Nobody would call a cargo bike a niche product anymore and countless large bike brands both have their own cargo bike models and are ramping up production. This trend also has political support in Vienna and in the province of Salzburg. A smart sharing platform is being introduced to the City of Salzburg and the cargo bike roadshow enlivened the European Mobility Week.

Vienna extends cargo bike subsidies until 2026

The City of Vienna has agreed to continued subsidies for private cargo bike customers this year. Included in the subsidy are cargo bikes and ‘special bikes’ such as wheelchair cargo bikes used to transport people with reduced mobility. The monetary support can be as high as 50% of the new value of the bike, at a maximum of €800 for a bike without electric assist and up to €1000 for electrically assisted cargo bikes. The subsidy is valid for all new cargo bikes purchased from March 1st and runs until the end of 2026.

Over the course of this next period of subsidisation, the fleet of shared Viennese community cargo bikes “Wiener Grätzlräder” will also be expanded. A maximum of 7 community cargo bikes will be funded per year. The decision as to which bikes will be purchased will be decided by a commission made up of the subsidy’s provider and Cycle Competence member Mobilitätsagentur Wien (Vienna Mobility Agency). The community cargo bikes will be up to 100% subsidised to a maximum net price of €4000 per piece. All of the subsidy conditions can be found here.

First cargo bike subsidies come to Salzburg

Transport by cargo bike will now also be financially supported in the whole province of Salzburg. The new purchasing subsidies will be available to private customers, companies and clubs. €300 are available per cargo bike, and for electrically assisted cargo bikes, €600. The application process has been open since September 1st here, with invoices dated from July 15th onwards also being accepted. The cargo bike subsidy can also be combined with other national and local subsidies.

According to the terms and conditions, the subsidy can be used to fund new cargo bikes which conform to the Austrian laws, regulations and norms. Included in these rules are also so-called ‘special bikes’ which are designed to transport people with reduced mobility, for example in wheelchairs. One condition of the purchase of an e-cargo bike is that the vendor provides either an ‘e-mobility bonus’ of €100 including a full service or a three year guarantee with the sale of the bike.

In terms of which bikes comply with the conditions of the subsidy, the region of Salzburg points to the definition of an e-cargo bike by the Ministry for Climate Protection: An e-cargo bike is designed specifically for the transport of large loads and must include an element designated for carrying these loads, such as a large box or load bed. The capacity of this cargo element must exceed 80KG.

Unfortunately however, the cargo bike subsidies of the City of Salzburg for 2022 have already been spent.  City of Salzburg’s website states: “We are committed to making these subsidies available again for 2023, and very much hope that this funding will be approved by the city council.” However the municipalities of Anif, Saalfelden, Wals-Siezenheim and Eugendorf are still funding cargo bike purchases. More information here.

Klimaaktiv mobil subsidies still available

Smart bike sharing comes to Salzburg

Cycle Competence member City of Salzburg is upgrading its cargo bike sharing system by installing ‘smart rental boxes’, allowing 24 hour access to the bikes through the rental platform radverteiler.at. The bikes are already available for rent on the platform, but at the moment are normally stored in the offies of Citizens’ Services. In order to makes the bikes available 24 hours a day, outside the opening hours of the offices, seven ‘smart rental boxes’ are being installed which will be opened and running from October onwards. This low-threshold, easy-access rental tool was developed as part of the KlimaEntlaster project and has already been successfully implemented this year on the St. Pölten town square by Cycle Competence member Radland Niederösterreich, supported by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund KLIEN.

The ‘smart rental box’ from Radverteiler contains keys, batteries and charging equipment and can be accessed by registered users via a digital reservation service.

Seven day cargo bike roadshow as part of 2022 Mobility Week

The cargo bike test ride through Austria provided a unique opportunity for communities to test and experience the diversity of modern electric cargo bikes live and direct. The tour has been running successfully in Germany since 2016, came to Austria for the first time in June of 2021 and took place this year from the 16th to the 22nd of September in seven model regions, supported by the Austrian climate and energy fund. The seven locations for the Cargo Bike Roadshow 2022 Imst, Saalfelden, Tamsweg, Frohnleiten, Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Leonding and Ried im Innkreis are distributed across five Austrian states.

The Mobility Week mascot Edgar makes himself comfortable on a cargo bike!