December 9, 2021 - The trendy topic of cargo bike sharing is finally getting its own European expert conference. Cargo Bike Sharing Europe will celebrate its premiere on 18/19 May 2022 at the newly established polisMOBILITY trade fair in Cologne.
There are already cargo bike sharing services in over 130 German municipalities today. Every fourth German citizen is interested in using a shared cargo bike, according to the 2021 bicycle monitor of the Federal Ministry of Transport. Across Europe, cities, initiatives and companies are discovering cargo bike sharing as a contribution to sustainable transport and a feasible business model. The variety and size of the offering is growing – from station-based to free-floating.
“Cargo bikes are a powerful symbol of the mobility transition and cargo bike sharing has great potential,” explains Arne Behrensen from the conference organiser cargobike.jetzt. “It is time for a European expert conference. Cargo Bike Sharing Europe will bring together service providers, cities and other stakeholders across Europe for the first time. And Cologne, as a city with important pioneering projects, is exactly the right place for it.”
In 2013, the initiative “KASIMIR – Dein Lastenrad” (KASIMIR – Your Cargo Bike) started in Cologne with a free sharing service via online booking. The concept became the starting point of the Free Cargo Bike movement, which today has over 100 cargo bike sharing initiatives nationwide. In 2017, Donk-EE was launched in the cathedral city, the first app-based sharing system for e-cargo bikes in Germany.
The polisMOBILITY trade fair in Cologne, which will take place for the first time in May 2022, will host the Cargo Bike Sharing Europe conference. The trade fair focuses on the sustainable mobility transition as a key topic for both the private and public sectors.
“We have to decide today about the mobility of the future so that cities and regions are still worth living in for future generations” says Ingo Riedeberger, Director of polisMOBILITY. “We want to give the pioneers of cargo bike sharing a prominent forum at polisMOBILITY. In addition to international trade events such as Cargo Bike Sharing Europe, the four-day trade fair offers attractive exhibition and test opportunities for the entire spectrum of innovative solutions that contribute to the sustainable mobility transition.”
The English-language expert conference Cargo Bike Sharing Europe will start on the opening day of polisMOBILITY (18 May 2022) with a Cologne cargo bike sharing field trip, an opening panel on the trade fair stage and a networking meeting for cities. On the second day, expert lectures and discussion rounds will follow in the Koelnmesse Conference Centre.
European and German conference partners include the City of Cologne, the bicycle industry association Bundesverband Zukunft Fahrrad, the German cargo bike sharing consultancy TINK, the association of commons cargo bike sharing initiatives Forum Freie Lastenräder, Cycling Industries Europe and the European CityChangerCargoBike project.
More information is available on the conference website here.
Conference organizers
• cargobike.jetzt is a sustainable mobility agency and project developer for everything to do with cargo bikes. The Berlin-based company offers news, projects, advice and events on private and commercial cargo bike use. www.cargobike.jetzt
• polisMOBILITY is Koelnmesse’s new international event for cities in motion. It shows the future of mobility and urban life as an experience, interactive event and expo. Premiere: 18-21 May 2022. www.polis-mobility.de
Conference partners
• The City of Cologne and Koelnmesse started polisMOBILITY to demonstrate susainable mobility solutions for cities and regions. From 2019 to 2021, the city has subsidised the purchase of cargo bikes with three million euros. www.stadt-koeln.de/lastenrad
• Bundesverband Zukunft Fahrrad is a German federal association of dynamic and innovative companies from all sectors of the bicycle industry, with a focus on (new) services. www.zukunft-fahrrad.org
• Forum Freie Lastenräder is the association of currently 142 commons cargo bike sharing initiatives in Germany, Austria and Hungary with around 450 bikes and tens of thousands of registered users. www.dein-lastenrad.de
• The company TINK advises municipalities in Germany on the introduction of local cargo bike sharing systems and organises a Germany-wide city network for knowledge exchange. www.tinknetzwerk.de
• Cycling Industries Europe (CIE) is the Brussels-based voice of cycling business, actively promoting the sector in Europe and worldwide. CIE Members work in Expert Groups to develop policy and technical content in key areas, including bike sharing and cargo bikes. www.cyclingindustries.com
• CityChangerCargoBike is an EU-funded project of 14 European cities and other partners to promote cargo bike use, including through cargo bike sharing systems. www.cyclelogistics.eu
