Scottish bicycle club SoulRiders has unveiled Scotland’s first-ever integrated e-cargo bike delivery and food waste service following an award of £140,615 from SP Energy Networks’ Green Economy Fund.
The new e-bikes are designed to provide a solution to traffic and pollution issues in Glasgow by reducing the number of delivery vehicles on the streets and helping the city to become the UK’s first net zero city.
SoulRiders unveiled its new e-bike fleet at its warehouse in Pollokshields, where Alison Thewliss MP and Green Economy Fund manager, Jillian Violaris, were among the first to trial the new e-cargo delivery bikes.
Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, said: “These types of creative solutions are essential as our towns and cities work towards climate change targets and for improving air quality and the general wellbeing of our communities.”
As well as offering green urban logistics for businesses, SoulRiders will also use the vehicles to tackle social issues such as food poverty by working with food share initiatives to deliver food to some of the city’s most vulnerable communities. A Covid-19 distribution site is also being enabled to support the elderly, isolated and vulnerable with essential supplies.
The e-cargo bikes are being funded as part of SP Energy Networks’ £20million Green Economy Fund, which supports Glasgow’s goal to become the UK’s first net zero emissions city by 2030 and the Scottish government’s plans to meet climate change targets.
Rashid Khaliq, chief executive, SoulRiders, said: “Our aim has always been to create stronger communities through cycling. Thanks to funding from the Green Economy Fund, we are now able to launch our new e-cargo bike service. We believe our project will reduce the number of vans and lorries on our streets and provides a solution to many issues including traffic and pollution in cities.”
So far, some 33 projects have been awarded funding from SP Energy Networks across Central and Southern Scotland.
