Cargo bike deliveries have an essential role to play in reaching London’s net zero ambitions, reducing congestion on London’s streets, and providing an efficient and affordable means of logistics. Cargo bike deliveries also have the potential to provide quality employment, differentiated from the ‘gig economy’.
However, cargo bike riders can currently experience precarious work, and health and safety risks, and the workforce of cargo bike delivery companies lacks diversity.
Between March 2022 and September 2023 we have been working on a project aimed at developing an understanding of the various experiences of cargo bike delivery riders with a particular focus around employment and wellbeing, funded by Impact on Urban Health.
The outcome of this work has been our first report Delivering Good Work: Labour, employment and wellbeing in London’s cargo bike sector
We also worked with riders, manager and other stakeholders in the sector to co-create a set of actions that cargo bike cargo bike logistics companies, government bodies, and other actors can take to ensure the sector continues to grow in a just and equitable way.
A summary of this second part of the work has been published on a follow up report titled Delivering Good Work: A stakeholders’ perspective
We also collaborated with the riders’ union and other organisations in London to ensure that our findings were discussed with riders and managers, and delivered a series of advocacy sessions in London. Our research partner Sustrans has published some of the resources for riders in a blog covering our research findings and the advocacy sessions.
Our work has been awarded the Sustrans London Award 2023.
If you’d like to know more about the project please contact us at e.verlinghieri@westminster.ac.uk
Latest posts by everlinghieri (see all)
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