“The Last Mile” is a term in logistics for the last stage of the delivery process where goods move from a transportation hub to the final destination. Although distances are short, it can be very inefficient and cost more than 50% of the total shipping costs.
In the suburbs and less-dense city neighborhoods, we live our lives in the “Last Mile.” We start from our home base and drive frequently throughout the week to work, school, retail shopping and back. This results in a lot of time on the road where we don’t question the cost, efficiency, or impact to our daily lives. You might think that driving is part of American culture, but for many it feels like there is no other choice to get around without walkable neighborhoods and nice, convenient public transit. Biking is a way to extend our travel radius significantly beyond walking since you can travel 4-5 miles in a standard 20-minute bike ride. This doesn’t seem like a lot on paper, but ~60% of American car trips are for distances less than 6 miles away.
In future posts, we’ll break down the analysis to show how easy and efficient it is for you to start biking the Last Mile. We’ve done it and hope that you will too.
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