A London-based cargo bike taxi and delivery service has launched a crowdfunding campaign aiming to raise £150,000 to fund expansion. Pedal Me, which mostly operates within a five-mile radius of Waterloo Bridge at present, says it is reaching the limits of its current capacity and needs to expand.
Using specially designed e-assist cargo bikes, Pedal Me riders can transport two adults or “pretty much any load that doesn't need a forklift truck (and some that do).” It pretty much goes without saying that the service is booked via an app.
The service’s main selling point is that it offers quicker and cleaner journeys than rivals who rely on motor transport.
In the year to September 2018, Pedal Me completed 18,600 jobs and while it is currently loss-making, from Oct 2017 to Sept 2018 it saw a 24% compound monthly growth rate.
Should the firm secure funding, the plan is to add at least 30 bikes for London to ensure pickup times of less than eight minutes within a radius of three miles from the centre, and additional technology that would support 'stacking' – the pooling of delivery jobs – to make the firm’s logistics service more efficient.
“This allows us to bring down prices and realise our speed advantage fully, to be cheaper across all our market segments,” states the pitch.
The next step after that would be expansion to other cities in the UK and abroad.
Pedal Me says that around 70 per cent of taxi journeys in London are less than five miles and so estimates that its passenger bikes have the potential to complete around 35 million taxi journeys a year.
Same-day delivery is the other key aspect of the service. It estimates London’s market to be worth around £1bn and aims to capture 0.3% or more by 2021.
The campaign has so far raised over £45,000 with 26 days still to go.
I rode home in the dark last night and saw a couple of other cyclists wearing dark clothes and with no lights or reflectors. But I did actually see...
What you have to remember about Clarkson is that not even he believes the things he writes and says. He often bangs on about how cars are more fun...
how very woke.. want to cancel him?
The double contraction, they'd've, means just that..
Cycling Monkey is particularly vitriolic against helmet wearing; a bit like Jeremey Whine carrying on about not needing to wear hi-vis and...
The Sirrus feels an odd platform to launch this on. Were people crying out for an expensive, innovative hybrid?
no decent parts either...and even the low end stuff looks poor
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4HW33SgZlM
I was on the Indigogo for the previous generation - the Icon 2. Mine turned up but kept falling off. After 3 weeks I arrived home one day without...
That is a bunch of work!...