Bicycling

A Collective Tries to Make Cargo Bike Deliveries Work in Brooklyn

New York's cargo bike industry is a tough business. One of the top constraints is geography. Most of the current operators, like the ones we profiled last week, concentrate on Manhattan below 96th Street. But a new group is trying to organize cargo deliveries in Brooklyn.

By Stephen Miller

5:09 PM EST on February 26, 2013

New York’s cargo bike industry is a tough business. One of the top constraints is geography. Most of the current operators, like the ones we profiled last week, concentrate on Manhattan below 96th Street. But a new group is trying to organize cargo deliveries in Brooklyn.

The Cargo Bike Collective, based in Ditmas Park and Flatbush, is a group of riders operating as a network of independent contractors. The collective, which organized in late 2012, rents a garage to store its two cargo bikes, with another set of wheels on the way.

Joe Sharkey was working for Aqueduct Logistics before the operation folded late last year. Now, he’s working with the collective to handle shipping for the soup-makers The Splendid Spoon, one of Aqueduct’s former clients, using the Zipments platform.

“Being Brooklyn-based makes us unique in regards to being a courier,” Sharkey said.

Although members of the collective operate as independent contractors, shared use of the cargo bicycles presents a liability issue. “We’ve spoken to lawyers,” Sharkey said, and the group is still determining how and whether to legally incorporate. “Right now it’s open and we invite anyone who is interested to join.”

“It’s amazing how practical these bikes are,” Sharkey added. “Every time you load up the bike, you’re impressed with what you can move around.”

Stephen Miller

In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.

Bicycling | Brooklyn

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.