CTC Chief Executive Kevin Mayne and Campaigns and Policy Director Roger Geffen met with Royal Mail’s Delivery Director Geoff Braden on Monday 13 September.  During the discussion, Geoff Braden revealed that Royal Mail is now planning to keep as many as 3000 delivery routes that can still use still bikes (it previously promised to retain just 500). As they roll the programme out, individual posties can also be involved at a local level to help decide which routes should retain bikes. CTC also asked Royal Mail to look again at how developments in freight and electrically assisted pedal cycles could answer the problem of the increase in the number of parcels. CTC also promised to lobby the Government to remove the regulation that makes it illegal for an electrically assisted pedal cycle to weigh over 60kg.

The dialogue between CTC and Royal Mail continued when CTC Vice President Lord Berkeley met with Royal Mail’s Chief Executive Moya Greene on September 22nd. It was a useful meeting, and Ms Greene agreed to address a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, where MPs and Peers got the chance to ask questions about the future role delivery cycles will play within Royal Mail.

Background

CTC was first alerted to the threat of the end of over 100 years of cycle-aided postal deliveries thanks to Re~Cycle, a charity which ships second-hand bikes to Africa where they are repaired and reused. Royal Mail had previously been a major donor with Pashley Mailstars from their fleet being transferred to Re~Cycle at the end of their working lives.

A letter to CTC Vice President Tony Berkeley from Royal Mail’s former chief executive, Adam Crozier, confirms that Royal Mail plans to replace almost all of its bikes with electric trolleys that will be shipped out to neighbourhoods by van. 

CTC believes Crozier’s assertion that posties on bikes violate health and safety regulations was untrue. Mr Crozier’s comment that the increasing weights of postal deliveries necessitates new delivery technologies ignores the potential to use cargo bicycles and tricycles, already used in other European countries and by courier companies in Britain - for instance DHL and FedEx.

CTC opposes any moves by Royal Mail to stop cycle deliveries, and instead would like to see cargo bikes and tricycles used to deliver larger weights of post. Please read these stories from posties who want to keep their cycles. With the Communications Workers' Union, which represents many postal workers, unwilling to take a stand on this issue, CTC is forced to represent the interests of the many postal workers who do feel strongly that cycles are useful to their jobs.

Our questions for Royal Mail:

• Road safety: this plan would have dire implications for road safety by replacing cycles with vans.  As the number of vehicles increases, our roads become more dangerous for all road users.  Royal Mail is legally obligated to protect the health and safety not just of its workers, but of the general public. Has Royal Mail assessed the safety impacts of increasing its motorised fleet at the expense of bicycles?
  
• Environment: in order for the government to meet its commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it must take concrete steps to address the emissions from road transport.  As an organisation owned largely by the government, Royal Mail should be committed to working towards that goal, and replacing bicycles with vans will not help.  Has Royal Mail assessed the environmental impact?
• The government's Active Travel Strategy: increasing cycling safety is a goal of the government’s new Active Travel Strategy, which government bodies such as Royal Mail should uphold.  It is possible that the government may change, but the commitments of these policies are so important to our nation's future that they will likely stay. Has Royal Mail assessed the health impacts upon its workforce?
• A more productive workforce: cycling is a highly efficient method of transport, being cheap and faster than most alternatives. Regular cyclists have also been found to take fewer days in sickness absence than their colleagues. Has Royal Mail assessed the effects on productivity?

Thanks to David de Berker for this cartoon.