1 cargo bike for every 10 trucks

Supplying businesses by bicycle during pedestrianization: a viable solution.

During the seasonal closures of Montréal’s commercial arteries, merchants and their suppliers were offered the option of carrying out last-mile deliveries by bicycle, using an urban logistics hub located on the outskirts of the pedestrianized area.

Project description

Although the pedestrianization of Avenue du Mont-Royal is a resounding success each year, several pain points remain when it comes to supplying local businesses.

Since bicycles are allowed in pedestrian zones, the Société de développement de l’Avenue du Mont-Royal (SDAMR) and Coop Carbone invited merchants to test a cargo-bike supply service offered by La Roue Libre. Given the positive results of the 2024 pilot project on the Plateau Mont-Royal, the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough joined the initiative to help mitigate the impacts of the pedestrianization of Promenade Ontario in the summer of 2025.

Goods are either picked up directly from the supplier or dropped off by the shipper at an urban logistics hub located on the edge of the pedestrian zone. The cargo-bike delivery company is then notified of the receipt of the parcels and transports them to their final destination on the same day. Ideally, it can consolidate deliveries from multiple suppliers to multiple customers on the commercial street in a single route.

Data collection made it possible to identify the conditions for the profitability of this business model, notably by ensuring an equitable distribution of the costs and benefits associated with this new practice.

Aliments Mi Corazon says it is impressed by the results of bicycle delivery.
“I found it efficient and very professional. For our customers, there is no difference in service, whether it’s a specialty store or a supermarket chain.”

— Rafaël Martinez, Owner

Loco Plateau, distributor of Aliments Mi Corazon, expresses satisfaction with this alternative.
“The service is always excellent; they even take back the returnable jars. Everything goes very smoothly!”
— Blandine Mille, Co-owner

Results and learnings

Similar operating costs

For suppliers, outsourcing delivery by cargo bike, rather than carrying it out themselves with a gas-powered vehicle, allowed them to achieve similar operating costs (fixed costs related to vehicle ownership were not included in the comparison).

Merchants still benefited in terms of time, which could allow them to reduce costs by approximately 35%, thanks to operational time savings during delivery.

Reliable and fast delivery

Businesses notice no difference between bicycle delivery and conventional delivery. The parcel is delivered under the same conditions: bicycle delivery is just as reliable as delivery by truck or van.

Suppliers who participated on Promenade Ontario reported saving between 15 and 30 minutes by not having to maneuver within the pedestrianized zone.

The more participants, the more efficient it becomes

The operating costs of bicycle delivery decrease if the rider can consolidate multiple deliveries on the same route.
The initiative confirms the efficiency of using a cargo bike within a 5 km radius of the consolidation center (mini-hub).

Challenges

Difficulty accessing suppliers/carriers

The main beneficiaries of the project are the shippers and their couriers, who no longer have to make detours due to pedestrianization.
Involving merchants to launch the pilot project made parcel management easier without requiring digital integration, but it also made the project dependent on their engagement, even though they gain few direct benefits.

Identify and adapt the business model

The business model of a white-label last-mile service is not yet profitable without subsidies, as there is currently no critical mass to make it financially viable.

Data collected during the Promenade Ontario project suggest that transshipment would become profitable when a supplier drops off parcels at the transshipment center for four delivery stops on Promenade Ontario and its surroundings, and at least two suppliers of this type participate.

At scale, the profitability of the business model also depends on software integration—or at least interoperability—between the transport management systems of the various partners.