Stuttgart launches funding for cargo bikes in business

The city of Stuttgart launched the "flottes Gewerbe" program to promote the commercial use of e-cargo bikes with a kickoff event on April 8 at the premises of the Stuttgart Region Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). Ines Aufrecht, head of the Coordination S21, Rosenstein, and Future Projects department, explained that Stuttgart wants to give companies the opportunity to test modern e-cargo bikes without obligation.

"The 'flottes Gewerbe' program aims to make the test and service offerings for commercial e-cargo bikes visible in Stuttgart and, if necessary, to expand them further. We want to specifically support the actors in commercial traffic," said Aufrecht.

Volker Zahn, Stuttgart's commercial traffic officer, is convinced that commercially used e-cargo bikes can be an attractive alternative to cars or vans for a variety of service trips within the city. He believes that switching over is worthwhile for businesses in several ways. Traffic jams on city streets can be avoided, and finding a parking spot is generally much easier with an e-cargo bike than with a motor vehicle.

"Moreover, those who switch to e-cargo bikes contribute significantly to reducing pollutant and noise emissions on the way to a 'liveable city for all.' Nothing is more convincing than a successful trial," says Zahn. 

The city of Stuttgart has commissioned the Berlin-based agency cargobike.jetzt GmbH with the design and implementation of the program. According to project manager Kirsten Havers, modern e-cargo bikes must prove their worth in practice to companies. For this, more testing opportunities and "visible pioneers" are needed.

"We place great value on high-performance electric drives, practical transport setups, and good technical service for the test bikes," promises Havers.

Stuttgart companies, businesses, and service providers could apply in advance to participate in the "flottes Gewerbe" program as test pioneers. These participants receive a custom-fitted e-cargo bike for a multi-week test phase free of charge. The interest among companies and businesses was substantial. The selection of test pioneers was made by the agency based on professional criteria. With the handover of the e-cargo bikes to the selected test pioneers, the test phase now begins. Among the firms is a logistics company, smark GmbH. They see the cargo bike as a logistical relief between the Roberta Goods Stores and also an advantage for climate-friendly operations.

A further element of the "flottes Gewerbe" program is an action day on June 28 following the test phase, featuring a large e-cargo bike test course on Karlsplatz in Stuttgart. Here, a variety of different cargo bikes for commercial use will be available for test rides. With the "flottes Gewerbe" program, the city of Stuttgart also specifically supports the expansion of local networks and a necessary service infrastructure to shift significantly more commercial traffic to emission-free cargo bikes. Based on a stock analysis for Stuttgart and the experiences of the test pioneers during the test phase, the program will formulate recommendations for the future development of the e-cargo bike topic. Recently, the IHK in Karlsruhe also launched a similar program with the same name to advance the commercial use of cargo bikes.