Source: fietsberaad Crow

About 33 percent of the pre- and post-transport during the delivery of packages in Belgian cities could be done by bicycle, according to the Belgian Cycle Logistics Federation in its first Barometer of the bicycle logistics sector. Currently it is estimated that it is only one percent.

The bicycle logistics sector in Belgium is growing rapidly, in the past two years the number of delivered packages grew from 250 thousand to 850 thousand and turnover and the number of people working in the sector doubled. They cycled more than a million kilometers in 2022 and a package delivered by them had a factor of 40 less CO2 emissions than with a conventional van.

But things can still be much better, according to the Belgian Cycle Logistics Federation, an association of Belgian bicycle logistics companies with the aim of achieving the full potential of bicycle logistics to combat climate change, offer fair and good jobs in the transport sector, and participate in creating liveable and sustainable cities.

In addition to data about the sector, the Barometer also contains a questionnaire survey among 55 bicycle couriers about the content of their work, how they experience it and what kind of contract they have. The challenges of the sector have also been identified. The most important one is that bicycle logistics is not yet sufficiently known among relevant stakeholders, which means that it is overlooked as a solution. Secondly, the sector still faces an economic challenge because it is relatively new. And thirdly, it is important that good quality infrastructure is created so that bicycle couriers can do their work safely. Finally, the barometer contains an overview of lessons from practice and a plan to further develop bicycle logistics in small steps to a market share of 33 percent.

The Belgian Cycle Logistics Federation wants to publish this barometer annually from now on to map the progress of the sector.