rally hosted by Council Member Costa Constantinides last week demanding that the city end its reduced ticket fines for delivery trucks illegally parked. He argued that ending the Stipulated Fine Program, which includes participants like Fedex, UPS and Verizon, would help decrease traffic congestion caused by delivery trucks.
Supporters of the cargo bike pilot said that the program will also help decrease delivery truck congestion.
“New Yorkers demand immediate results – whether that’s getting a package delivered or getting around the city,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “This is an exciting new program that will help cut congestion on our streets and speed up deliveries, all while reducing vehicle emissions.”
Many said with less trucks on the road, the program will make New York safer for cyclists and pedestrians as well.
“Cargo bikes will help shift freight deliveries away from large, dangerous, polluting trucks, and toward smaller, more appropriate vehicles for a dense urban environment,”said Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. “This means more space on our streets and sidewalks for people, and ultimately a better quality of life for all New Yorkers.”
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14 Comments
Manhattan is becoming like a big ghetto rapidly.. The people, culture, attitudes, ignored small crimes, public transportation, and the traffic… The tourists look more civilized an urban.. Lots of things have changed since I got here in 2005..
How about reducing the thousands of Uber and Lyft vehicles driving empty most of the time clogging and polluting the streets???
deBlasio’s pipe dream of being President will never arrive.
It slows down delivery,it’ll never last
Someone will make a tiny house this cart.
Cool..Convert the back into a tiny apartment and you can your home all over the city. Avoid hills!
UPS has used a horse drawn cart on Mackinac Island in MI forever. Cars are banned on the island. Google: photos UPS horse cart Mackinac Island.
I’ve been there . I saw that . It was so weird . I did like no cars but not horses pulling everything via carts. Also , the place was so boring I wanted to leave . I saw a horse escape her barn and run wild for a hour .
these UPS dudes are going to be so jacked with boulder calves. Wonder how they will deal with traffic moving something around that large on crowded city streets.
Don’t you know that they will be on the sidewalks! Or coming down the wrong direction! Or even blocking traffic so cars and trucks will have to maneuver around them. Such is life I guess. Let’s see how this pans out.
As opposed to the current situation where the UPS and FedEx trucks nimbly roam around the streets and cause no traffic issues by parking wherever they feel like.
They showed a picture of on coming onto our sidewalks and in the wrong direction. Watch out pedestrians! Pedestrians are not safe crossing streets and sidewalks have become a place for motorized cycles and scooters, now these delivery bikes. We are looking like an over populated third world country. Come on DeBlasio get out of office before you do more damage. DeBlasio why don’ t you move to Rykers as that is where you belong.
No different than most bike riders in my neighborhood.
Ok boomer