Image description:
Text: Amazon’s electric cargo bikes have arrived in DC.
Image: A four-wheeled vehicle that appears to be a cross between a bicycle, a go-cart, and a mini-truck
Response text from high t alpha shemale @gluetaster: that’s not a cargo bike man that’s a loopholemobile
Edit: I found a slightly higher-quality version of the image:
Okay, but what is pictured is a car sized vehicle that is going to be moving in traffic in the same place as cars, while simultaniously having fuckall safety features and no climate control. This is a fucking deathtrap, and just a new way to cut costs at the expense of working class lives. This is not progress, the is sacrificing people for the great capitalist overlords.
I don’t know how fast it’s meant to go, but it looks like it shouldn’t be going faster than 30 kph (20 mph). That is the speed that most city traffic should have. If this helps to make that the standard, that’s going to save far more lives than anything else.
These things are at most half as wide as most modern cars so no its not car sized. Its not really bike sized either sure but its not just a car. Actual bikes both motor and pedal variety alreay cope fine in city traffic these are fine as well in terms of safety, maybe not in the dessert but otherwise its alright.
Of course its cost cutting at the expense of some comfort, but I’d much rather have this or any similar aliby cargo bike delivering in my neighboorhood than vans, even electric ones. These things are speed limited and the acceleration is fairly tame as well, the driver generally has a much better view than a van, and requiring the pedal input for forward movement makes the driving a bit more conservative/safe.
These should not be on standard bike paths they are just too big for that, but on pedestrianized/ bike streets these are infinetly better than cars for anyone except for maybe the driver, and on low ish speed limit inner city streets they are also just better than cars.
It is actually progress but its also just companies being cheap of course. I do see them as a genuine city quality indicators here in the EU, if they don’t exist it’s a sign the urban area is either pretty small or just super car centric.
It’s still car sized everywhere else. Cars in America are just needlessly oversized.
People need to remember that just because something is cost cutting, does not necessarily mean it’s worse. A great example is the move away from boxing things that are already boxed. So many people pissed off at it, but it’s just an easy way to be slightly better for the environment
Yep I would say you’re nailing the “criticize Amazon’s treatment of workers” part. That obviously is in severe need of fixing too.
Would you prefer if that got addressed but they stayed purely on combustion engine vehicles? I appreciate the idealism and in a perfect world we’d have both, but actually expecting both outcomes at once is sadly a tall order…
This isn’t a delivery bike. It’s for transferring cargo. That could have gone in a train or tram and been 100% electric while also not putting lives at risk.
You think the US has trains and trams that reach most neighborhoods? Not by a long shot.
No this is definitely looks like a last mile delivery vehicle to me.
A plus for the climate, a loss for workers.
Ok but you have to somehow transport a lot of parcels, right? You need a certain size for that. There is barely any additional volume other than storage space and driver space, so this is about as small as it gets?
Sure, it’s about as small as it gets, at the cost of worker lives. Would it have become that much more bulky to give it at least minimal safety featues, like crumble zones, or doors that can be locked? No. It would however be more expensive for Bezos. He’d rather these workers die, than spend an additional bit of money to ensure their safety.
It is possible to have good electrified last mile delivery, while not putting poor people in literal death boxes, it’s just going to hurt the billionaire’s profits.
Ok I just compared it to the cargo bikes that delivery services use here in Germany, from the first look I thought they were about the same size - and they use bike lanes and are allowed to drive in pedestrian zones, etc. However, comparing them side by side I think the amazon vehicle is in fact a lot larger and probably too big to use a bike lane. In that case, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, yeah. Not sure though if it’s really that unsafe if it can only go 25km/h.
Examples of the German delivery “bikes” here and here.
The USPS just got done ordering a custom-designed vehicle built from the ground up for efficient, safe, and comfortable package delivery. It doesn’t look like this.
Doubt. Bikers already have to contend with electric bikes, electric mopeds, and electric motos in the bike lanes so you can guarantee these assholes will be there too, especially if the automobile roads are jammed.
You mean in the bike lanes.