World's leading trade fair of the bicycle industry presents itself in Frankfurt in 2022 as an influential European forum for new mobility
Frankfurt – For the first time in 2022, Eurobike will take place in Frankfurt am Main, new mobility-themed as never before. How much impact will the bicycle have on the mobility of the future? How must and can the inner cities change? To what extent can the cargo bike's success story contribute here? And what exactly does new mobility mean beyond the e-bike? These and other questions are going to be answered in part with smart products from innovative start-ups, but also at international congresses and events at Eurobike.
Bicycles and e-bikes enable low-carbon local mobility – even new mobility skeptics have always admitted that much. "But what about the lack of transport options!" cried the critics of the status quo a few years ago. In the meantime, the evolution of the cargo bike has brought us many different variants, largely silencing the doubters. Especially in Europe, where many network-related projects are working to make cities cleaner and more pleasant to live in thanks to modern cargo bike mobility and capacities.
At the first Eurobike in Frankfurt, much attention will be paid to the cargo bike, its success and its future as a major driver of new mobility all over Europe. A key point here is the City Changer Cargo Bike (CCCB) project, which European cities have been working on since 2018 together with NGOs, Cycling Industries Europe (CIE) and research institutions, to show how the cargo bike can free up cities and drive new urban mobility forward. This project aims at more sustainable logistics processes, more livable public spaces, and above all changing public perceptions. Now it is time to take stock of the achievements at Eurobike 2022: The participants will gather here for the final conference to recap how the cargo bike went "from niche to mainstream" and to inform of their steps towards the mobile future of cities.
"Cargo bikes are revolutionary for the mobility of the residents of Gdynia," explains Dorota Gajda-Kutowińska, CCCB staff member in the Polish port city of Gdynia, where cargo bikes were still a rare sight five years ago. "We are already an inspiration for Polish cities." And Gonçalo Pais says: "Cargo bikes are a simple solution to a complex problem, and with the CCCB project we were able to demonstrate this in Lisbon." Ahead of the final conference, the project coordinator, Susanne Wrighton from Cycling Industries Europe (CIE), notes: "The cargo bike can become the new, sustainable equivalent of the SUV!"
In this way, Eurobike 2022 follows a striking development in real time: "It is becoming increasingly apparent that the cargo bike represents an important interface in the future of urban logistics and mobility," says Dirk Heidrich, Eurobike project manager. "We are delighted to be able to illustrate the success story of the path covered so far, together with CCCB at the Eurobike premiere in the urban setting of the metropolis on the River Main."
The mobility revolution will play a fundamentally central role at the trade fair, as demonstrated also by the Start-up and Innovation Day (SUI) scheduled for Thursday, July 14: Here everything revolves around technology and the challenges of its further development, it's all about solutions with an Aha! effect, whether coming from gifted individual developers or innovation departments of medium-sized companies. There will also be new perspectives on old problems, along with new business models, various customer motivations and, of course, plenty of networking. Europe is strongly represented here as well.
The Frankfurt-edition of Eurobike provides a great view of the bigger cycling picture. Light electric vehicles (LEVs) will also play a major role. They will have their place among others in Eurobike's Future Mobility Section in Hall 8. These are vehicles that position themselves between the e-bike and the conventional car, and have a legal maximum speed of 45 kilometers per hour. As three-wheelers, they can transport passengers or goods just like cars, but carbon-free, whisper-quiet, and saving space and time. LEVs fill a gap in the mobility system, which is why it's impossible to imagine an urban mobility-oriented Eurobike without them.
The Eurobike Convention is quite fitting in that sense – after all, the conference taking place on Wednesday, July 13 will have precisely the future of mobility as its topic. The keynote speech will be delivered by Janette Sadik-Khan, who was responsible for the extensive transformation of New York City in the 2010s, with focus on making the city more livable. Exciting topics – such as the possibility of city planning through new synergies between companies and municipalities or mobility planning based on digital bicycle use data – come into play here.
The guided Frankfurt bike tour on Thursday, July 14 is one way for the trade fair audience to learn more about the topic of urban transformation as work in progress.
About Eurobike:
Eurobike is the central platform of the cycling and future mobility universe. Together with visionaries from politics, business, society and the mobility industry, it creates space for communication, new ideas, change of perspective, and strong partnerships for innovative mobility solutions and new business models. The booming and rapidly changing bicycle and future mobility industry has found a common platform with Eurobike. It sets new standards and identifies key topics in the areas of sports, leisure, health and mobility, makes continuous progress and brings the global community together live. Eurobike 2022 will take place on the fair grounds of Messe Frankfurt from July 13 to 17, 2022. For more information visit: www.eurobike.com.
About fairnamic GmbH:
With the founding of fairnamic GmbH, the trade fair companies Frankfurt and Friedrichshafen are sealing a partnership focusing on innovative mobility. The market position in the future markets of bicycles, e-bikes, micromobility and general aviation is strengthened by pooling expertise and market knowledge, global positioning, brand strength, and speed. The joint venture focuses on the EUROBIKE and AERO brands and their satellites. The objective is to expand and further develop the two leading trade shows.