It is the technology that is changing the face of the school drop-off. At many London primary schools, alongside the children arriving in cars, on bikes and by scooter, a growing number are arriving strapped into the boxes of cargo bikes — high-capacity, load-carrying bikes or tricycles that are also an increasingly popular, environmentally friendly and efficient means of delivering goods.
The rise of this apparently old-fashioned technology suggests to many observers that, despite the widespread excitement about the prospects for self-driving cars and air taxis, the future of mobility in old and crowded cities is likely to be powered by human muscle.
The cargo bikes— which often resemble overgrown versions of the traditional tradesperson’s delivery bike — are only one manifestation of a revival of cycling that has also featured a proliferation of normal bicycles, both purely manual and electrically assisted.