City strives to assist delivery businesses
City of Ekurhuleni, e-micro mobility, delivery businesses, non-motorised transportation programme, Green Riders, Caiphus Chauke, future of transportation, non-motorised transport,
The City of Ekurhuleni has formed a partnership with an e-micro mobility company to explore innovative modes of non-motorised transportation, using e-bicycles to support entrepreneurs in the delivery and logistics business.
The non-motorised transportation programme is called Green Riders.
On Friday, the city hosted a round table discussion on the introduction of e-bicycles in Germiston during Transport Month.
The city’s head of the department for economic development, Caiphus Chauke, said that the city has partnered with e-micro mobility to provide 50 e-bicycles to young ambitious entrepreneurs to pilot the project in the city.
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“The identified entrepreneurs will go through extensive e-bicycle handling training, road safety mechanisms as well as the business model training before hitting the road in December,” explained Chauke.
He said the purpose of this intervention by the city is to help create or improve job opportunities for entrepreneurs in the city.
“E-bicycle is the future of transportation. The dark period of Covid-19 exposed an existing gap in convenience brought about by the usage of delivery motorbikes for the delivery of household goods such as groceries, fast foods and medication.
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“This is a potential game changer for our entrepreneurs in the delivery and logistics space,” Chauke said.
He said the city’s fully-fledged non-motorised transport (NMT) infrastructure is well-equipped to handle the movement of e-bicycles across the city.
The e-bicycle operator does not require a licence or permit to operate. It can operate on the NMT dedicated lanes and the shared road.
It is made of aluminium steel for wear and tear. It is battery-operated and can travel up to 120km with a high speed of 30km per hour for the safety of the rider. It is fitted with an advanced technology tracker system as a safety feature against theft.
