Save Royal Mail Cycle Delivery
Recent information from Royal Mail’s outgoing 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. Adam Crozier has given several reasons for this move, all of which CTC finds spurious.
CTC believes Crozier’s assertion that posties on bikes violate health and safety regulations is 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 take action by writing to Royal Mail’s future chief executive (as yet unnamed). Please fill out our form, which will automatically generate a letter. Then you can edit, print and send it to CTC’s national office. We will collect the letters and deliver them in one load by cargo bike to Royal Mail’s headquarters on the new chief executive’s first day of work.
Please personalise your letter by mentioning at least one of the following reasons for reversing Royal Mail’s plan to phase out cycles:
• 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 less safe for cyclists. Royal Mail is legally obligated to protect the health and safety not just of its workers, but of the general public. It appears that they have failed to recognise this when citing health and safety as the reason behind this decision.
• Environmental: 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.
• 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.