Peterborough: Authority bids for a new e-cargo bike scheme

Under the scheme residents and businesses will have the opportunity to hire e-cargo bikes

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) has applied for £77,000 of funding to make electric-cargo bikes available to hire.

The authority has made a bid to the funding body, Climate-KIC, to support the scheme.

If successful, from April five e-cargo bikes - four for families and one for businesses - will be available to rent in Peterborough.

A similar scheme already runs in Cambridgeshire.

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The scheme will also help the authority to collect data on the active travel habits in Peterborough, as each bike will be fitted with a GPS tracker.

A parallel scheme was introduced in Cambridgeshire in 2021, which the CPCA said had resulted in more than 160 trials taking place.

Roughly two thirds of participants said they intended to buy an e-cargo bike after completing the trial, it added. 

The CPCA said that if its funding bid is successful, it will begin choosing an operator to run the scheme in Peterborough from mid-January.

The money will also cover the continuation and expansion of the scheme in Cambridgeshire, as that trial is scheduled to end this year.