# Vrachtkar

This article covers the concept of a foldable cargo trailer I designed for my graduation project.

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Transporting two big shoppers

# Numbers

The avarage distance to a shop is within 3 kilometres and takes 10 percent of all civilian trips in the Netherlands (1). For dense urban areas this is even much smaller! 3 Kilometres is thereby a very comfortable cycling distance, but unfortunately the bicycle is not thé most used mode of transportation. For trips going to the supermarket 52 percent is car usage and only 30 percent is done by bicycle (2). So there is a huge potential for improving sustainability by just looking how at how we go to our shops. The reason for this is mainly the shopping load (3). However, the shopping load in the Netherlands is not that much since my research showed that we transport not more than two shopping bags (4). With my graduation project on Industrial Design Engineering I designed therefore a practical transportation solution for hauling groceries and medium sized products by bicycle.

# Concept

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Vrachtkar prototype behind bike

The basic concept is a two wheeled, small and foldable cargo trailer you can attach behind a city bicycle. The design is big enough to transport two big shopper bags, two beer crates or medium sized purchases from the IKEA.

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Transporting boxes

The carrier also functions for walking so you can use it really door to door or from supermarket to kitchen.

# Folding

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Folding concept
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Folding the Vrachtkar

The reason for its foldability is mainly because people in dense urban areas often do not have good bicycle shelters. To compete with the car a bicycle carrier should have the possibility to be stored without a bicycle shelter and preferably close to someone's door. I decided therefore to have it small enough, by making it foldable, so you could keep it in your hallway.

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# References

  1. Deloitte. Uitkomsten consumentenonderzoek 2008, ontwikkelingen in het consumentengedrag. s.l. : Deloitte, 2008
  2. Borgmann, Frank. Fietsen schept lucht. Lucht. 3, 2007,3.
  3. Waarom de fiets? En waarom de auto? Boggelen, Otto van. s.k. : Fietsberaad, 2009. Fietsverkeer.
  4. Bicycle Transportation. Geerinckx, 2010