GWA Energy Company profile

All the way from Taiwan GWA Energy, Inc. will be present at the International Cargo Bike Festival on 18 & 19 April in Nijmegen.

GWA Energy, Inc. is dedicated to provide a tailored-made eBike solutions for the business users. They are specialized in two systems: Industrial-graded Cargo eBike and Public Sharing eBike (PSB). Their PSB solutions are used in Copenhagen and other cities since 2013 and our cargo bike solution is used in the Netherlands.

Since GWA Energy is concentrated in the business users, the reliability and the quality are two major factors in their design. In the product development cycle, all products must go through a rigorous stress test before releasing to the customers.

Their product portfolio include lithium ion battery pack, sine wave controller, torque sensor, LED and LCD displays, mid-drive motor, hub motor, docking station, etc. The majority of the products are home-grown and are built in Taiwan. 

GWA Energy, Inc. can be reached via joannelee@gwaenergy.com or billliou@gwaenergy.com.

How to make city logistics greener?

COVENANT OF MAYORS

 On 27 November 2014 the Covenant of Mayors webinar: Sustainable freight transport - How to make city logistics greener? was organised in Belgium.

This webinar presents the integrated strategies to sustainable freight developed by two signatory cities - Berlin and Bologna -  and highlight cycling alternatives for city logistics.

Speakers are:

- Randy Rzewnicki, Project Manager, European Cyclist Federation, Presentation available HERE.

- Julius Menge, Transport Policy Unit, City of Berlin, Presentation available HERE.

- Antonio Pio Morra, Sustainable Mobility Department, City of Bologna, Presentation available HERE.

A recording of the webinar is available HERE.

Cargo Bike with Solar Coolbox

In cooperation with Timmermans Fietsen and Battery Fact, Busybike has developed a solar coolbox for the cargo bike.

The protype is delivered and will be tested in preactice for a couple of weeks in Amsterdam.

The coolbox has a 5 cm solid foam insulation. In front the compressor is installed. It is vibration proof. The battery is fixed under the box and it is charged by solar power.
The capacity is such that the products stay cool at a temperature of 5-7 degrees Celsius for at least 8 hours. It can cool down to 0 degrees Celsius.

The cargo bike coolbox has a sliding lid, so the cool air will not get sucked out of the box when opening it.

Click on the picture to watch the video.

See also: Busybike bicycle trailer

Velove Armadillo from Sweden

Johan Erlandsson of Velove will be presenting at the Conference of the International Cargo Bike Festival 2015. The title is:

"The iterative development of the full suspension, high capacity, small width Velove Armadillo cargo bike"

Listen to the story of the development of the Swedish/Dutch Velove Armadillo cargo bike. From the initial idea through many stages of technical development, and also how financing was solved and what real-life courier feedback gave. This session gives good input to anyone considering using the Velove Armadillo in their business. It can also inspire other bike developers on how to succeed with going from idea to market in relatively short time. There are many good ideas that are still not built and tested out there, we are sure! Finally, it is also a nice story for couriers, to recognise the everyday challenges of their work and bikes.

Velove is a developer and manufacturer of cargo bikes and trailers, based in Sweden. They developed and built the four wheel Velove Armadillo cargo bike with about 1 m3 storage space (EU pallet adapted) in cooperation with Flevobike in Dronten, The Netherlands. Main advantages is speed, stability and narrowness (just 85 cm) which make it fit well on even narrow bike paths, and passes through doors. 

Click on the picture above to start the video.

Busybike Bicycle Trailer

The Busybike Bicycle Trailer is a big trailer, designed and manufactered by Busybike. They are light, functional, safe and strong trailers for daily use.The trailers come in the colors red, blue, grey and black. The hardtop has sliding doors.

You will find more information about the trailers on the Busybike website.

Within a 200km range around Nijmegen, the trailer can be delivered fully assembled. Beyond that distance the will be delivered partly as 'build-it-yourself-package'.

Click HERE for the instruction video to assemble it by yourselve.

Busybike is not the first bicycle trailer builder in Nijmegen.The above postcard shows a bicycle trailer build by Jazon. It's probably from the 1930's.

See also: Cargo Bike with Solar Coolbox

CycleLogistics Workshop, Train the Trainer

The European Cycle Logistics Federation along with Outspoken Delivery has developed a day long workshop aimed at existing and established cycle logistics operators interested in providing a know-how transfer workshop and services to individuals and organisations intending to set up and run a cycle based delivery business.

The workshop will be held in Milan, Italy, on Monday 24 November 2014 from 09:30 to 18:00.

For more details take a look at the workshop flyer and if you need more information or would like to book a place please email Gary Armstrong

International Cargo Bike Festival 2015

Photo: Jaap Baarends

The International Cargo Bike Festival 2014 of last April was very succesfull. The decision to make it a two-days-event worked out very well. The Cycle Logistics Conference on the Saturday had twice as many particpants - 230 - as we expected beforehand. It was a international groupe of people originating from 24 different countries.

The edition of 2015 will take place on 18 & 19 April 2015. The location is Cultuurspinnerij de Vasim, Winselingseweg 41 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
We invite you to register for a booth at the International Cargo Bike Fair on Sunday 19 April.

The price for a booth for commercial parties is €400,- VAT excluded.

Let us know whether you bring your own booth/tent or whether you need to rent one, (€100,- ex VAT extra). Indicate whether you need electricity at your booth. A standard place for a booth measures 4x4 meter. If you need more, let it know. We might be able to arrange it.

Just like last year, you have the opportunity to place an advertorial or infotorial at this website; 200-300 words + photos). Costs are €250,- per article.

For other suggestions of support, contributions or sponsoring ideas, please contact Jos Sluijsmans.

Some results of the International Cargo Bike Festival 2015
Official inauguration of the European CycleLogistics Federation
Final meeting of CycleLogistics and the launch of CycleLogistics Ahead
230 participants at the CycleLogistics Conference, from 24 countries
30 booth of professionals
Catering delivered by, prepared and served from cargo bikes
200 cargo bikes
3,500 - 4,000 visitors at the cargo Bike Fair
450 extra overnight stays in Nijmegen (hotel, B&B, campingground)
200 extra (international) visitors to the National Bicycle Museum Velorama

ICBF 2015
The International Cargo Bike Festival 2015 will be organized by Jos Sluijsmans of Fietsdiensten.nl in collaboration with gloedcommunicatie and Aranea (Judith van den Reek). The catering will be delivered and presented by 'Op vuur en vlam' (On Fire and Flames).

Conference
The content of the Conference on Saturday 18 April is not known yet. There will be several  presentations and workshops.
Gary Armstrong of Outspoken Delivery will give the workshop: Setting up and running a cycle based delivery business.
information on how to register for the Conference will follow asap.

International Cargo Bike Fair
On Sunday 19 April there will be the International Cargo Bike Fair where designers, producers and dealers can present their products. At the venue the different types of cargo bikes can be tried and tested. Many self-builders will show their own classic, and innovative cargo bikes. Also the visitors are invited to bring their own cargo bikes.

Like the last year the emphasis will be on commercial use of cargo bikes, but there will be a lot of attention for family cargo bikes and multi-person bikes as well. Also several producers of bicycles for disabled people have indicated that they are interested to attend the International Cargo Bike Festival.

The Slowbiking Battle will be held at the International Cargo Bike Fair with a special edition of SlowCargoBiking!

There will also be a great variety of activities for adults and kids; music, theatre, art, design, and food & drinks!

The International Cargo Bike Festival 2015 takes place on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 April 2015 at Cultuurspinnerij de Vasim, Winselingseweg 41 in Nijmegen. The Conference on saturday is from 10.30 to18.00 uur the Cargo Bike Fair on sunday is from13.00 – 17.00 uur.

On Sunday morning there will be a Cargo Bike Parade again.

Check the website for video's, photo's, articles, etc. of last year's Cargo Bike Festival
Videos, articles and photos

The T-shirts of the International Cargo Bike Festival are still available. Now with 20% reduction of the price indicated. Click HERE

Juice on Wheels

Juice on Wheels is the result of an spontanous plan of some entreprensurs from The Hague, the Netherlands.  The International Cargo Bike Festival in April 2014 in Nijmegen confronted them with an extra challenge. Could the exposed and inspiring solutions for 'clean last mile' be supplemented with a sustainable endproduct i.e. the vending of vegetables and fruit? Could transport by bike become more interesting for an increasing group of entrepreneurs because they could reach their customers in an unique manner?

The International Cargo Bike Festival speeded up the yet fresh idea of Juice on Wheels and headed into the right direction.

In three months the pilotversion of the transport and vending bike of Juice on Wheels was ready.

The frame was a Radkutsche Musketier. The construction is of a lightweight, modular tubesystem, which is quite simple to build with. And in the pilotphase it was very easy to adjust things. The flexible solar panels on the top of the trikes are quite special They make the juicebar energy neutral. These solar panels deliver the energy that is needed for the electric juicer. Juice on Wheels is the first mobile energyneutral orangejuice bar in the world!

Because of the short distances, lightweight construction and geometry there was no need for electric transmission for the trikes in the pilotfase.

You can find Juice on Wheels at busy places, at sustainability events. It is a very cheerfull appearance in the streets. The visitors of the Teh Hague Energy Fair 2014 nominated Juice on Wheels their favorate sustainable company.

Juice on Wheels will be present at the International Cargo Bike Festival on 19 April 2015 in Nijmegen. Check out the Facebookpage of Juice on Wheels for the newest developments.

Statistics on the first year of this website

In September 2013 we started this International Cargo Bike Festival website. 

In the first year of its existence it had over 50.000 pageviews. 

 Most of the visitors are from the Netherlands. Second come the visitors from the United States of America and third from Germany.

The Netherlands 12096

USA 9242

Germany 6265

Ukrain 2548

UK 2157

Belgium 1915

France 1776

Italy 952

Spain 828

Russia776

Occasionally there were weeks that suddenly visitors form other countries came in the top 10 of that particular week, like Brasil, South Korea, China, Turkey, etc.

The most read articles are:

Eighty Thousand Cargo Bikes, posted on 6 apr. 2014, 2363

Pictures of the International Cargo Bike Festival posted on 14 apr. 2014, 1489

Who will you meet at the Cargo Bike Festival posted on 30 jan. 2014, 578

Program - European Cycle Logistics Federation Conf...posted on 10 jan. 2014, 442

B&B and Hotel at the Cargo Bike Festival posted on 2 jan. 2014, 418

Invitation to the International Cargo Bike Festival posted on 30 nov. 2013, 400

Blogposts and articles on the ICBF2014 posted on 17 apr. 2014, 397

New video of the ICBF2014 by Oosterhout Production posted on 3 jun. 2014, 265

Mikael Colville-Andersen - Keynote speaker posted on 1 apr. 2014, 264

Bakfiets Parade - Cargo Bike Parade posted on 9 apr. 2014, 251

           

The pages that were consulted most frequently were the following:

Cargo Bike Fair, 6457

Conference, 2501

Participants, 2159

Sponsors / Partners, 1756

Contact, 1290

In 2015 the International Cargo Bike Festival will take place on 18 and 19 April, 2015, at the same venue as last year, De Vasim, Winselingseweg 41 in Nijmegen.
We hope to see you there!

Pizza delivery by electric cargo bike

 

In the city of Nijmegen pizzas of New York Pizza are delivered by Sparta electric cargo bike. At this moment, August 2014, about 60 of these Sparta electric cargo bikes are riding in the Netherlands, mainly at New York Pizza. 

Apart from Nijmegen the delivery bikes  ride also in Amsterdam, Groningen, Haarlem, Oss, Utrecht, Leeuwarden and ofcourse in Sparta’s hometown Apeldoorn.

German government believes in cyclelogistics

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is looking for ways to encourage electric bikes to replace trucks for local freight shipments in Germany.

The Transport Ministry has commissioned studies on the usage of bikes to haul goods that normally would be carried by trucks, the government said in a reply to questions from the Green Party. The measure may prevent traffic jams and help reduce pollution in Europe’s biggest economy.

WorkCycles electric bike with Busybike trailer

“The German government is of the opinion that there’s a large, still unused potential for freight bicycles, also with electric support, especially in the logistics and service transport in municipalities,” it wrote.

Emissions from transportation have more than doubled since 1970 and may rise at the fastest rate of all major sources through 2070, the United Nations said in April. There are about 1.6 million electric bikes on German roads. The government is spending about 13 million euros on e-bike science and implementation projects through 2016, according to the document.

Source: mobile.bloomberg.com

A Japanese blog on the International Cargo Bike Festival

We found another article on the International Cargo Bike Festival in Japan.

It is on cycleroad . com

Plan Amsterdam

The ultimate Amsterdam 'Cycling Policy & Design' publication!

3rd of October 1960 cyclists were banned from Leidsestraat for the first time ever, and Amsterdam was moving towards becoming more of a car loving city. Between 1960 and 1970 the number of cars quadrupled. This had a negative effect on road safety and fatality rates climbed. For a short while the outlook for cycling in Amsterdam seemed bleak. However, the Amsterdam residents were determined not to let this happen. During the late sixties and early seventies, a cyclist protest movement gathered momentum, gradually forcing the city council to take more action. In 1978 a new traffic circulation plan was introduced by the city council, promising to allocate more space for cyclists and pedestrians by reducing space for cars and car parking. Today the city recognises the importance of the bicycle as the most valuable part of its mobility. In comparison to motorised traffic, it requires very little space, it’s cheap and clean, it’s convenient and quick and it keeps us healthy. Cycle policy has therefore become an integral part of the Amsterdam mobility policy. What would happen if all these people would drive a car or use public transport for that matter? There simply wouldn't be enough room! The City of Amsterdam composed a wonderful booklet entitled: 'Cycling policy and design; Putting knowledge into practice'.

Courtesy of Pascal J.W. van den Noort, Executive Director Velo Mondial, A Micro Multi-National

Japanese Lifestyle Magazine 'Green Mobility' writes about ICBF2014

The organisation of the International Cargo Bike Festival received a nice e-mail from Aya Kashiwabara, a freelance journalist from Japan, now living and working in Berlin, Germany.

Aya Kashiwabara visited the International Cargo Bike Festival last April in Nijmegen and she took this picture of Gary Armstrong and Jos Sluijsmans.

Aya published an article about the cargo bike festival in Green Mobility. This is new life style magazine on cycling and bicycles in Tokyo as to promote bicycle usage in Tokyo and all over Japan. 

 It is also available online;

http://green-mobility.jp/ebook/vol29/  (page 12 - 15 inclusive)

Many thanks to Aya Kashiwabara

Nijmegen running for European Green Capital 2016

Nijmegen, the city of the International Cargo Bike Festival, is running for the title of European Green Capital 2016.
On 23 June 2014 the city of Nijmegen presented its plans to the jury in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Part of the presentation was a video in which the fight of the Dutch against the water and cycling and cargo bikes play an important role.

Watch the video HERE

Director & Editor: Martijn Schinkel

Camera: Michiel Los

Sound design: Jasper Boeke

Music: Janne Schra

Concept: Tuk Melissen

Producer: Gelderland Media Groep BV

© GMG BV 2014

On 24 June 2014 the jury decided that Ljubljana, Slovenia, will be European Green Capital in 2016.
Congratulations Ljubljana!

Ljubljna, Green Capital

Annemarie and her Bicicapace utility bike

Annemarie got rid of her car some three years ago and needed a bike with some more loading capacity. She saw the Bicicapace at the SPEZI Messe (fair for special bikes) at Germersheim, Germany. She bought it right there.

Annemarie fell for the Bicicapace because of it's esthetic design and practical aspects: "This little cargo bike apllies completely at my necessities and it is very manouvrable."

You can read the whole interview in French at the website of Paris Cargo Bike

Bicicapace was present at the International Cargo Bike Festival in Nijmegen.

Photo by Bas de Meijer: Bicicapace with Loliner trailer in Nijmegen

More photos by Bas de Meijer of the Cargo Bike Parade in Nijmegen HERE.

Bicicapace bikes and Loliner trailer are also available at Busybike