A switch by delivery companies to cargo bikes instead of diesel vans for the first and last mile of deliveries would save the NHS and other government services over £4bn in congestion and air pollution costs.

Cargo bike company Pedal and Post has launched a share offer to fund expansion plans

The figures have been published by cargo bike company Pedal and Post as it launches a share offer to fund expansion plans.

The low emissions courier company currently operates in Oxford and plans to raise up to £500,000 through a crowdfunding campaign on the Ethex ethical investment platform to expand further and to launch in Reading in 2024.

Department for Transport research suggests a third (33%) of all urban deliveries could be done by cargo bike. Meanwhile, a recent report looking at the impact of van pollution by researchers at Just Economics found that the hidden social and environmental costs associated with diesel vans total £2.46bn in London alone.

If a third of those costs were saved from switching to zero-emission cargo bikes, the savings in health and environmental would be £4.25bn across England – based on reduced congestion, less air pollution, better health outcomes for riders, and fewer accidents and greenhouse gas emissions from switching from diesel vans to cargo bikes.

Chris Benton, CEO of Pedal and Post, said: “The potential to clean up our air and grow the UK economy is huge. Pollution from diesel van deliveries costs the NHS nearly £25,000 across the lifetime of the van, compared to around £150 for an electric cargo bike. We also know that cargo bikes can deliver more parcels per hour than the average van, and produce 92% less greenhouse gas emissions per delivery, so it really is a no brainer to make the switch.”

Founded in 2013 by Christopher Benton, the company currently delivers 1,000 parcels a day across the city, employing 23 people as cargo bike couriers and saving 100,000 van miles every year.

In the coming five years, the company plans to increase its revenues to £5.5m, create 140 jobs, increase the number of parcels delivered to 8,000 a day and save 400 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Pedal and Post is already working with established delivery companies such as DPD, Yodel and Riverford to handle their smaller packages, as well as more traditional Oxford partners such as Blackwell’s bookshops and Wolfson College, part of the University.

Nationally, there are now around eight cargo bike services that operate in more than one city, but overall cycle courier provision across the UK is sporadic and fragmented.

Jamie Hartzell, chair of Pedal and Post, said: “The potential market here is huge. We know that internet retail sales grew by 47% in 2020. But while getting goods delivered to your home at a click of a button is easy and time saving at a time when we are all under pressure, it comes at a significant cost to our health and the environment. Electric cargo bikes are a crucial part of the solution to speed up deliveries and make our air safer to breathe.”