The old Bath Trams system had a thriving trade in delivering parcels, and other item, (even including long things like beds and timber which were stacked on the stairs). It was possible to order a meal and have it delivered partly by trams. The conductors even had a pair of scales. Local shops used to take in parcels and give them to the tram conductor who would drop them at another shop adjacent to a trams stop. Parcels were even dropped at The Globe for onward transmission to Bristol.
This system could easily be re-introduced and extended in a variety of ways reduce goods vehicle movement within the city, and the entry of delivery HGVs. Most HGVs making deliveries to the city ultimately drop off wheeled baskets which the driver or a shop employee then wheels to the shop which may be some way from the parking place of the HGV.
Bath Trams envisages instead the HGVs parking at any of the numerous trams stops at the periphery of the city ( 11 planned lines terminate away from the city centre) and these baskets being delivered to a team of Freight Captains who will escort them in the off peak trams into the centre and hand them over to other Freight Captains who will wheel them to their destination. The cost of this will be much less than the 1 1/2 hours it can take an HGV to enter, unload and then exit. Unlike the HGVs, the trams all have ultra-low floors for easy access to these baskets.
