Evaluation of barriers to the adoption of cargo bikes for package delivery-case study of Finland

Thumbnail Image

Files

master_Beyioku_Olajumoke__Ajike_2023.pdf (1.19 MB)

URL

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
Unless otherwise stated, all rights belong to the author. You may download, display and print this publication for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.

Authors

Date

2023-10-09

Department

Major/Subject

Sustainable Urban Mobility Transitions

Mcode

ENG3085

Degree programme

Master’s programme in Urban Mobility

Language

en

Pages

63+7

Series

Abstract

The logistics sector contributes significantly to the emission levels accounted for in road transport. The use of cargo bikes as a means of delivery for courier companies has progressively gained attention in the last few years in Europe, as a sustainable means of inner-city courier deliveries. Finland has been relatively slower in its adoption, and presently cargo bikes are not being utilized for parcel deliveries. This study aims to provide insight into the barriers for cargo bike usage for parcel delivery in Finland. It aims to identify barriers peculiar to Finland, as well as highlight barriers from past research as relevant to Finland. The methodological approach draws from the multi-level perspective in mobility transitions. In order to understand the systemic characteristics, expert interviews are conducted with multiple actors from the public and private sectors. Using qualitative content analysis methods iteratively, it is found that the major barriers are linked to the prevalent automobility culture in Finland. Identified factors include a lack of awareness of the utility and technology of cargo bikes, inadequacy of winter maintenance on cycling paths, and the lack of cargo bike considerations in city planning. The relatively small market size of Finland is also identified as a limiting factor in the execution of cargo bike trials which could scale up to adoption. Further studies are suggested on the impact of awareness campaigns and advertising, on increasing the cargo bike niche.

Description

Supervisor

Mladenovic, Milos

Thesis advisor

Koistinen, Matti

Keywords

cargo bikes, cycle logistics, multi-level perspective, parcel delivery, logistics

Other note

Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202310156398

Collections

[dipl] Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu / ENG