A new sightseeing PedalCab ride has launched in Bury St Edmunds for the summer, by EcoCarriers BSE. Director Libby Ranzetta shares the pedal-pushing success story – and explains why Bury really is best by bike
We’re a social enterprise that is on a mission to replace local car and van journeys with bicycles so there are less CO2 emissions, air pollution and congestion. Aside from deliveries by cargobike, and the new PedalCab rides, we run community projects such as the school Bike Train, where we shepherd a peloton of families to school and back three times a week; Bury Bike Library, which has a range of low-cost refurbished bikes to buy or swap; and free cycling lessons for adults and children.
What led to establishing EcoCarriers in Bury St Edmunds?
Most of us are volunteers with BSE Rickshaw, the charity dedicated to reducing social isolation with its chatty rickshaw rides around town. During the pandemic lockdown we quickly switched to delivering prescriptions and food by bike, and some of us enjoyed it so much we decided to set up EcoCarriers. It’s a community business rather than a charity like the Rickshaw, so we operate a commercial courier service, and the riders are paid.
Are you Bury St Edmunds born and raised?
I grew up in Hertfordshire but fell in love with Bury the first time I visited, during the Bury Festival, and knew it was where I wanted to live. I moved here 20 years ago, and I haven’t once regretted it.
What were you doing before?
My career was in public health, but my previous occupation was rescuing bats, and I am still involved in conservation with the Bury Water Meadows Group. EcoCarriers has become a full-time job now.
Have you been surprised by the success of EcoCarriers? What awards have you won to date?
We are the current green business of the year in Bury St Edmunds, and last year won the Community category in Suffolk’s Greenest County awards for our Bike Train. The success has been very encouraging; Bury is a small town for a cargobike delivery service to be viable but we are gaining traction against the odds thanks to the support from residents, businesses and councillors.
How important is it for you to offer a zero-emissions delivery service?
We do a variety of things to promote cycling over car use, but the delivery service is our main trading activity, which means we can employ riders properly and not rely completely on short-term grant funding to do the work we want to do. More and more people and businesses recognise the need to reduce their carbon footprint, and the zero-emission deliveries provide one way they can do that, so we think it’s really important. Our delivery service saves approximately a ton of CO2 a year at present, but this is increasing all the time.
What is the latest development, with the PedalCab rides?
This summer in partnership with Bury St Edmunds & Beyond and the Bury Tour Guides, we’re offering short pedicab (we call our machines PedalCabs) rides to show off some of the best bits of our town – many of which can only be seen by foot or bike. The idea is to give visitors a taster – of the town’s heritage, shopping, restaurants, beautiful buildings and green spaces – to help them decide how to spend their time here, whether that’s doing a walking tour with the Tour Guides to discover our fascinating history, fine dining or relaxing in the Abbey Gardens.
What other initiatives are EcoCarriers involved with in the town?
We’re currently trialling a ‘Shop & Drop’ scheme for the town centre whereby customers leave their shopping at participating shops and market stalls for us to collect and then deliver by bike that day for just £2. It means people can leave the car at home and walk or get a bus into town without worrying about lugging their shopping back, and it also suits town centre residents with limited mobility who like to do their own shopping but struggle to carry it home. Our ‘PedalCab Plus’ service is for people who need assisted transport for appointments or shopping and don’t have a friend or relative to help them.
What are your hopes and dreams for EcoCarriers BSE?
I hope that we can help shift the dial on our collective car dependency in Bury, by showing that it’s possible to move ourselves and our stuff by bike much of the time – certainly for local journeys. We can carry a three-piece suite on our bike trailer for example, and I can get my double bass on a PedalCab for band practice. In my dreams, I see every child who wants to, cycling to school in safety, and our town centre closed to vehicular traffic, buzzing with people shopping locally and breathing clean air.
Bury’s Best By Bike PedalCab will run Monday to Saturday on the half hour from 10am to 12.30pm (last trip) from Monday July 22 to Saturday August 31. Other times may be available on request by telephoning EcoCarriers BSE. The 25-minute tour which takes in the Abbey Gardens, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and many more sights is open to everyone and has been launched by EcoCarriers BSE, supported by Our Bury St Edmunds BID under the town’s tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond. To book a PedalCab Tour or for more information visit the EcoCarriers BSE website at ecocarriersbse.co.uk/burys-best-by-bike or call 01284 413441. Alternatively, the PedalCabs will be based on Angel Hill by the Pillar of Salt every Saturday from 20th July to 31st August between 10.30am and 12.30pm. Suggested donation: £5 per person. For more information on things to see and do and where to stay visit the official tourism website for Bury St Edmunds burystedmundsandbeyond.co.uk. To book a walking tour of the town with Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides visit burystedmundstourguides.org.
Featured image of Sharon Steven with passengers Nigel and Chris Parker, courtesy of EcoCarriers BSE
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