Staff are going DITS for our E-cargo bike

We’re aiming to minimise the carbon and environmental impact of the University’s travel and transport activities including commuting, business and research travel, and encouraging people to use more sustainable forms of transport whenever they can. One of the ways we’re doing this is with our new E-cargo bike which we purchased for staff to use earlier this year.

 Since then, lots of people have been using the bike, including Digital Innovation and Technology Services (DITS), who have been using the bike to help them move equipment. Peter Brothers from the team has used the bike a couple of times, once to move some equipment from one side of campus to the other, and once to collect some IT equipment (desktop computer, two 22” monitors, keyboard, mouse, cables) from a member of staff who was leaving the University. This would usually have been done using a diesel van. 

Peter said “Collecting the equipment in the E-cargo bike was easy and quick. I used it to pick up equipment from somebody’s home. She only lived a mile from campus, and the three boxes of equipment fitted into the box on the E-cargo bike perfectly. Using the E-cargo bike saved the University the cost of paying for the courier, albeit at the expense of 30 minutes of my time. With the bike I was able to bring the equipment right to the door of our store room, which is not possible with a van or car, making the handling of the equipment much easier, too.“

All staff are free to use the E-cargo bike to move items across our Colchester Campus. It’s 270L cargo box can carry up to 100Kg, making it ideal for transporting goods in a quick, efficient and sustainable fashion. Bookings are available Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm in 1 hour slots, or you can book it for a whole day. Your booking also includes; a fabric rain cover, bungee cables, cycle helmet, hi-vis jacket, front and rear lights, a lock, and a simple training session from one of our expert team (training is for initial hire only which will also include a risk assessment). The bike also has it’s own number plate so it can go through the barriers on boundary road.

You can find out more about how to book the bike on our Staff Directory. If you have any questions, please email travel@essex.ac.uk and remember, if you cycle onto campus we have great cycling facilities at our Colchester Campus, including cyclelockers ,cycle racks, and two cycle fixing stations with bike pumps. Dr Bike also offers free cycle safety checks (Bicycle M-Check) and adjustments for staff and students, and provides servicing, repairs and affordable second-hand bikes.