London Borough of Hackney

The Zero Emissions Network (ZEN) supports businesses and residents in Hackney reduce transport emissions and shift to active, shared, collective and e-mobility transport options. With the ecargo bike grant funding from Department for Transport (DfT), administered by Energy Saving Trust, ZEN launched the UK’s first cargo bike share service in Hackney. The service has four hubs across Hackney that are available on-street, on-demand, and to the public, with each hub having two bikes that can be rented by businesses or residents for short periods of time.

ZEN’s aim is to improve and expand the ecargo bike service in Hackney. They have identified new locations for cargo bike hubs and plan to improve three of the current locations by changing them from ecargo bike hangars to openair hubs. This change will increase usage and improve technical issues by reducing the physical and visual barriers associated with the hangars.

After successfully obtaining the ecargo bike grant from Energy Saving Trust, ZEN launched an ecargo bike share scheme to encourage businesses and residents to explore and try ecargo bikes before committing to a longer-term switch.

This scheme provides access to ecargo bikes for occasional users, those who can’t afford or who can’t store an ecargo bike themselves, or those who are concerned about bike theft. Additionally, it allows businesses to test out an ecargo bike prior to buying one. Storage and cost are significant obstacles to ecargo bike use for many Hackney residents, so the ecargo bike share scheme was a valuable solution.

The use of ecargo bikes in Hackney has improved air quality and reduced emissions through businesses and council trips. The bikes are used for a range of purposes, including moving business equipment, deliveries and collections and personal errands.

The public ecargo bike share has seen a total of 542 journeys, 3,518 km travelled, and 217 individual users, with half of the bikes being used by businesses and the other half by residents.

The success of the scheme has led to plans to convert the other three ecargo bike hubs to openair hubs to increase usage and accessibility.

The use of ecargo bikes by Hackney Council’s Fleet team has also helped to reduce vehicle traffic across the borough and showcase the potential for ecargo bikes to replace traditional modes of transportation for essential services.

Cllr Mete Coban MBE, Hackney Council said: “Our residents and businesses are passionate about doing all they can to help improve air quality – and we’re launching this scheme to provide easy-to-access ecargo bikes for shopping and carrying goods.

“eCargo Bike Share is a nationwide first and is one of the many ways we’re working to rebuild a greener Hackney in the aftermath of the pandemic – with cleaner air, healthier lives and better neighbourhoods for all of our residents and businesses.”