IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v178y2023ics1364032123001090.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors influencing e-cargo bike mode choice for small businesses

Author

Listed:
  • Malik, Faheem Ahmed
  • Egan, Robert
  • Dowling, Conor Mark
  • Caulfield, Brian

Abstract

As a viable alternative to traditional and electric cars and vans, e-cargo bikes have the potential to improve the sustainability of urban logistics operations, particularly for last-mile deliveries. In this study, e-cargo bike trips are modelled from a small business pilot rental scheme, and the effects of identified variables of: a) trip length and b) rainfall conditions on the attractiveness of e-cargo bikes as a mode of goods delivery are assessed. For the study, an intelligent modelling framework consisting of a) Data Acquisition System, b) Intelligent Learning Unit, and c) Output Unit is built. The effectiveness of the learning system is evaluated through its application as a case study in Dublin, Ireland. It is discovered that small businesses prefer e-cargo bikes for goods delivery over longer distances in warmer and drier weather conditions. There is a strong interaction effect between weather and distance. A drop in temperature exacerbates the deterring effect of the wet weather, making e-cargo bikes less appealing as a mode of goods delivery for small businesses. Following weather conditions, the critical variable influencing trip length is trip hour, a spatial variable used in the study as a lurking variable representing the traffic flow peak. The study concludes a strong joint effect of wet weather and temperature that affects the attractiveness of e-cargo as a mode of small business goods delivery. The study demonstrates the benefit of using a hybrid modelling framework in trip and mode choice modelling for sustainable logistics modes.

Suggested Citation

  • Malik, Faheem Ahmed & Egan, Robert & Dowling, Conor Mark & Caulfield, Brian, 2023. "Factors influencing e-cargo bike mode choice for small businesses," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:178:y:2023:i:c:s1364032123001090
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2023.113253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032123001090
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113253?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Narayanan, Santhanakrishnan & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2022. "Electric cargo cycles - A comprehensive review," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 278-303.
    2. Hudde, Ansgar, 2023. "It's the mobility culture, stupid! Winter conditions strongly reduce bicycle usage in German cities, but not in Dutch ones," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    3. Ha, Jaehyun & Lee, Sugie & Ko, Joonho, 2020. "Unraveling the impact of travel time, cost, and transit burdens on commute mode choice for different income and age groups," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 147-166.
    4. Li, Xiaowei & Tang, Junqing & Hu, Xiaojiao & Wang, Wei, 2020. "Assessing intercity multimodal choice behavior in a Touristy City: A factor analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Geels, Frank W., 2012. "A socio-technical analysis of low-carbon transitions: introducing the multi-level perspective into transport studies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 471-482.
    6. Meghan Winters & Gavin Davidson & Diana Kao & Kay Teschke, 2011. "Motivators and deterrents of bicycling: comparing influences on decisions to ride," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 153-168, January.
    7. Jonas De Vos, 2022. "The shifting role of attitudes in travel behaviour research," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 573-579, September.
    8. Caulfield, Brian & O'Mahony, Margaret & Brazil, William & Weldon, Peter, 2017. "Examining usage patterns of a bike-sharing scheme in a medium sized city," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 152-161.
    9. Gatersleben, Birgitta & Appleton, Katherine M., 2007. "Contemplating cycling to work: Attitudes and perceptions in different stages of change," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 302-312, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Synek, Stefan & Koenigstorfer, Joerg, 2018. "Exploring adoption determinants of tax-subsidized company-leasing bicycles from the perspective of German employers and employees," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 238-260.
    2. Congbao Xu & Jing Wang & Yanxue Li & Weijun Gao, 2023. "Evaluation and Optimization Design of Coastal Cycling Environment Based on Importance Performance Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    3. McArthur, David Philip & Hong, Jinhyun, 2019. "Visualising where commuting cyclists travel using crowdsourced data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 233-241.
    4. Kevin Manaugh & Geneviève Boisjoly & Ahmed El-Geneidy, 2017. "Overcoming barriers to cycling: understanding frequency of cycling in a University setting and the factors preventing commuters from cycling on a regular basis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 871-884, July.
    5. Whalen, Kate E. & Páez, Antonio & Carrasco, Juan A., 2013. "Mode choice of university students commuting to school and the role of active travel," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-142.
    6. Nkurunziza, Alphonse & Zuidgeest, Mark & Brussel, Mark & Van Maarseveen, Martin, 2012. "Examining the potential for modal change: Motivators and barriers for bicycle commuting in Dar-es-Salaam," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 249-259.
    7. Morton, Craig, 2020. "The demand for cycle sharing: Examining the links between weather conditions, air quality levels, and cycling demand for regular and casual users," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Ravensbergen, Léa & Buliung, Ron & Laliberté, Nicole, 2020. "Fear of cycling: Social, spatial, and temporal dimensions," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Dandan Xu & Yang Bain & Shinan Shu & Xiaodong Zhang, 2022. "Staged Transition Process from Driving to Bicycling Based on the Effects of Latent Variables," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-14, September.
    10. Kearns, Michelle & Ledsham, Trudy & Savan, Beth & Scott, James, 2019. "Increasing cycling for transportation through mentorship programs," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 34-45.
    11. Khaled Shaaban, 2020. "Why Don’t People Ride Bicycles in High-Income Developing Countries, and Can Bike-Sharing Be the Solution? The Case of Qatar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, February.
    12. Christian Werner & Elisabeth Füssl & Jannik Rieß & Bernd Resch & Florian Kratochwil & Martin Loidl, 2022. "A Framework to Facilitate Advanced Mixed Methods Studies for Investigating Interventions in Road Space for Cycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-22, December.
    13. Qihao Liu & Yuzheng Liu & Chia-Lin Chen & Enrica Papa & Yantao Ling & Mengqiu Cao, 2023. "Is It Possible to Compete With Car Use? How Buses Can Facilitate Sustainable Transport," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 69-83.
    14. Erik G. Hansen & Stefan Schaltegger, 2018. "Sustainability Balanced Scorecards and their Architectures: Irrelevant or Misunderstood?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 937-952, July.
    15. Mattauch, Linus & Hepburn, Cameron & Stern, Nicholas, 2018. "Pigou pushes preferences: decarbonisation and endogenous values," INET Oxford Working Papers 2018-16, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    16. Pucher, John & Buehler, Ralph & Seinen, Mark, 2011. "Bicycling renaissance in North America? An update and re-appraisal of cycling trends and policies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 451-475, July.
    17. Calvey, J.C. & Shackleton, J.P. & Taylor, M.D. & Llewellyn, R., 2015. "Engineering condition assessment of cycling infrastructure: Cyclists’ perceptions of satisfaction and comfort," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 134-143.
    18. Sagaris, Lake, 2018. "Citizen participation for sustainable transport: Lessons for change from Santiago and Temuco, Chile," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 402-410.
    19. Ruhrort, Lisa, 2020. "Reassessing the Role of Shared Mobility Services in a Transport Transition: Can They Contribute the Rise of an Alternative Socio-Technical Regime of Mobility?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 12(19), pages 1-1.
    20. Radzimski, Adam & Dzięcielski, Michał, 2021. "Exploring the relationship between bike-sharing and public transport in Poznań, Poland," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 189-202.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:178:y:2023:i:c:s1364032123001090. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.