NYC Launches E-Bike Delivery Hub

ZIJIE YANG, HOST: This week, the Department of Transportation cut the ribbon on a microhub for package delivery on the Upper West Side. Delivery trucks will drop off packages at the center. From there, e-bikes will take packages to their final destination. Hannah Weaver reports on the promises and potential drawbacks of the city’s plan.

HANNAH WEAVER, BYLINE: It’s a busy morning on Amsterdam Avenue. Big delivery trucks, taxis, and cars rush by. But pretty soon, a different kind of vehicle will be in the mix. A shiny, three-wheeled e-cargo bike with a white metal trailer nestled between the back two wheels. They’ll be whizzing in and out of a delivery hub that will officially open here next month. City officials promise the plan will cut emissions in the neighborhood. Nina Tager has lived here for thirty years. She’s thrilled by the idea. 

TAGER: Are you kidding? The less energy use, the better, right? The less dirty fuel, the better, 

right?

WEAVER: Other residents I talked to are also excited. But there’s a catch, which I asked Tager about.

WEAVER: They do go in the bike lane, does that change anything for you? 

TAGER: You know, I've been riding these bikes for such a long time, and I'm used … I feel like it's like when, when you're on a computer game and there's, like, things coming across your you know, vision, and you have to get around them and everything. So I'm sort of, like, used to it. 

WEAVER: Tager may be used to it, but for some cyclists, the city’s bike lanes can be chaotic, crowded, and there aren’t enough of them. The hub here is part of a new pilot program that will be expanding to Brooklyn soon. With tensions high, I wanted to check in with all the parties involved about the pluses and minuses. First, the people making the bikes. Ben Morris is the founder of Coaster Cycles, which makes the bikes used here at the hub between 72nd and 86th Street.

MORRIS: All right, do you want the crude truth?

WEAVER: Morris says the crude truth is that businesses tend to focus more on money than the environment. Another plus is that e-bike delivery costs less than traditional truck delivery. 

MORRIS: Most all of the major companies out there have come out with some sort of sustainability pledge or mandate across their fleets of like what they're trying to do. The reality is, is they're not going to embrace these types of vehicles if it costs them more money to deliver first or traditional vehicles they do with today.

WEAVER: Academic research from Europe shows e-bike delivery is cheaper, especially in dense urban areas — like New York. That’s because costs from manufacturing, maintenance, insurance, and even parking tickets all add up for gas delivery trucks. Another plus is the environmental benefit and less congested streets for New Yorkers. That’s according to Alex Heil, an environmental economist.

HEIL: Having e-bikes, cargo bikes, some version thereof, seems to me like a fairly sensible way to both manage the transportation operations, ie, congestion, and also some of the environmental impacts that are otherwise experienced. 

WEAVER: What would that look like? Give me an example.

HEIL: Fewer trucks on the road, less delays … less trucks just idling … blocking bike lanes … it's just the convenience of everyday life would be improved.

WEAVER: But there are potential downsides. And one is that these bikes can be pretty big. The largest models look more like a truck than a bike. Here’s Heil again.

HEIL: Some critics say "oh, these bikes are too big, they travel too fast, right? They take up too much space." Yeah, those are all fair points. I think the city has tried to respond by limiting the size of these bikes, limit the speed...

WEAVER: Last March, the DOT created rules saying that e-cargo bikes can be up to 4 feet wide. Which is exactly the width of some bike lanes. Despite the concern of clogged lanes, Heil thinks the city’s size limits are also enough.

Starting next month, you can see for yourself if these e-bike deliveries are a help or a hindrance.

Hannah Weaver, Columbia Radio News.