Utility cycle
Freight bicycles or Freight tricycles are human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting large loads. Vehicle designs usually include a cargo handling area consisting of an enclosed box (cabinet), a flat platform, or a wire bracket basket. These may be mounted between parallel wheels at either the front or rear of the vehicle. The frame and drivetrain must be constructed to handle loads serveral times that of an ordinary bicycle. Other specific design considerations include operator visibility and load suspension.
Benefits
Non-motorized vehicles are particularly attractive where motorized vehicles:
- would become stuck in congested traffic
- would create air pollution problems (e.g. enclosed warehouses and industrial plants)
- would create safety problems (e.g. crowded pedestrian areas)
- would be prohibitively expensive to operate at a profit
- would be limited by fuel availability
- would be limited by the availability of on-street parking
- are restricted for environmental reasons (e.g. protected lands)
- prove inefficient for short order production or distribution schedules or for the last mile phase of a delivery.
Common Usages
Common usages include:
- delivery services in dense urban environments
- food vending in high foot traffic areas
- transporting trade tools
- airport cargo handling
- recycling collections
- warehouse inventory transportation
- mail (The UK post office operates a fleet of about 35,000 bicycles)
Because of the strong economic advantageous realizable by widespread proliferation of freight bicycles, Oxfam has designed the OxTrike and established local production at community workshops in non-industrialized countries for use in non-industrialized countries worldwide.
Dangdang, Chinas biggest online bookseller, uses 30 bicycle courier companies in 12 cities to deliver goods and collect payments.
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