Study of cargo bikes for parcel deliveries under different supply, demand and spatial conditions

The paper presents a model to estimate the demand of parcels by disaggregating nation-wide commodity flows. Secondly, the model generates parcel delivery tours to quantify transport-related effects. This model is applied to simulate parcel deliveries using cargo bikes. It consists of a two-step process: First, micro depots located close to the demand are fed with vans; second, parcels from micro depots to the customers are distributed by cargo bikes. The model simulates different shares of cargo bikes vs. motorized vans to deliver the same demand. We also studied the effect of micro depot densities and different parcel demand intensities in the same catchment area. Lastly, we compared the cargo bike tours at locations with different demand densities (parcels/km2). The results find beneficial effects of cargo bikes when the demand density and the share of cargo bikes is high. Under these conditions, the total vehicle-kilometer traveled and motorized vehicle emissions can be reduced.