Brandon Quizeno has a driver\u2019s license, so in theory he could be steering an Amazon van around New York City delivering parcels.<\/p>\n
Instead, he does his deliveries with an Amazon cargo bike out of a hub on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith vans, it can be hell finding parking, especially in the narrow streets,\u201d Mr. Quizeno, 21, from the Hamilton Heights section of Manhattan, said on a recent delivery run. \u201cThese bikes, they\u2019re better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amazon\u2019s dark blue, battery-powered, pedal-assist cargo bikes are now common in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. They have four wheels and an enclosed container on the back that can hold over 100 parcels. It takes the bikes two trips to make roughly the same number of deliveries as a van \u2014 but they cost significantly less to operate.<\/p>\n
Amazon declined to say what share of home deliveries in New York are made by the bikes, but Emily Barber, the company\u2019s director of global fleet and products, said they were proving to be more efficient than vans on certain routes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re optimistic that this is a delivery mode that\u2019s here to stay,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After a recent expansion, Amazon has over 300 cargo bikes doing same-day deliveries in Manhattan. This month, the company announced a pilot program for the bikes in Washington D.C., and a spokesman said it was planning pilots in other American cities for this year.<\/p>\n
E-commerce has increased the number of trucks and vans on New York\u2019s streets. In 2024, 2.5 million packages were delivered a day in New York City, up from 1.8 million five years earlier, according to a report<\/a> from the city\u2019s comptroller. The report also found that the number of truck crashes and injuries increased in areas near the logistics hubs from which home deliveries are made.<\/p>\n Safety is one of the reasons that Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration supports the use of cargo bikes.<\/p>\n The bikes \u201cplay a key role in achieving a safer and more sustainable transportation future by helping us reduce the number of large, high-polluting trucks on our streets,\u201d Vincent Barone, a press secretary for city\u2019s Transportation Department, said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n Goods-carrying bikes are common in many European cities that have long had cycling cultures and narrower streets than most American cities. New York has allowed battery-powered cargo bikes to operate since 2024, stipulating that they cannot travel faster than 15 miles per hour or be parked on a sidewalk.<\/p>\n Cargo bikes can travel in most bike lanes, which means they don\u2019t contribute as much to congestion, and they can sail past stationary traffic.<\/p>\n \u201cI love how fast-paced this job can be,\u201d said Mr. Quizeno, who works between 25 and 30 hours a week and earns around $2,000 a month. He is employed by Accelerated Flywheel Logistics, a company that is legally separate from Amazon but has close operational ties with the company, and uses Amazon branding on its vehicles and uniforms. Many of Amazon\u2019s deliveries in New York and elsewhere are done by these types of companies, called delivery service partners.<\/p>\n Accelerated Flywheel started its operations in October, and now has 155 employees doing deliveries with 40 cargo bikes, said Charles DiMaria, its president. The vehicles have two batteries, which are stored in a fireproofed cabinet at the company\u2019s hub on the Lower East Side. The first delivery shift starts at 3:15 a.m., and the operations close at 11 p.m.<\/p>\n Mr. Di Maria said many of the employees had previously done gig delivery work for companies like DoorDash. His company\u2019s regular schedule appeals to many of them, he said.<\/p>\n On a recent morning in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, a fleet of 22 Amazon cargo bikes lined up and were loaded with packages before they trickled out of an Amazon fulfillment center to make deliveries across the borough.<\/p>\n Cargo bikes are responsible for around half of the 10,000 to 15,000 packages that are delivered from the site each day, said Juan Martinez, the president of COPR Industries, an Amazon delivery partner operating out of the Red Hook facility. The rest go on vans, most of which are electric vehicles, he said.<\/p>\n In addition to the cargo bikes, Amazon makes significant use of pushcarts for home deliveries. In many cases, trucks transport the loaded carts to one spot, which acts as a temporary hub. Workers then push the carts to apartment buildings.<\/p>\n Over 64 million Amazon packages were delivered to New Yorkers last year using the bikes and pushcarts, Ms. Barber said, adding that these deliveries helped Amazon reduce congestion. The company declined to give the breakdown between pushcarts and bikes.<\/p>\n Last year, New York City started charging a toll on vehicles that enter Manhattan below 60th Street. A spokesman for Amazon said its use of cargo bikes predated the toll. <\/p>\n Despite the greater use of the cargo bikes and electric vans, Amazon\u2019s carbon emissions have been rising, primarily from its logistics network, according to its most recent sustainability report<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seeking to show that it is making some progress, Amazon often cites another metric: emissions per package delivered. The use of electric delivery vehicles, cargo bikes included, has helped bring that number down, Ms. Barber said.<\/p>\n