Brighton families help prove e-cargo bikes are a viable alternative to the car

Researchers worked with 15 local families who swapped car trips for e-cargo bike trips for a month, using them for school runs, shopping trips, commuting and other everyday travel across the city.

The project found that more than half of all journeys made during the trial replaced trips that would otherwise have been taken by car. Following the trial, one in five participants went on to buy an e-bike or e-cargo bike.

The Brighton element formed part of the wider ELEVATE project (Electric Vehicles for Active and Digital Travel), led by the University of Leeds and involving households in Brighton, Leeds and Oxford.

Dr Mary Darking

Mary Darking e-bike research project in front of Checkland

University of Brighton researcher Dr Mary Darking, Principal Lecturer in Social Policy and Innovation, and Dr Sally Cairns worked with families to understand how e-cargo bikes fitted into daily life.

Mary Darking said: “Having an e-cargo bike at home meant people could experience the realities of what it would be like to own one.  It gave people time to do their own experiments – to try out specific journeys and find out what it was like to carry people and cargo on the bike.  We have steep hills in Brighton and Hove so knowing for sure that you can get to where you need to go with two children and a bag of shopping on the bike is important!

“What struck us most was the enjoyment people got from using the bikes.  An ordinary journey was turned into something fun that could be shared with a passenger.  We were also impressed at how entrepreneurial some of our Brighton and Hove participants were, using the bikes to combine small business activities with care responsibilities, cleverly blending these into their daily travel routines.”

The final study, E-liveable – unlocking the potential of electric micromobility through e-bikes, e-cargo bikes and e-scooters, found that:

• Participants used e-cargo bikes for a wide range of purposes, most commonly to escort children to education, and for shopping and commuting, travelling an average of 38-42km per week.

• Over half of the e-cargo bike mileage ridden during trials was a substitute for car use.

• After the trial, 20% of participants went on to buy an e-cargo bike – showing that ‘try before you buy’ schemes encourage longer-term take up.

Immediate Impact

The impact of the study is already changing how families travel in Brighton and Hove. Evidence gathered through the ELEVATE project helped support a successful funding bid led by community e-cargo bike sharing social enterprise Our Bike, working in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council. 

The ELEVATE data provided valuable evidence about local attitudes towards e-cargo bikes, levels of interest among non-users, and the practical barriers preventing wider adoption. 

Dr Mary Darking, who is continuing to work with Our Bike and Brighton & Hove City Council on the new programme, said: “One of the most important things we learned through ELEVATE was that people need the chance to experience e-cargo bikes in their own lives. Once participants were able to use them for school runs, shopping, work and caring responsibilities, many quickly saw benefits they had not anticipated.

“Our research provided evidence of the demand that exists for these vehicles and highlighted some of the barriers people face, including affordability, storage and security. By helping to inform this new scheme, we hope more residents will have the opportunity to discover whether e-cargo bikes could work for them and their families.”

Lead researcher, Dr Ian Philips from the University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies, said: “The ELEVATE project shows that e‑micromobility – especially e‑bikes and e‑cargo bikes – has significant untapped potential to reduce car use, improve health, and enhance everyday life beyond large cities.

“But realising this potential will require coordinated action by policymakers around promotion, affordability, infrastructure, safety and regulation, rather than relying on individual behaviour change alone.”

While the research highlights a bright future for these vehicles, the team identified significant barriers to widespread use, including high purchase costs, concerns regarding theft, and a lack of secure charging and parking infrastructure.

Mary Darking said: “Storage and security were big questions for our Brighton and Hove participants as many households lived in terraced houses.  On trips into the city centre, they wanted to know that they could lock up the bike and it would be safe.  The bikes we used in Brighton and Hove were brand new and cost £5,000 each so knowing it was securely stored and parked was a big concern.”

The team behind the report are now calling for more trials to be rolled out elsewhere.

Staff related to this story

Dr Mary Darking

Principal Lecturer – School of Humanities and Social Science

Care, Health and Emotional Wellbeing