Ecosocioeconomics applied to urban freight by bicycle and motorcycle in the city of Curitiba, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this work is to compare the logistics of urban light weight delivery by motorcycle and bicycle. To this purpose, a case study in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, was chosen. City planning demands alternative solutions to everyday problems, among which use of urban space and mobility are relevant due to fast and rather chaotic growth. Urban mobility − a complex network comprising a variety of actors and areas -has social, economic and environmental impacts that might be underestimated in planning and implementation of actions. So far, and for the case studied here, urban planning for light weight delivery has not included externalities, but rather focused on the technical issues of logistics and urban traffic. For instance, the rates of death and disability from accidents on this mobility are currently very high. In the present research, two light weight deliveries actually used in Curitiba were compared: motorbikes and bicycles. The analysis is based on the methodology of the eco-socio-economy of organizations. This approach considers the complexity of linked subsystems, and the effectiveness beyond the organization but on the social demands in the urban territory. The use of bicycles was studied using data from EcoBike, analyzed here and compared to the generic case of deliveries by motorbikes. Indicators for accidents (with and without death), fossil energy used, CO2 emissions, and operative costs were obtained and compared. The indicators assessed favour the use of bicycles over motorbikes.

Evaluating the Benefits of Last-Mile Distribution with Light Electric Vehicles (LEV): A Case Study

“…In the traffic and congestion matter, research indicate that tricycles and bicycles provide extended access to areas, like pedestrian zones, where parking is only allowed for a limited amount of time (Athanassopoulos et al 2016). Dedicated lanes for tricycles are shown to increase overall road capacity while decreasing accident risk (Zacharias and Zhang 2015) (Garcia et al 2015). Nevertheless, other publications state that a more than 10% increase of cargo bikes will worsen traffic (Melo and Baptista 2017), as the tricycle is blamed for reduced road efficiency and safety concerns for the drivers of such non-motorized vehicles when there are no efficient bike lanes (Zacharias and Zhang 2015).…”