( CNN ) -- As any bike lover can attest , cycling has numerous advantages over driving ; it 's cheaper , healthier , and when there 's traffic , the ride can be considerably quicker . What cars bring to the table is storage space . It 's difficult to imagine moving house , schlepping groceries or making deliveries by bicycle , but in a handful of cities , residents and businesses are choosing to do just that . Nine years ago , Rob King launched Outspoken Deliveries , a bicycle courier service in Cambridge , England -- a city often deemed the country 's most bike-friendly . `` When we started , there were a few companies in Cambridge doing what we do , but they were still using shoulder bags , and delivering small documents . We found these cargo bikes that operated like a small van , only they were much more flexible and faster , '' he recalls . Today , his fleet includes bikes that can haul up to 250kg ( 550 pounds ) . Last year , Outspoken started subcontracting for larger delivery firms , including Parcelforce , TNT and APC . `` Traveling that last mile or two to deliver a package can be a bit of a headache for delivery companies , '' explains King . In the EU , larger companies often have to comply with automobile restrictions ( in Cambridge , cars ca n't load or unload in the city center between 10am and 4pm without incurring a fine ) and increased taxes for high-emission vehicles . Delivery by bike avoids those pitfalls . Research undertaken by CycleLogistics , an EU-funded project dedicated to replacing motorized freight transport with bikes , found that bikes and cargo bikes could accommodate 51 % of all deliveries in European cities currently being moved by all types of motor vehicles and over 90 % of all supermarket shopping trips . According to Austrian Mobility Research , that amounts to a saving of 37 million tons of C02 a year , or a full 1 % of Europe 's current emissions . `` C02 is n't even the main argument , '' says Dr. Randy Rzewnicki , the project manager for CycleLogistics . `` There are an awful lot of more things that would benefit from moving shipping to bikes ; urban air pollution , noise pollution , traffic . Those are big problems in Europe . '' Of course , a surge in bike usage does raise the issue of bicycle casualties , though according to Ceri Woolsgrove , the policy officer for road safety and technical issues at The European Cyclists ' Federation , reducing the number of delivery trucks could significantly reduce fatalities . `` Traditional lorries are really the most dangerous vehicle we come up against . They account for about 3 % of the total vehicle fleet in Europe , but 18 % of fatal road accidents . About 22 % of cyclists killed in the EU are killed in collisions with good vehicles and public transport , '' he notes . Despite the many benefits to getting cargo bikes on the road , Rzewnicki finds that one of the biggest hurdles his mission faces is a misconception of what is transferable by bike . In point of fact , there are few limitations . King says some of the more unusual things they transport include medical samples and human tissue for local hospitals . `` We 've taken heart valves , and eyes , and all sorts , '' he notes . In Copenhagen , a local sperm bank even developed a sperm-shaped bicycle that carries ( you guessed it ) sperm . To accomplish this , the belly of the bike has been outfitted with a nitrogen-cooled tank set to -320 degrees F to make carting samples around the city a possibility . `` We have about 15 clinics around the city , and we used to find ourselves stuck in traffic a lot of the time . By bike , it 's an easy 20 minute ride between them , '' explains Dr. Peter Bower , the CEO of the European Sperm Bank . While Bower notes he 's `` taken it to the extreme , '' he points out that in the cycle haven that is Copenhagen , cargo bikes are becoming the norm over cars . `` There are plumbers and carpenters and craftsmen that are starting to use bikes to carry a significant load . People here see the advantage of moving quickly through the city with more than you could carry on a regular bike .
Research suggests that 90 % of grocery trips could be made by bicycle . Comment: Though delivery trucks account for 3 % EU of traffic , they contribute to 18 % of fatal accidents .