The Return of Cargobikes to the Streets of Paris

If normal #bicycles are the sweet-sounding string instruments in the orchestra heralding the return of #bicyclefriendly #cities , then the #cargobike is the booming percussion. In so many cities, especially in Europe, the cargo bike is returning in force to the streets. Private cargo bikes for families, small goods delivery and as an integral piece of the #logistics puzzle for last-mile delivery.
Paris, however, is taking things to the next level with an exponential rise in the number of cargobikes, cargo trailers, #triporteur, #biporteur - you name it. Stuff is moving around the city on bicycle wheels 24/7 and it is extraordinary.
51% of goods moved in a city can be moved by bike or cargobike. That's a lot of trucks and vans that can be replaced: www.copenhagenize.com/2013/10/...
The Five Best Cities for Cargobikes in Europe:
/ the-five-best-cargobik...
Micro-distribution terminals for rivers and waterways: www.copenhagenize.com/2015/07/...

[@jasonschubert6828]

I look at my city (Melbourne 😖) and think how easy this would be to do. Tiny CBD, virtually no hills, temperate weather, large amounts of space. Instead we have a steady stream (read jam) of often dual lanes of cars and trucks (and their associated noise) on every street, and the "infrastructure" they provide is poorly designed, disjointed, thrown in at the end of any design process, too small to even handle a cargo bike, and immediately taken over by motorbikes and (Chinese Uber) pseudo motorbikes. Then we are forced to wear a helmet for "our safety"! I wonder where I have heard that argument before? 🤔

[@rodrigosouto9502]

Cargo bikes simply rocks!

[@Nebufelis]

And Partis continues to amaze me - first time I was there I would barely have even considered biking there, and now it's becoming *the* bike city among the top cities of the world. And since I finished my carreer as a bike messenger with a stint on cargo bikes back 2012 (Vienna), I do know that useful parking for cargo bikes is a big part of it. Thanks for showing it!

[@LifeSizedCity]

Thanks! Although coming soon is a very critical take on their infrastructure for bikes. Get some popcorn ready. :-)

[@Nebufelis]

@@LifeSizedCity Absolutely looking forward to it! :)

[@davidhagerty4625]

When the French go for something...they go for it! Now paying people to get their shoes repaired!!

[@e-BikeLife]

I'm so glad you added the historical references. When I was young, 10 - 15 yrs, we lived in France (my father was American Air Force, so that gives you a clue to my age) and I remember the bike lanes and bike traffic lights throughout Paris in the early to mid '60's. What goes around comes around? Haven't bee to Paris since 2012. Time to return. Thanks for this great series.

[@benficaM8888]

Paris is so unexpected, such an old city, but they're so willing to try new things.

[@Roberto__Skar]

Music to my ears. So great to hear that positive changes are happening. Years ago I did the London to Brighton cycle ride. After assembling at Hyde Park, we set off, and I will never forget the beautiful sound that thousands of bikes didn't make (as opposed to hundreds of cars). I could even hear the birds in the trees above!

[@bernardfinucane2061]

I live in a German suburb and I've been getting mail by cargo bike for a decade.

[@NapoleonTrotski]

J'adore vos vidéos

[@paddyodoor3090]

important not to forget that alot of cities in asia never saw cargo bikes leave either

[@_SpamMe]

In Munich, UPS drives their trucks to different points in the city from where they'll load onto some weird cargo bike designs and then distribute further. It's "mostly" great but I gotta say, since the city doesn't explicitly have loading/unloading zones, and they're doing it in some real weird places, it can be quite the hassle for pedestrians just to have everything piled up on the sidewalk. Some sort of "truck to cargo bike" loading/unload zones should probably be considered at least for areas where there's no convenient other options.

[@michaelmorrissey2212]

I've seen UPS cargo bike delivery in Paris! So they are there, just not widespread yet, it seems. The UPS bike i saw (in the 2e) was a cargo trike with a rain cover, and logos saying "Powered by VelyVelo"

[@LifeSizedCity]

Thanks!

[@Alexrocksdude_]

Great video, and you aren't the only one that gets excited when they see a cargo bike! They are so rare in Florida :(

[@illiniEE]

Thoughts on electrification's impact on cargo bikes?

[@ComradeMario]

In China we call this 倒骑驴 which literally means reverse ridden donkey😂, with biker in front of the cargo being the more common type.

[@vaiyaktikasolarbeam1906]

it s still a long way to go for other city though but nice video!

[@aquarianthy]

my city is waiting for an international standard to be available before allowing e-cargo bikes for off-road riding, though they know about the German standard. i guess they r waiting for the ISO version

[@Kaisersozze]

Can't wait when mopeds are electric.

[@skytoll1]

F-BIKES will replace E-BIKES when it comes to freight hauling. F-BIKES can pull heavy hauling trailers like a pick up truck does, without needing an engine. 🍷🍷😎

[@MrManafon]

I’m so sad with seeing all your focus on Paris and Ukraine lately. I wonder why your videos often seem so sour when talking about Copenhagen, and very enthusiastic about some very normal and simple Paris topics, seems weird, like you had lost what motivated you and are searching for it elsewhere. Haven’t heard much about urbanism and life-sized city planning for a while as well, probably since “Frederiksberg 15min city” video or your legendary response to NJB. There is so much to talk about and show the world and it seems wild that we’re stuck looking at ladcykler in Paris with wide eyes instead of doing higher quality, deeper explorations in your home turf where ladcykler are normal. At the moment where more cities than ever wish to Copenhagenize, you are no longer guiding them in the way to do it and leading by example, but are instead focusing on patting them on the back for the smallest of things. This leaves them to learn from amero-centric channels like NJB or AmericanFietser, that have gained immense popularity lately but don't fully understand what iterative change is and liveable means. You on the other hand, always did know. Because that is what the core of Copenhagen is. I would have expected you to cover being the capital of architecture with a series of shorts, or for example have an amazing Colville-style interview in Nørrebro with Anna Bucher Lassen after their amazing cycling data webinar with Rotterdam and Ramboll, do a deep dive on the data and what it means for living in Copenhagen, workshop on 100th Dybbølsbro redesign. Urbanism and cultural life. Thats what the Mikael of yesteryear would do, lead the way, not report about others do :P P.S. Just scrolled. The last positive, "leading the way style", video about Denmark was 1 year ago. The one before that 2 years ago.

[@KyrilPG]

I find it quite good that he doesn't only focus on Copenhagen. His recent focus on Barcelona and Paris shows how megacities can do things, with slightly different ways. Cities that are home to more people than the entire country of Denmark. With issues and solutions that can more easily be replicated everywhere. Showing these examples (alongside Copenhagen) can have a stronger impact on urbanism on the global scale as the viewer can no longer think "ok, that's doable on a small / medium city but not for a mega one". These focus on Barcelona and Paris also show that it can work with populations that are not North European "cycle minded" by default, as is the common stereotype. Cities that went through the carcentric hell of the 60's at full throttle (by European standards). It also shows that global cities can do it too. It's pretty much like the best pupil vs most progressing pupil example : more pupils can more easily relate to the progressing pupil than to the teacher's favorite that always had the best grades. And his home is everywhere, he's a world citizen, currently living in Paris again. He'll probably move again. That gives a much more international and diverse view and feel of "applicability" of his advices. What you think of "little" steps are huge in a population initially much less cycle friendly than Denmark or the Netherlands. They have more impact than "bigger steps" in Copenhagen as they are more replicable. Sometimes Copenhagen or the Netherlands represent the "unattainable best" whereas Barcelona and Paris represent the achievable better / bettering megacities. And because of that they are great examples of the urbanism and cycling transformation towards a better livable city.

[@MrManafon]

@@KyrilPG Thanks for the reply, but I'm still inclined not to agree. Cities are best represented by urbanists who understand what makes them tick. There is a thousand better candidates to tell us how Paris is changing, and more importantly what the drivers of that change are, and while Mikael obviously loves Paris and French cinema, he is still an urbanism tourist there, driving a shallow reportage of the changes that are happening. While in Copenhagen, he is showing the world how and why these decisions are made. North European cities were not always "cycle minded" and suffer from a lot of the same 60s and 70s car-mania, as Mikael recently (year and a half ago) talked here on youtube. They have their own problems, and their own solutions. The only way for the world to defeat cars is to come to their own conclusions, and the only way to do that is not by copying Copenhagen, but by hearing the thought process that went into its urbanism - that is the boon that Mikael is in a unique position to fulfil, and drive true mindset change. As he did with his book. I understand your pupil analogy but I don't think it works here, as urbanism is not something to be learned from a book, after a certain point. Much like UX, Architecture or art it requires following the thought process instead. I do not believe that Copenhagen should somehow shush and not be a thought leader, after paving the way for how attainable bike infrastructure can be done. Return of cargo bikes to Paris is a great news segment, but an inconsequential one, compared to Mikael letting us pick his brain about why and how Copenhagen became a bike heaven for those same cargo bikes. We can easily hear a thousand voices from Amsterdam preaching their model, to great success, so why should Copenhagen not do the same with our model? Perhaps Mikael just doesn't wanna, which is totally okay of course. But it most definitely is sad if true.

[@MrManafon]

@@KyrilPG I might be wrong tho, I just read in the comments that he is working on a more professional deep dive into Parisian infrastructure critique. That sounds very promising!

[@KyrilPG]

@@MrManafon Yeah it's a complete package in progress. There's the video "Why parisification..." that goes more in depth, the video "the state of cycling in Paris", etc Different formats that show a state of things, a progress report, etc. One that analyzes a street's traffic... We can see a progression and a complementarity "link" between the different videos about Paris or Barcelona. The pupil analogy is not limited to book knowledge, it covers everything, thought process too, as many cities don't even allow themselves the thought process because they feel like Copenhagen's example is too far and different from them. The "best" can be overwhelming, from pupils to sports, architecture, philosophy and virtually everything. It's easy for the human mind to simply ignore it. Whereas the "better / progressing" example is impossible to ignore, especially when it has every asset and issue a megacity can have. From business districts to slums, with very heterogeneous social and economic fabrics. From abroad, Denmark and Copenhagen in particular are viewed as quite homogeneous societies with little social and economic differences compared to many other countries, cities and megacities. Just like an Olympic champion or world record holder is less inspirational for the masses in their everyday life than a multi amputee doing a lot of different sports and activities. I've emboldened the comparison but you see my point : a huge city with a lot of baggage and issues making big progress strides has more impact and is more inspirational than the teacher's favorite with a privileged upbringing (as is often viewed Copenhagen from abroad). To the point bringing Copenhagen / Denmark or Northern Europe as an example can be a discussion ender. Spain's massive and exemplary progress on domestic violence is more inspirational for the big countries in Europe than Northern European countries' decades old best practices. They're all great but the "bettering" example *always* gets more traction than the "best". There are also examples specific to Paris, like the RER Velo (and Velopolitain), an ongoing project of "cycling highways" roughly following mass transit lines or the Barcelona superbloc "islands", or the ties between a mega mass transit network and cycling that improve mobility, etc. It shows diverse ways of reaching the better livable city goal. It's also a way of talking about the thought process and its ongoing application, a less theoretical and a lot more practical way of showing things in motion. Londoners for example, would easily discard Copenhagen's example. They'll have a hard time dismissing Paris' example, a city they love to criticize, as Paris progresses on topics they thought were too far from Copenhagen and too similar to theirs. These Paris or Barcelona examples are a thought process enabler / unlocker / facilitator. They prevent the carcentric conservatives and dated urbanists from closing the discussion : if Paris and Barcelona can do that, with the same issues as in London, then London can too and the discussion or thought process can't be discarded as "too specific to Copenhagen / a homogeneous society". Same goes for many other large cities with heterogeneous social and economic population. (I specifically said "viewed [from abroad]", as perception and reality can differ).

[@MrManafon]

I understand, I think you are correct in most points. It is my personal bias in work, to always look up to the best and find my own ways of achieving the same or strive towards such a path. Makes sense that I’d miss to see that most viewers would feel intimidated by it. Your response definitely changed my mind on some things. I do not discard that Barcelona is more relevant to Parisians (and vice versa) but I absolutely deny the idea that Copenhagen standards are unthinkable (i know i know you wrote that “people think that way”). Mikael himself often spoke about how easy it would be for other cities to follow the Copenhagen model, which is, unlike Amsterdam’s, much closer to cities without a cycling history. It is in fact not that hard, or expensive, but requires deeper understanding of cycling UX, which many cities that paint over a road and call it a bike lane don’t have. That is why I wish to hear him do more comparative videos from a place of expertise, talk about design thinking, how Copenhagen and Rotterdam collect and use biking data in planning thus setting up the stage for other cities to do the same. That is why I hope his next video which is supposed to be a critique of Parisian infrastructure will include lots of comparative analysis, as that is the only way to learn. Copenhagen and Amsterdam were not always bike friendly, and it is very valuable to learn from their successes or mistakes. And to challenge the idea that they were born that way. The fact that, as you say, people discard Cpoenhagen as if it was somehow different and unatainable can only be challenged by constant and unrelentless communication about the truth. Not by declaring its impossible and therefore let’s ignore it and not learn from it. And I think that is why I miss Mikael’s old voice. I definitely think that Mikael always holds Copenhagen to a higher standard in his videos, which might explain why I felt that he sounded sour whenever he spoke about it, which isn’t true.

[@raspberrybitch4299]

Wow, I didn't realize Paris would rank among the likes of Amsterdam and Copenhagen... maybe I should put Paris back on the list of possible "gtfo of America" cities for myself.