What is the latest support you have provided small businesses, including within Business Improvement Districts, to transition to more sustainable forms of freight delivery, such as cargo bikes?

In order to meet my Transport Strategy target of ensuring 80 per cent of all trips are made using sustainable modes by 2041, we continue to work with Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), business groups and other stakeholders to promote sustainable delivery concepts.

Examples of support include the ‘Parcels Not Pollution’ project with Hammersmith BID. Established in 2019, this project enabled deliveries to a consolidation centre using cargo bikes for last-mile delivery. Between September 2019 and September 2021 there were almost 4,000 deliveries, taking well over 7,000 return van journeys off the road and removing 950kg of CO2. ‘InStreatham’, a south London BID, has also received funding to purchase a cargo bike to help reduce van traffic for local deliveries.

Transport for London (TfL) has also developed a useful toolkit to enable businesses to replicate established schemes to transition to cargo bikes for their own deliveries and has been exploring and trialling innovative solutions including types of cargo bike for last mile delivery via the FreightLab program.

Finally, TfL is bringing together cargo bike focused policies and initiatives in its new Cargo Bike Strategy due for publication later this year.