Commons cargo bike sharing: A tool for bottom-up mobility transition!?

Invitation to #FFL2019: A Skype conference for cargo bike and commons activists from across Europe

Saturday, 23 February 2019 at 14:00-15.30

If you are interested in joining the Skype conference please get in touch via E-Mail international@dein-lastenrad.de or dial-in https://join.skype.com/jWm50V9hFFe3

Cargo bikes offer a great potential of replacing cars in urban areas. But they are still rare or onsidered as too expensive. Also only a few people need a private cargo bike every day. This is where the commons cargo bike sharing movement wants to make a difference.

The Forum Freie Lastenräder (FFL, „Union of Commons Cargo Bike Sharing Initiatives“) is a fast growing alliance of currently more than 70 independent local cargo bike sharing initiatives in Germany, Austria and Hungary. Together, we offer more than 150 commons cargo bikes based on voluntary donations to more than 10,000 registered users. We provide an annual conference, an online knowledge base as well as a custom-built, open-source booking software. We make commons cargo bike sharing as easy as possible. Learn more at: Commons Cargobikes

At our upcoming annual meeting (Forum Freie Lastenräder) in Augsburg on 22. February 2019 we reach out to activists and groups across Europe to introduce the concept of commons cargo bike sharing and discuss its potential in other European countries. The European project City Changer Cargo Bike (cyclelogistics.eu) will be part of the discussion and could become a partner in enabeling and promoting commons cargo bike sharing in cities across Europe.

If you are interested in joining the Skype conference please get in touch via E-Mail: international@dein-lastenrad.de

If you want to join the "Forum Freie Lastenräder" 2019 in Augsburg (Germany) – the annual meeting of commons cargo bike sharing initiatives in person or have any questions about it's program or the Skype call please get in touch.

Agenda:

13:45 Dial-in (https://join.skype.com/jWm50V9hFFe3)
14:00 Welcome & Objective (Hannes)
14:05 Introduction round (2min each person): Why am I interested in Commons Cargo Bike Sharing?
14:30 The idea of Commons Cargo Bike Sharing (Florian Egermann)
14:40 What we do at "Forum freie Lastenräder" (Hannes Wöhrle)
14:50 What is City Changer Cargo Bike? (Arne Behrensen)
14:55 Q&A: Please use the Skype-Chat to share your question to keep the overview
15:10 Next steps

Please send us or fill in by yourself some information about you in advance so we can shorten the introduction round. We will publish the information below:

Minutes of the Skype call:

Hannes and Florian of Kasimir Dein Lastenrad in Cologne introduced the concept of commons cargo bike sharing that is a fast growing movement of currently more than 80 independent local groups that are organized in the Forum Freie Lastenräder. Andrea of Cargobike Life in London, Norbert and his partner Kultaiset Pojat Oy from Helsinki and Hubert + Krzysztof, the leading cargo bike activists in Poland from Krakow and Warsaw want to check if/how the concept a commons cargo bike sharing could be used in their cities/countries. Susanne and Karl of the City Changer Cargo Bike project offered support for e.g. translating the German handbook on commons cargo bike sharing to help initiatives across Europe to establish their own projects.

Forum Freie Lastenräder is working on a proposal for European knowledge sharing and collective learning to support establishing commons cargo bike sharing in different national contextes. Send us your ideas and get involved. Contact: international @dein-lastenrad.de. We will share the results in a own section in this wiki.

Participants:

Hannes Wöhrle (KASIMIR – Dein Lastenrad, Cologne/Germany): Running a commons cargo bike sharing since 2013.
Glenn (Antwerp, Belgium): I have 3 cargo bikes: 2 ebullits with passive cooling rhino box and a urban arrow xxl with cargo box. And I am thinking about sharing them with my neighbours.
Logan & Cargonomia Team (Budapest, Hungary): In 2015 we launched a community cargobike center and bike kitchen, in 2017/2018 with the help of the commons booking platform launched a public cargobike sharing system which currently includes 11 bikes, trailers and a few pet carriers.
Im' Christopher Gubański, cargo bike activist and expert based in Warsaw. Since 2015 I've been running a blog "One less car", which became a vital source of knowledge about cargo bikes in Poland. I used to be in Warsaw cargo bike cooperative (MokoVeloCoop) and that's how I started my cargo bike adventure few years ago, so I'm curious about your network. https://jedensamochodmniej.blogspot.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jedensamochodmniej/ https://www.facebook.com/jedensamochodmniejblog/
Andrea Casalotti, Cargobike Life, London. I am the importer of Christiania Bikes into the UK. Cargobike Life is a social enterprise I started with the owner of London Green Cycles (largest cargobike retailer in UK). Last year we were contracted by the City of London to conduct a feasibility study of a cargobike public hire scheme. We recommended a light version of the carvelo2go model; but the transport authority has sat on the report and not gone ahead (typical English).
Martin Moser (Das Lastenrad, Graz, Austria): Commons cargo bike sharing in Graz since 2014 and commons booking platform since 2018. Further cargobike-projects: LARA Share and KlimaEntLaster
Florian Egermann, wielebenwir e.V. / KASIMIR, Cologne, Germany. Developer of CommonsBooking. Artist, Activist, Astronaut. Super excited for our talk!
Arne Behrensen, www.cargobike.jetzt, Berlin Germany, cargo bike blogger and lobbyist, advisory board member of the European City Changer Cargo Bike project: www.cyclelogistics.eu
Susanne Wrighton + Karl Reiter, FGM Amor http://fgm.at/ + City Changer Cargo Bike project www.cyclelogistics.eu
Hubert Mazur: I reside in Kraków, Poland, I'm lawyer and cargo-bike activist, member of "Kraków Miastem Rowerów" association, I cooperate with local authorities in Kraków, Gdynia, Słupsk and others in introducing pedel-powered solutions. I'm also the leader of local cargo-bike cooperative called "Pierwsza Spółdzielnia Rowerowa". I'm running site facebook.com/towarowe.
Miguel Baptista: I'm part of MUBi (www.mubi.pt), a Portuguese NGO focused on urban cycling. I'm actually attending a national meeting of Portuguese urban mobility associations this weekend, so I still don't know if I can attend the conference call. I will try hard, though. I don't own a cargo bike (yet) but I love the concept. There's so much we can do with them, and most people here in Portugal don't even have a clue, as there just a few of them on the streets. I know a few cargo bike owners, and we're trying to make a Cargo Bike event next summer, to boost it's awareness and open a path for an eventual cargo bike sharing scheme (we only consider renting something that we know works, right?)
Norbert Schmidt: During the past two years I have worked together with Gert-Jan Hendriks (Kultaiset Pojat Oy) on developing an electric folding bike subscription including maintenance and service to incentivise employers to promote cycling amongst their employees. We have carried out two trials in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland. Kultaiset Pojat is the Finnish importer for many different cargo bike and folding bike brands. We are now looking to trial cargo bike sharing as part of a publicly funded last mile mobility experimentation in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki.

Kind regards

– Hannes Wöhrle (KASIMIR – Dein Lastenrad, Cologne; http://www.kasimir-lastenrad.de)

– Arne Behrensen (cargobike.jetzt, Berlin; http://www.cargobike.jetzt)

– Forum Freie Lastenräder / Union of Commons Cargo Bike Sharing Initiatives – working group European outreach;