Electric cargo bikes changed my life

Welcome to the most car dependent nation on earth. We've got enormous highways,

on earth. We've got enormous highways, sprawling suburbs, neglected public transit, and soaring rates of unhappiness as a direct result of this obligation to drive everywhere we go.

But what if there was another way, a better way to get around, to be less dependent on gas guzzlers and other modes of transportation that contribute to climate change? I think there is, and

it's hiding right under our noses.

As transportation editor at The Verge, I have a few perks that come with the job.

And one of them is getting to test electric bikes, a lot of them. Three of

the ones that I have right now are electric cargo bikes. This one is the Aventon Abound. Low step frame, very

Aventon Abound. Low step frame, very approachable. My wife, who's a lot

approachable. My wife, who's a lot shorter than me, can even ride this one pretty comfortably. So, this is one of

pretty comfortably. So, this is one of Trek's newest cargo bikes. It's the

Fetch Plus. It's got lot of space on the back for kids, plus these uh hard shell prers in the front for carrying cargo, which is really useful. And it's got the Bosch mid dry system, so you know, it's

really top-notch. But my favorite of the

really top-notch. But my favorite of the bunch is the Flyer L885. That's not the most highowered. It's not the most

most highowered. It's not the most expensive, but for me, it just really fits with my way of life. Uh it's got these uh canvas flaps on the side uh that you can zip up and then click into

place and it turns it from a space for your kids to ride to a cargo area for groceries. Um it's actually made by uh

groceries. Um it's actually made by uh Radio Flyier, which is the same company that makes the little red wagons. And I

just love this thing. Electric cargo

bikes are a gamecher for many people.

They've been shown to decrease car dependency, save people money, reduce carbon emissions, and speed up delivery times for businesses. That probably

explains why they are so dang popular, selling at a more rapid clip than traditional bikes and even other electrified models. They're more

electrified models. They're more expensive than most bikes, electric and non-electric, but they're vastly less expensive than cars, which most people are trying to replace, including myself.

Businesses are catching on, deploying cargo bikes for delivery services. And

we're starting to see some really interesting upgrades, like these bikes that have been transformed into mini delivery trucks used by companies like Amazon and UPS.

Cities all over the world are being reshaped for smaller batterypowered vehicles and more humanentric transportation. Cargo bikes fit

transportation. Cargo bikes fit perfectly in that vision. I always

assumed it would be slowgoing given our overdependence on cars, but the US is actually getting more bike friendly. A

recent report found a growing commitment to safer, more accessible urban cycling with 234 US cities now scoring above the momentum tipping point for bikeability,

up from 33 in 2019. And the best city for biking in the US is right here in Brooklyn, New York. So, we're going to Propel, which is a local electric bike shop here in Brooklyn. Because if anyone

knows electric bikes and especially electric cargo bikes, it's the folks at Propel.

You cannot go 5 minutes without seeing them zipping by all day long. That's the

landscape that we've seen change over time in New York City specifically is now they're everywhere.

We wanted to talk to Cat Strain, who owns Propel, about what sort of trends she's seen, and we decided what's the best way than to take a ride ourselves.

We'll take a left here. Okay,

turning.

We got a little bumpy right here. We got

to get around the portaotti truck.

Oh, there's the the Lord of the Rings building.

[Music] Electric bikes are rewiring cities, but it's it's the people behind them. It's

the people riding them that you know how I'm not sure how many people have passed by us on bikes.

So many.

So many.

And if you look across the landscape, people are increasingly finding creative ways to use cargo bikes. From mobile

floral shops like what Turnbikes is doing to coffee makers from Furlaikes or even mobile drum and bass DJs like Dom Whiting, electric cargo bikes are

popping up everywhere in surprising ways. I've seen some incredible form

ways. I've seen some incredible form factors like electric tricycles or electric rickshaws. The Dutch style back

electric rickshaws. The Dutch style back feets or bucket bike is always popular.

And honestly, I think we're just at the beginning of what's possible. Ebikes is

snow plows. ebikes as garbage collectors. Naturally, that is creating

collectors. Naturally, that is creating a lot of strife, especially within the cycling community. Regular riders and

cycling community. Regular riders and especially families now find themselves jockeying for space with delivery workers on cargo bikes that essentially look like little trucks.

I think that bike infrastructure will probably evolve to capture all the different ways that we get around. There

may be more more paths that solve for maybe people that want to go faster or slower. And we are in Prospect Park. You

slower. And we are in Prospect Park. You

can see that there is a slow lane for the bikes as well as a fast lane for the bikes.

But really, the biggest barrier to more people using ebikes is safety. The roads

are still as terrible as I remember them.

You already know the score. Here in the US, cars rule the road. You're taking

your life in your hand when biking alongside a giant truck or SUV, and protected infrastructure like bike lanes is still too few and far between. If

bike advocates want more people to use electric cargo bikes, they have their work cut out for them. Most ebikes help most bikes, period, are made in China.

Prices are likely to go up as tariffs and trade wars escalate, and cities are cracking down on ebikes, mostly related to excessive speed and defective batteries. The US government is making

batteries. The US government is making things harder, too. Slashing funding for bike lanes and protective infrastructure and questioning the need to carve out space just for cyclists. And that could

upend all this amazing momentum that we've seen in sales. The whole idea is ease of use. If governments make ebikes too tough to own, then people are just

going to drive their cars.

Despite the challenges the ebike community faces at large, advocates think they'll have more power if they put their focus closer at home.

The movement is happening locally. You

know, it's happening school by school.

It's happening with bike buses. It's

happening with activating people and your neighbors to try this thing out.

Arley Greenwald is an ebike specialist and writer that goes by the handle Bike Shopgirl. It's tireless work for sure

Shopgirl. It's tireless work for sure because it takes so much time for infrastructure changes, but when you look at it culturally, you know, the bike bus is such a great example.

Getting families to bike with their kids to school once a week. I think we're all craving that offline connection that

cycling can give us.

In my town of Montlair, New Jersey, we formed a bike bus as a way to bring the community together and fight those long car lines that could be so depressing.

So, every Friday, we get together as a group and we ride our bikes to school.

What's up, bike bus?

I absolutely think that the popularity of electric cargo bikes played a huge role in giving some parents the confidence to bike with their kids. And

now, the bike bus is a global movement.

But it's more than just cute kids on bikes. Everybody wants safe streets and

bikes. Everybody wants safe streets and electric cargo bikes have the potential to replace a lot of car trips. And that

can make things better for everyone, drivers and cyclists alike.

You can be the change that you want to see, right? Like start those bike buses,

see, right? Like start those bike buses, start asking people if they want to borrow your bike and um give those low stress, safe bike routes to help people

figure out where they're going.

Thank you for watching and if you'd like to read more about ebikes, as always, check out theverge.com. But if you want to learn more about bike buses, check out bikebusworld.com.

out bikebusworld.com.

It's a small nonprofit that I had a tiny part in helping form. They have all the information there that you could need about how to form your own bike bus.