Practical information
Description
Timeline
Stakeholders
Strengths and offer
Urban logistics
Positive impacts
Needs
Logistical challenges
Practical information
What?
Urbike is a Belgian cycle logistics cooperative born in Brussels from the BCklet pilot project. It combines four activities: urban last-mile delivery, urban logistics consultancy, cargo-bike training, and the sale / maintenance of equipment.
Who?
Urbike SCES agréée, a cooperative and social economy enterprise. Its model is based on participatory governance, following the principle “1 person = 1 vote”. The website highlights around 650 cooperators and a team of around 50 workers.
Where?
Strongly anchored in Brussels.
Offices and warehouse: Rue des Vétérinaires 42, building A, 1070 Anderlecht.
Registered office: Avenue Van Volxem 289, 1190 Forest.
Activities are also mentioned in Ghent, Leuven and Liège.
When?
The cooperative was created in March 2018.
The first deliveries started in 2019.
Contact
info@urbike.be
coop@urbike.be
support@urbike.be
sul@urbike.be
Resources
urbike.be ; cAIRgo Bike for Pros ; Shifting Urban Logistics ; Circlemade ; BCLF ; Portico / Urban Initiative ; BRUZZ ; BX1 ; Transportmedia ; ECF.
Description
Urbike is not only a bicycle delivery service. It is a logistics transition operator helping companies, institutions, municipalities and organisations replace certain motorised trips with cargo bikes and trailers, when volumes, distances and urban constraints allow it.
The cooperative organises urban deliveries for a wide range of flows: parcels, flowers, medicines, dry food products, fresh or temperature-controlled products, small construction-site equipment, restocking or technical interventions. But its logistical relevance is not only in the bicycle itself: it lies in the whole chain, from reception and sorting to hubs, order preparation, containers, trailers, real-time tracking and delivery rounds.
Urbike also acts as a consultant, trainer and integrator of tools. Through cAIRgo Bike for Pros and then Shifting Urban Logistics, the cooperative supports organisations in analysing their needs, training, pilot testing, getting teams used to cargo bikes, adapting work routines and evaluating the possibility of shifting to cycle logistics.
Timeline
2018
Creation of Urbike, subscription of the first cooperators and launch of the BCklet project.
2019
First employee and start of the first deliveries.
2020
BCklet receives the “Logistics Project of the Year” award. Urbike wins the Brussels Social Economy Prize.
2021
Installation of the new headquarters in Anderlecht and launch of the cAIRgo Bike for Pros programme.
2022
Start of delivery activities in Ghent.
2023
Structuring of Urbike Leuven and first cycle courier training programme with Actiris and Bruxelles Formation.
2024
Test of the Archipel project around mobile hubs and standardised containers to extend the spatial limits of the model.
2026
The website highlights around 650 cooperators. The Shifting Urban Logistics programme is ongoing and continues until 2028.
Stakeholders
Urbike SCES agréée, with its operational team, dispatchers, couriers, trainers, consultants and cooperators.
Clients and supported organisations: private companies, shopkeepers, food actors, technical operators, institutions and municipalities.
Public and research partners: Brussels Mobility, Brussels Environment, Brussels Economy and Employment, Parking Brussels, MOBI / VUB, Pro Velo, Cambio, BePark, Remorquable.
Historical partners of the BCklet project: Smart, VUB / MOBI, USL-B, Febecoop, bpost, CSD, Delhaize, MultiPharma.
The wider ecosystem: Belgian Cycle Logistics Federation, Circlemade, social economy actors and urban logistics networks.
Companies and institutions cited as references or use cases: Facq, Cebeo, eFarmz, Proximus, Vivaqua, Sibelga, Veolia, VRT, RTBF, as well as the municipalities of Jette, Forest, Ixelles and Etterbeek.
Strengths and offer
Urban last-mile delivery by cargo bike and trailer.
Handling of varied flows: parcels, food, pharmacy, flowers, small equipment, restocking, collection and technical interventions.
Extended logistics services: reception, sorting, transshipment, order preparation, proof of delivery and real-time tracking.
Strategic and operational consultancy for companies, institutions and public authorities.
Training, onboarding, pilot tests and support for conversion to cargo bikes.
Sale, maintenance and recommendation of cycle logistics equipment, notably FlexiModal trailers and Larry vs Harry cargo bikes.
Cooperative and social economy model, positioned against the uberisation of delivery.
Couriers paid by the hour, with attention to stability, training and job quality.
A strong case for thinking about urban logistics beyond parcels: technical interventions, public services, equipment, labour, hubs and organisation.
Urban logistics
How does it work?
Urbike receives, sorts, prepares and delivers goods from hubs or logistics bases. Flows can come from a stock, a client, an upstream arrival point or a hybrid operation. Delivery rounds are then carried out by cargo bike or trailer, with adapted containers, digital tracking and dispatch organisation. In parallel, Urbike supports other organisations in their own transition: analysis, trial, training, 2-to-4-week real-life test, feedback and evaluation.
Why is it interesting?
Because Urbike shows that the cargo bike is not only a cleaner vehicle. It is another way of organising certain urban flows: bringing hubs closer to delivery areas, reducing time lost in parking, moving more efficiently through dense urban fabric, professionalising couriers and helping organisations rethink their logistics routines. The project acts on transport, employment, infrastructure and professional habits at the same time.
Which obstacles does it respond to?
Traffic jams, slow city centres, parking difficulties, double parking, costly and unpredictable last-mile delivery, nuisances linked to vans, lack of cargo-bike training, lack of information for organisations that want to change, and the precarisation of part of the delivery sector.
Identified nodes / obstacles
Operating radius; flow density; profitability; need for hubs and micro-hubs; transshipment; secure parking; weather; road safety; entry cost for organisations; adaptation of professional routines; articulation between 100% bicycle flows and hybrid flows; data; digital tools; comparative proof against vans.
Positive impacts
Environment — potential reduction of local emissions, noise and some light motorised trips. Urbike estimates that more than 250,000 kg of CO2 have been avoided since 2020.
Space — possible reduction of some double parking, smaller vehicle footprint for small urban flows and better fine-grained accessibility in dense neighbourhoods.
Neighbourhood — potentially calmer, less noisy deliveries, better adapted to constrained streets, commercial areas and residential neighbourhoods.
Social relations — professionalisation of the courier profession, continuous training, cooperative governance, involvement of cooperators and construction of a less precarious delivery model.