City governments across the U.S. and Canada are addressing the ever-increasing demand for deliveries by incentivizing and regulating deliveries by bike rather than motor vehicle. NACTO’s Urban Delivery by Bike work includes best practices and real-world case studies that show challenges, successes, and lessons learned for helping shift more deliveries to bike delivery.
San Francisco’s Electric Bike Pilot for Delivery Workers
In 2023, the San Francisco Environment Department provided gig economy delivery workers with no-cost e-bikes and support services to study how the use of e-bikes impacts delivery safety, efficiency, and worker earnings.
The City of San Francisco’s e-bike pilot for delivery workers successfully shifted deliveries from motor vehicles to e-bikes during the pilot period.
Background
In a 2020 study conducted by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) and the University of California at Santa Cruz, roughly 70% of delivery workers surveyed said they would consider switching from cars to e-bikes if they were free or low-cost. SF Environment saw this as an opportunity to explore e-bikes’ economic and environmental impacts on a major industry.
Logistics
SF Environment worked with two partner organizations, GRID Alternatives and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which were trusted to manage much of the project implementation:
- GRID Alternatives: Managed recruitment, participant case management, and equipment procurement.
- SF Bicycle Coalition: Facilitated classroom-based and on-bike rider trainings that explained the study, reviewed the rules of the road, introduced the group to e-bikes, and gave hands-on training to participants on the rules of the road and e-bike safety.
The program ran two cohorts of thirty participants each, split into two groups by their mode of transportation—e-bikes or cars. The e-bike cohort ran for six months, consisting of one month of onboarding, four months of data collection, and one month of offboarding. After the study, e-bike participants received ownership of the bike, and delivery drivers received a $100 stipend.
Timeline
January–June 2023
Pilot design and participant recruitment
June–December 2023
First cohort of 30 participants
September 2023–March 2024
Second cohort of 30 participants
March–November 2024
Data analysis and reporting
Data Collection
The team analyzed quantitative data collected by Driver’s Seat, a company that specializes in gig worker data collection and analysis. The type of information collected included variables such as earnings, miles traveled, and delivery times. Qualitative data was collected through participant surveys, listening sessions, and interviews.
Outcomes
- Increased urban efficiency: Participants using e-bikes noted that they were less impacted by traffic congestion—they were able to navigate streets more efficiently and access congested curbs more easily.
- Higher earning potential: Due to lower operating and maintenance costs, e-bike delivery riders were able to retain a greater share of their earnings as net income, increasing their overall profit potential.
- Reduced emissions: Compared to cars, e-bikes reduced carbon emissions by 99%.
Next Steps
The San Francisco Environment Department continues to explore the benefits and barriers of using e-bikes for deliveries, with a particular focus on recruiting small businesses and community-based organizations with delivery operations. Subsidizing e-bikes for small businesses interested in hiring delivery riders directly could better protect and improve the wages of delivery workers, lessen the burden of app-based fees and an unmanageable number of deliveries for businesses, and make better use of e-bikes as an efficient delivery option.
Takeaways
E-bikes can be a transformational delivery option. Participants in the pilot found the e-bike transformational and a “game changer” for their work and personal life. This confirmed the sentiments expressed in a 2019 San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission (SF LAFCo) survey of app-based delivery workers found that with a financial incentive, the majority of delivery workers surveyed would (39%) or might (31%) switch to delivering on an e-bike.
Partnerships matter. A major component of the pilot’s success was the relationship between the city and its implementation partners. Trusted and experienced community organizations can lend their expertise and connections to establish comprehensive, place-based support systems for participants. The city and GRID Alternatives worked hand-in-hand throughout the process, meeting regularly to establish an implementation plan and iterate on various aspects of the pilot, including the program design, the model and size of bikes purchased, bike security, participant selection, and worker support.
Support delivery workers. Participant engagement and case management were integral to the success of this program and the retention of delivery workers. Participants noted that the bicycle safety training was crucial to their confidence in maneuverability, especially when riding alongside cars. After participating in training sessions, 88% of participants felt more confident riding e-bikes. Throughout the pilot, the project team provided support through “office hours” and meetups around the city, where participants could share their experiences and identify problem areas for intervention.
Understand limitations of app-based delivery models. Operating within current app-based delivery models is difficult and limits earning potential for delivery workers. Delivery riders using e-bikes had longer downtime between deliveries compared to delivery drivers using cars, resulting in lower hourly earnings. The reasoning for this is unclear, with some speculation that the dominant delivery apps allocate more orders to delivery drivers using cars due to their longer range, larger cargo capacity, and other unidentified biases. Some participants also shared being flagged for violations due to a mismatch of speeds expected from a bicycle or a car (e.g., going too fast for a bicycle, but too slow for a car). Despite lower hourly revenue, net take-home pay was still higher when taking into account the cost of owning and maintaining a motor vehicle instead of an e-bike.
Invest in secure bike parking. Bike theft remained a significant concern over the course of the pilot, with 20% of the 30 e-bikes deployed stolen during the pilot. Installing secure bike parking in locations where delivery riders frequently operate, work, and live could directly support and further incentivize delivery by bike operations. Additional incentives for purchasing stronger theft deterrent locks would also support bike theft mitigation, as the project team experienced less theft after upgrading the locks.
NACTO’s Urban Delivery by Bike practitioner paper outlines how any city can begin to harness the possibilities of bike delivery, with a menu of strategies and actions that staff can apply to their city’s unique context.
