Two BBC journalists have launched a mobile studio and office project in the Netherlands called ‘Bike Bureau’, in which they will commute on an electric cargo bike with full on-bike broadcasting equipment to broadcast TV and radio news in a ‘ Delivering Environment “Conscious Way”.

The project, a “pragmatic and sustainable way” to do mobile journalism, has been in the works for a number of years, according to the BBC, and is the brainchild of Anna Holligan, a foreign correspondent based in The Hague, and Kate Vandy, a senior journalist based in Brussels.

They chose the Netherlands to debut the first phase of Bike Bureau because it’s the “perfect place to pilot this project,” the co-creators said.

“It has everything we need to collect news, interviews, and deliver TV and radio shows that connect through our phones and broadcast around the world,” said Holligan, who is also the creator of a series titled “Dutch News from the Cycle Path” is ” and has already cycled 10,000 kilometers since switching from car to bike two years ago for work reasons.

Vandy, who has produced television documentaries such as Climate Change on Trial and Europe’s Cycling Revolution, said they hope Bike Bureau will “help the BBC achieve its goal of becoming the world’s greenest broadcaster”.

BBC said: “The Bike Bureau is an electric cargo bike equipped to offer a self-powered and solar-powered TV and radio life. It is also used for news gathering tasks.” The co-creators added that through this project they will “focus on solutions and seek out positive stories and tech developments that could change lives.”

The move was welcomed by people on social media, with many finding it “inspirational” and calling it a great “innovation”, while a cycling campaign group pointed out: “Another job that often uses vans, now converted into bikes can become. “

However, some also pointed out that the choice of location for the project in the Netherlands was “no surprise” as “the state of cycling infrastructure in the UK is so deplorable”.

BBC, as road.cc readers are now aware, has a controversial relationship with the media’s portrayal of cyclists and cycling infrastructure as low-traffic areas…

> BBC somehow turns David Byrne’s Met Gala cycle into boring helmet talk

Recently, the organization of cyclists and climate activists came under fire for its April Panorama episode entitled “Road Wars: Neighborhood Traffic Chaos” for featuring conspiracy theorists and right-wing lobby groups and pitting them against experts and academics in the name of providing balance remain impartial.

In November, Panorama aired “Road Rage: Cars v Bikes,” an odd title for a TV show that tended to show how vulnerable cyclists are to drivers who overtake them too closely; or not seen at all, as in a case highlighted in the episode we covered at the time.

> More experts, fewer conspiracy theorists on active travel TV shows please

And last year, another Panoramas investigation of “Britain’s Killer Roads” was also criticized for questioning whether policing cuts, breath tests and speed cameras are to blame for the rising death toll on Britain’s roads, rather than the people behind the wheel hold responsible.

We’ll wait and see if Bike Bureau phase two consider plans to extend their project to Britain’s roads soon…