Portland, Oregon, just got another reason to call itself "Bike City USA".
UPS has started a trial program to deliver packages there using an electric-powered bicycle. The environmentally friendly Cargo Cruiser is a tricycle with a large brown box on the back. Like any electronic bike, the Cargo Cruiser can be powered by foot, motor, or a combination of both.
UPS began testing e-Bikes in Hamburg, Germany, in 2012, but this is the first time the technology has been used for package deliveries in the United States.
The e-Bikes support UPS's efforts to reduce its carbon emissions, ease urban noise levels, and improve air quality. The amount of energy to be saved by using e-Bikes hasn't been quantified, but the test vehicle in Portland "will probably displace about two gallons of fuel every day", said Scott Phillippi, UPS's engineering manager.
Phillippi says that one e-Bike alone won't create a huge difference in UPS's carbon emissions, but he describes it as “a piece of our overall strategy” as far as environmental impacts and efficiencies.
It also ties into the company's broader strategy to settle a problem that troubles Portland and other cities around the world: traffic jam. According to UPS, traffic jam costs it hundreds of millions of dollars a year in additional operating costs. The time when the average UPS delivery truck is stuck in traffic is about 16 minutes a day, slowing its deliveries and increasing the company's carbon emissions.
The pilot program is in its early stages and already has hit its first stage: ice storms pulled trees and branches down all over the city, blocking bike lanes and making travel dangerous. How do e-Bikes deal with it?
If the trial proves successful, you may be able to see UPS delivery people wearing bike shorts in other places around the country, "Other cities have expressed some interest," Phillippi said.
