E-cargo bike adoption to decarbonise urban freight: Consumer acceptance and industry perspectives

E -cargo bikes are increasingly promoted as a low-emission alternative for last-mile deliveries decarbonisation in urban areas. While previous research has primarily examined their environmental performance and operational feasibility, little attention has been given to the market and behavioural factors shaping their adoption. In particular, relatively few studies consider how consumer perceptions interact with the operational realities faced by logistics providers. This paper addresses these issues by examining consumer acceptance and industry perspectives on e-cargo bike adoption, assessing how consumer perceptions and willingness to support their use align with the operational, financial, and regulatory conditions shaping their implementation. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining a questionnaire survey of 307 consumers with nine semi-structured interviews with experts from the urban logistics sector. The survey explores consumer awareness, perceptions, and willingness to support e-cargo deliveries, while the interviews provide insight into the operational, financial, and regulatory factors influencing their implementation. The results show that consumers generally perceive e-cargo bike deliveries positively, particularly in relation to environmental impacts and reduced on-street presence. However, positive perceptions are not matched by willingness to pay a premium: over two-thirds of respondents reported that they would not be willing to pay more for deliveries made by e-cargo bikes. Interview findings identify barriers to wider adoption, including financial viability, infrastructure availability, regulatory uncertainty, and workforce requirements. Overall the findings from this research indicate that consumer acceptance alone is insufficient to support wider adoption. The study contributes to research on sustainable urban freight by showing how positive consumer attitudes coexist with limited willingness to pay and industry constraints. These insights have implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders to address the commercial and operational conditions of e-cargo bike adoption alongside their promotion as a means of decarbonising urban freight.