A new bumper plate that lets people safely transport their bike while it is being loaded with cargo or a bag is to be launched this month.
The Bumper Plate for Transport, developed by the UK Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), will be used in cities from London to Dubai.
“It will be a one-of-a-kind bumper plate, which can fit on any bike that is going to be ridden by the public,” says Rob Evans, head of research and development at the TRL.
Bumper plates have been available on bikes for some time, but they are expensive and require a specialised tool for installation.
Evans says this bumper plate will fit on the existing bike racks and can also be mounted on any of the existing racks in London.
It will cost between £5 and £10 to produce, which is a “reasonable price” for a bumper plate.
For those with limited space on their bikes, Evans says it is also cheaper to use a bike rack that is not as large as the existing ones.
As well as being used in large cities like London, the TRT bumper plate is expected to be used at many other locations including museums, shopping malls, and airports.
This is because it is designed to be easily removable and easy to transport on bikes, says Evans.
There are a number of other innovations in the design of this bumper plates.
It is made of metal and is designed for use in high-speed traffic.
In addition to being lightweight, it is flexible enough to be rolled and folded up like a bicycle rack.
And it has been designed to fit over a bike’s seat post, which would make it ideal for people who ride on bikes that have a lower seat post.
These features make it possible to mount the bumper plates on bikes with a variety of bike designs and sizes, Evans adds.
More than one billion people ride a bike every year, and while there are currently only about 15 million bumper plates in use, this is expected for the bumper plate to increase to 25 million by 2020, he says.
One of the biggest problems people face when cycling is having to deal with people who don’t know where their bike is parked, he adds.
“We want to solve that problem by providing a safety net, where people can easily access their bike if they need to, and not having to wait in traffic for an hour to get home.”
It has been a long time coming, but the TRl’s bumper plates have already been tested and accepted by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
The TRL has a number more innovations planned for the technology, such as a helmet rack, so that it can be used with other equipment, like a wheeled vehicle, which will make it more attractive for people to ride bikes.
Other innovations include a self-latching system that will keep the bumperplates on the bike, and a system for attaching the bumperplate to the bike.
Its been designed for the safety of the people riding the bike and the public, but it could also be used for commercial purposes.
But what about the environment?
The technology has been developed using a range of research projects, and is now being tested in real-world conditions, says John O’Sullivan, a consultant at the NTA.
That is because the TRP bumper plate works well in urban areas where parking lots are already full, says O’Collins.
He says there are several studies showing that bumper plates can help people save money on fuel and reduce emissions, but there is a lot of work to be done before the technology is fully used in the UK.
With the new system expected to arrive in 2020, the Trl has said it will be in full-time use by 2020.
If it works as well as the TRN bumper plates are believed to, the technology could become one of the safest ways to transport a bike around.
Image: TRLSource: TRTL