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COVID-19 has represented a watershed in people's lifestyle. One important consequence has been the change in how people buy groceries online/offline that represent the most frequent shopping-related trip any household performs. Since this has substantially different transport and environmental implications, it is crucial to investigate what are the COVID-19-induced variations. This paper estimates both travel and environmental impacts grocery channel choice implies by comparing, in a diachronic fashion, the pre and during COVID-19 situation in Norway, considering alternative scenarios describing different service configurations for each channel considered. Stated preferences are used to estimate market shares for grocery purchase distinguishing between different channels: in-store, home delivery and click&pick. The robust comparative analysis between the two time periods is guaranteed by the use of the same methodological approach in the same geographical context. Results show that total emissions are lower during the pandemic and adopting a free delivery strategy not only increases home delivery market shares but also produces the lowest level of CO2 emissions regardless of COVID-19. The results obtained are particularly relevant in the "new normal" the world is experiencing both from a public policymaking perspective, when promoting transport-related interventions to curb emissions, and from a private standpoint, when customising market strategies to increase sales and profits. • COVID-19 has represented a watershed in people's lifestyle. • Investigating changes in how people buy groceries online/offline is important. • Stated preferences are used to estimate grocery market shares for different channels. • The paper estimates travel and environmental impacts pre and during COVID-19 via scenario analysis. • Results are particularly relevant for both the public and private sector in the "new normal" conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of construction projects largely determines the development of modern cities. However, such projects impact both urban freight transport and residents. To reduce this impact, increasingly more attention has been paid to the issues of sustainable development. Sustainable urban freight transport has become a priority for European cities. It also contributes to construction supplies. This article presents the results of analyzing construction supplies and the assessment of their compliance with the principles of sustainable development using the example of the city of Szczecin. This allows for the diagnosis of problems in this area, and solutions in the field of sustainable construction are collected. The presented research includes unstructured observation of construction projects in progress, structured interviews with entities implementing construction projects in Szczecin, and additional expert research to identify solutions in the field of sustainable construction supply in cities. This enables the research objective to be achieved and conclusions to be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many European local authorities have set up Urban Consolidation Centres (UCC) for dealing with challenges arising from the environmental and social impacts of logistical activities in urban contexts through shipment synchronisation and carrier coordination policies. However, the number of successful UCC projects led by local authorities in Europe is low, with most of the UCCs failing to achieve financial sustainability after the initial experimental phase, which is often heavily supported by public funds. In order to propose mechanisms that could favour the economic and financial sustainability of UCC systems, this research develops an adaptation of game-theoretic approaches to the problems of responsibility and cost allocation among stakeholders participating in a UCC delivery network. A solution based on the Shapley Value concept is employed to derive cost allocations; applications of the model to a real-world scenario are evaluated. An extensive sensitivity analysis shows that the proposed cost allocation rules can provide alternative arrangements, based on extended responsibility concepts, which can alleviate the burden on local authorities for the set up of UCCs. As such, results provide useful policy and practice implications on how to safeguard UCCs' viability under different scenarios, including the outsourcing of the last-mile deliveries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online retail channels increasingly shape consumers' purchase behaviour: we access a diversity of product types through web-shops; employ both smartphones and digital screens in stores; navigate the retail space by browsing online; and order pantry items, fresh groceries as well as prepared foods to be delivered at our doorsteps. The profound impact of online retail on mobility in cities, where the concentration of consumers resides, is, therefore, an extensively investigated and growing topic of interest in research. In the field of urban logistics, studies that evaluate the various impacts of e-commerce or propose efficiency or sustainability-enhancing applications are plentiful. Regardless, the general lack of solid urban e-commerce logistics data is supported widely. In this study, we systematically review the literature to identify and compare the types of e-commerce data that are currently known, employed and disclosed in urban logistics research as well as the data sources that provide access to them. Within the set of identified data, knowledge concentrates on consumer preferences and number of deliveries related to e-commerce. However, our findings confirm the general data paucity, specifically on delivery trip-related information such as deliveries per trip, number of delivery rounds and vehicle specificities. Discrepancies are found in methodologies to collect and compile data, as well as data units used (e.g., orders, parcels, deliveries) that cause large variations in information possibly diverging from reality. The study contributes to current literature and practice by compiling and analysing currently available data on urban e-commerce logistics and by presenting recommendations and best practices for future enhancements in this research field. Based on the systematic literature review, we propose a common data agenda for urban e-commerce logistics research, focused on addressing data gaps and topics that are under-developed and un-developed; pursuing data collection standardisation; disclosing data collection methodologies and sources; and specifying temporal and spatial information as well as units of data. Some data methodologies and sources can be recommended for future research: using interviews to collect quantitative data; collaborating with sector organisations; exploring open maps; employing existing household and time use surveys; and leveraging technological opportunities and new ways of collecting data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A collaborative freight transport service for the urban freight transport system. • Dynamic passenger demand loading on Scheduled Line services. • The capacity allocation events encourage seamless freight movements within limited restrictions. • The MOBDE algorithm with no pre-determined control parameters is employed to solve MOO problem. • Computational results show good performance metrics in terms of capacity matching. Worldwide, urban freight transport demand has rapidly expanded. Collaborative freight transport service, which integrates existing public transport system into the freight transport service, would be a promising solution to solve such post-pandemic urban freight transport problem. While most of the previous research works on this topic considered the operation of the public transport service and freight delivery service separately, this paper would focus on how to determine coordinated operational strategies of the participating public transport and freight transport services in a cooperative regime. Specifically, the definition of the capacity allocation event is proposed to encourage more seamless freight movements at transfer hubs within the given limited temporal restrictions while considering both the travel delay for public transport passengers and all incurred operational costs for offering the collaborative freight transport service. To this end, we propose a multi-objective mathematical model to describe the operation design of the collaborative freight transport service, aiming to maximize the synchronized freight movement at transfer hub and minimize the incurred passenger travel delay and operational costs. A Multi-objective Bernstein Basis Differential Evolution (MOBDE) solution method, requiring no pre-determined control parameters, is employed to find the optimal solution efficiently. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the validity of the model formulation and efficiency of the solution method for the operation design of collaborative freight transport services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canals and canalized rivers form a major part of surface water systems in European delta cities and societal ambitions to use these waters increase. This is the first assessment of how suitability of these waters can improve for three important uses: transportation, thermal energy extraction (TEE) and recreation. We assess suitability with Suitability Indices (SIs) and identify which alterations in the water system are needed to improve SI scores in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Ghent, Belgium. The results show spatial variability in suitability scores. Current suitability for transportation is low (SI score = 1) to excellent (SI score = 4), for TEE fair (SI score = 2) to excellent (SI score = 4), and suitability for recreation is low (SI score = 1). Suitability could improve by enlarging specific waterway dimensions, increasing discharge and clarity, and by enhancing microbiological water quality. The same methodology can be applied to optimize designs for new water bodies and for more water uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing demand for urban freight transportation, trucks emit a large amount of pollutants such as particulate matters and nitrogen oxides, increasingly affecting public health. This study establishes a modelized air dispersion structure to simulate pollutant concentration distribution. By integrating multiple data sources including mobile phone signals and satellite images, we reconstruct the daily trajectories of individuals and further incorporate simulated pollution concentrations in calculating dynamic and static exposure of individuals to truck emissions. Econometric models considering spatial dependence are developed to evaluate the influencing factors and elucidate the mechanisms of pollutant exposure. Results show factors including freight demand, road network, residential and employment locations, personal commuting distance, and population age structure matter in assessing truck emission exposure. As a result, a mixture of vehicular emission standards, urban traffic control, land planning, and industrial policies is proposed to reduce truck pollutant exposure and safeguard public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The location of warehouses is strategic for urban goods distribution, and the decision factors are subjective. This paper aims to analyse the contributing factors to warehouse location and describe the association between local attributes and the explanatory variables of a Warehouse Freight Trip Generation Model (WFTGM). We developed this study using data from 42 warehouses located in Belo Horizonte (Brazil). The results indicated that the accessibility to/from warehouses and the land cost are the most critical factors contributing to warehouse location decision. Additionally, the accessibility of trucks for delivery has a strong positive correlation with the accessibility of freight vehicles for loading. The land cost negatively correlates with all factors except the employee's accessibility, indicating an antagonistic relationship with other variables. Considering the Warehouse Freight Trip Generation Model, the warehouse-size related variables provided the best-fit models. Additionally, the warehouse size is not independent of the neighbourhoods' population and distance to the main ring roads traversing this city. The results support the development of public policies related to new warehouses' licensing process and offer guidance on warehouses' location in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document diagnoses the effects of the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) in the study of the demand for urban freight transport, by means of a comparison of different analysis scales to determine the relevance of working with different levels of detail. It is recommended to analyze the number of retail businesses, because they are the ones that mainly attract urban freight transport, and other variables of a socio-territorial type, considering three different spatial units: basic geostatistical area, electoral section, and regular 500-by-500-meter grids. For each scale, descriptive statistics parameters, correlation between variables, as well as global and local spatial autocorrelation (Moran-LISA's I) were obtained to determine the impact of the MAUP. The results obtained show that the electoral sections do not result in an adequate scale, unless it is used as a complementary scale, since the statistical results indicate a greater variation. However, its cartographic representation allows seeing spatial groupings that are not observed in the other scales, which can be a valuable contribution. In the case of the Basic Geostatistical Area (BGA) scale and the 500-by-500-meter grids, data show less dispersion. The variables analyzed show a greater correlation and present a greater global spatial autocorrelation, which is why it is determined that they may be the most appropriate scales to model the transport of merchandise in the study area. The site that had no discrepancy, regardless of the scale of analysis, was the historic downtown of the city of Toluca, so it can be considered a priority site based on its demand for merchandise and territorial characteristics, where regulation and transport control alternatives can be incorporated, as well as the creation of infrastructure to make deliv-eries more efficient and to mitigate its negative impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charging services play an important role in encouraging the growth of the electric freight vehicle (EFV) market. Understanding charging strategies and their influence on charging behavior is crucial in the deployment of charging services. Unfortunately, existing charging strategy definitions and types are incoherent and incomplete. This conceptual paper synthesizes the perspectives found in literature on the charging strategy concept, and provides a definition based on Orlikowski's structurational model of technology. A two-level charging strategy typology is proposed. The first distinguishes between decision-making modes: schedule- or trigger-based decisions. The second identifies when and where charging is used during a vehicle operating cycle. The result is three schedule-based charging strategies: downtime, opportunity, and intrusive charging, and one trigger-based emergency charging. The selection of strategy depends on the EFV operations, the availability of charging systems and services, as well as the driver behaviour. The influence of the strategy on enhancing the EFV, the carrier operations and business model is discussed. Charging behaviour, especially in location and timing, is shown to be strongly dependent on the strategy. While downtime charging is considered the default strategy, carriers should employ a variety of complementary strategies to enhance the capability of their vehicles and improve the financial viability of the operations. Carriers should also have an emergency charging strategy on hand in case of unforeseen situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The option of decarbonizing urban freight transport using battery electric vehicle (BEV) seems promising. However, there is currently a strong debate whether fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) might be the better solution. The question arises as to how a fleet of FCEV influences the operating cost, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and primary energy demand in comparison to BEVs and to Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle (ICEV). To investigate this, we simulate the urban food retailing as a representative share of urban freight transport using a multi-agent transport simulation software. Synthetic routes as well as fleet size and composition are determined by solving a vehicle routing problem. We compute the operating costs using a total cost of ownership analysis and the use phase emissions as well as primary energy demand using the well to wheel approach. While a change to BEV results in 17–23% higher costs compared to ICEV, using FCEVs leads to 22–57% higher costs. Assuming today's electricity mix, we show a GHG emission reduction of 25% compared to the ICEV base case when using BEV. Current hydrogen production leads to a GHG reduction of 33% when using FCEV which however cannot be scaled to larger fleets. Using current electricity in electrolysis will increase GHG emission by 60% compared to the base case. Assuming 100% renewable electricity for charging and hydrogen production, the reduction from FCEVs rises to 73% and from BEV to 92%. The primary energy requirement for BEV is in all cases lower and for higher compared to the base case. We conclude that while FCEV have a slightly higher GHG savings potential with current hydrogen, BEV are the favored technology for urban freight transport from an economic and ecological point of view, considering the increasing shares of renewable energies in the grid mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crowd logistics is believed to be an innovative idea that can solve the dilemma lying in the scattered transportation resources and unstable demands of urban freight transport. However, the negative interactions among the participants have left crowd logistics an unstable development. In order to reveal the interactions, which occur under the bounded rationality and discover influencing factors to participants' strategy selections, this article develops the system evolutionary game model and system dynamics model. Also, it investigates how tripartite participants respond to the governance policies under static and dynamic scenario. The simulation results show that dynamic scenario has a better performance in restraining strategy fluctuations among the participants. Under the dynamic scenario, the strategy combination of participants eventually converges to the evolutionarily stable strategy. The probability that shippers adopt "price-exploitation" strategy is positively correlated with extra profits while negatively correlated with the upper bond of the penalties. The profits are the key factor affecting the willingness of drivers joining crowd logistics platform (CLP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of efficiency in the use of the on-street infrastructure dedicated to loading and unloading freight in the city, with their shortage and inefficient placement, generates congestion and delays during urban freight deliveries. An exploratory study is presented on the feasibility of incorporating technology into the management of dedicated loading/unloading areas for urban logistics in downtown Montevideo (Uruguay). After data of the neighborhood was collected, and the main stakeholder interest gathered, the paper analyzes a feasible technological solution to the problem, considering the restrictions posed by the stakeholders for sharing information. Due to the increasing influence of blockchain and its implementation for specific logistic problems, such as product traceability, the introduction of blockchain as part of the solution is considered and discussed in the system architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to develop a new method for freight movement in urban areas by combining a light rail transit system and a road transport system to distribute and deliver parcels. Utilisation of light rail transportation systems for parcel delivery can help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in cities. This paper presents a location–allocation model to determine the optimum number and location of light rail stations suitable to establish rail distribution hubs, in a bid to minimise transportation costs. A case study is conducted to assess this approach in the city of Bangkok. The results show that the cost, time, and distance of transportation can be reduced by 10%, 16.67%, and 33.33%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for logistics has been one of the biggest issues to be resolved for all settlements in all eras of humanity. Infrastructure problems are likely to occur over time in cities that have grown more than expected. It is accepted all over the world today that the solution of the logistics problem in such settlements is to improve the infrastructure and balance the transportation demand between different modes of transportation and to establish special centers where integrated activities will be carried out. Choosing the location of these logistics centers by decision makers raises a "prioritized" cost problem. A subject became widespread in the last decade in Turkey has been selected. The current situation of the logistic villages has been evaluated and a construction ranking has been obtained. This study constituted a verification for the state-ordered construction sequence. It is believed that simple and understandable construction needs can guide decision makers in the logistics village study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commonly encountered in cold chain logistics, third-party distribution firms are required to deliver temperature-sensitive food products to various retailers with two kinds of time-window constraints: (1) the delivery service must begin within the time windows imposed by the retailers (called node time windows) and (2) each vehicle route is available only in a predefined time interval prescribed by the government (called arc time windows). We study the effects of the retailer time window type (i.e., density of the node time-window constraints) and other cost-related factors on a distribution firm's legitimacy choice (i.e., the firm chooses to either comply with or violate the governmental time-window policy), food quality, and pollutant emissions in the urban environment. We model the problem as an intractable vehicle routing problem with node and arc time windows and develop a genetic algorithm to tackle it. We conduct a case study to generate the managerial insights on dealing with time windows. We find that the governmental time windows will increase the distribution cost. The governmental time windows has a negative effect on pollutant emissions while showing a positive effect on food safety. Given governmental time windows, a higher demand for node time windows will result in more governmental time-window violations or lower vehicle load factor, which depends on the vehicle fixed cost, fuel price, and government penalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freight curbside management has become a contentious issue as various stakeholders claim access to public urban space. Although prior research has offered solutions to mitigate freight-related conflicts in the use of space, a deeper understanding of the extent to which those interventions contribute to cities' sustainable development goals is needed. This paper presents the results of a meta -analysis that examines the effects of four freight curbside interventions: curbside space allocation for freight, data sharing, parking duration limits, and enforcement. The paper pinpoints benefits and drawbacks of those interventions on last-mile deliveries, the urban environment, and the use of public transport infrastructure. The findings suggest positive impacts and underscore the necessity of incorporating people-centred approaches in the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies concerning public space. Nevertheless, trade-offs when implementing those interventions have been identified. The paper concludes by outlining directions for future research and suggesting implications for urban freight policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an optimization framework for urban transportation networks' (re-)design which explicitly takes into account the specific decision-making processes of ordinary users and logistic operators. Ordinary users are typically commuters whose travels consist of well-defined pairs of origin and destination points, while logistic operators make deliveries at multiple locations. Obviously, these two user classes have different objectives and scopes of action. These differences are seldom considered in traffic research since most models aggregate the flow demand in OD matrices and use assignment models to predict the response of all users as if the dynamics of their optimization processes were of the same nature. This work demonstrates that better results can be achieved if the particular features of each user class are included in the models. It potentially improves the estimation of the responses and allows managers to shape their control measures to address specific user needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a review of models and decision support systems for urban freight transport (UFT). The originality of this study is that the analysis framework has been developed to outline the progress on UFT specifically related to the sustainability issue. Accordingly, contributions regarding UFT and addressing at least one factor of sustainability have been analysed by cross-referencing categories of models with impacts on sustainability. Results from this work are supposed to help enhance research concerning operations research (OR) for sustainable UFT by pointing out gaps that need to be closed and opportunities for future research. There is also an attempt to understand what is stopping researchers from including selected sustainability factors in the optimisation models. This paper also finally proposes some developments, not only in the OR field, that are preparatory for elaborating new models or improving the existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Individual freight transport policies have been investigated in the literature extensively in the last 10–15 years, yet there has surprisingly been very little attention to the process of selecting urban freight transport (UFT) policy measures. This study focuses on UFT policy choice by local authorities, investigating how policy context, resource availability and the need for legitimacy influence how local authorities seek and select UFT specific policies. The methodology is a cross-case analysis of eleven cities across three countries (Sweden, England and Scotland), based on interview and documentary data. Findings reveal that all cities have the same high-level goals, such as reducing emissions and congestion, supporting the economy and improving quality of life. However, in most cases these rather general goals are not broken down into clear objectives with targets that can be measured. Therefore, selected UFT policy measures are chosen from a pool of common measures (primarily access restrictions such as time windows and weight restrictions), but without monitored targets that determine whether or not they are achieving objectives. This does not necessarily mean that the measures chosen are inappropriate, but that there is a lack of a strategic approach to setting and reviewing measures according to achieving specific policy goals. This is primarily a result of a lack of resources and dedicated UFT personnel, as well as challenges related to public acceptability of restrictive policies. Highlights • All cities have the same high-level goals, such as reducing emissions and congestion. • Goals are not broken down into clear objectives with targets that can be measured. • UFT measures chosen from a pool of commonly accepted measures. • Main challenges were a lack of dedicated UFT personnel and public acceptability. • Need for increased learning from and collaboration with private sector operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Total cost of ownership of light commercial vehicles in EU is assessed. • Electric light commercial vehicles cost-competitiveness is not uniform across EU. • Total cost of ownership varies with market conditions, vehicle type and incentives. • Financial incentives are necessary to reach electric vehicles cost-competitiveness. • Financial incentives are diverse and not optimized for light commercial vehicles. Many EU countries have used financial incentives to promote electric light commercial vehicles and decarbonise urban freight transport. However, the high costs of electric light commercial vehicles still pose a significant adoption barrier. This paper evaluates the impact of financial incentives on the total cost of ownership of electric light commercial vehicles in the European Union and their role in achieving the cost-competitiveness of electric vehicles. A pairwise comparison is performed for three weight categories of electric and diesel vehicles in twelve countries. Our analysis shows that financial incentives have a high impact on the total cost of ownership and have proven necessary to achieve electric vehicles' cost-competitiveness in most cases. However, in specific cases, financial incentives may no longer be needed as the cost of electric vehicles' ownership would have been lower than diesel vehicles even without them. This paper demonstrates the importance of adjusting government incentives to avoid unnecessary funding allocations while promoting the decarbonisation of light commercial vehicles, particularly as the number of incentives does not directly correlate with electric vehicles penetration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of electric vehicles (EVs) lies in the fact that they are seen as a key solution to the climate change problem. In the last decade, this topic has received significant interest from the scientific community, contributing to publications in different areas. However, the existing literature is fragmented, and efforts have not been made to categorize and analyze it from a freight logistics perspective. This work aims to fill this gap by presenting a systematic literature review (SLR) of the potential impacts of EVs on sustainable road-freight transport operations, including in urban areas. We reviewed 237 peer-reviewed articles for bibliometric and literature classification analysis, whereby 119 articles were subsequently studied for content analysis and research gaps related to sustainability approaches. The bibliometric analysis showed significant growth in the body of research in the past two years, reflected in the number of journal papers, authors, and references. In the literature and keywords analysis, we identified five main categories and research areas: economic and competitive aspects, city logistics, environmental sustainability, vehicle fleet operations, and infrastructure and technology. In addition, this paper revealed eight key research gaps for future research: multimodal integration, long-haul and heavy-duty truck approaches, emerging economies, business models, social factors, charging infrastructure inclusion, and fleet replacement policies. These findings can enlighten researchers and practitioners toward sustainable research and real-life applications of electromobility in freight logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a framework that supports the collection and classification of information about the features of a city relevant to Urban Freight Transport (UFT). The information is organized in a framework of 28 different layers that are then stored in a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool to enable efficient data retrieval and effective information graphical display. The resulting GIS tool thus represents a decision support system for UFT problems, providing decision makers and stakeholders with a wide range of easy to understand information aimed to support the identification and preliminary evaluation of UFT solutions. Moreover, by providing a standardized set of features and sources of information, the framework enables the comparison of different cities. To illustrate the benefits, prototypical real-scale tests based on the framework have been realized in two mid-sized European cities: Bergamo (North of Italy) and Luxembourg. For both cities, data were mainly collected from publicly available sources and organized according to the framework. The data and information collected have been used in collaboration with the stakeholders in order to identify the priorities of intervention and evaluate alternative UFT solutions. The real-scale applications confirmed the usability and effectiveness of the framework in engaging stakeholders and support the process of envisioning shared UFT solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities' sustainability strategies seem to aim at the reduction of the negative impacts of urban freight transport. In the past decades, many public and private initiatives have struggled to gain broad stakeholder support and thus remain viable. Researchers and practitioners have only recently recognised stakeholder acceptance of urban freight solutions as a challenge. A first step in achieving convergence is to understand stakeholder needs, preferences and viewpoints. This paper proposes and applies an approach to identify the main stakeholder perspectives in the domain of urban freight transport. We use Q-methodology, which originates from social sciences and psychology, to record subjective positions and identify the dominant ones. We explain the approach, operationalise the method for the domain of urban freight transport and apply it to stakeholder groups in the Netherlands. We find four dominant perspectives, reflecting how stakeholders normally take positions in the urban freight dialogue. Important findings concern disparities between industry associations and some of their membership, divergent views about the expected role of public administration, and the observation that the behaviour of shippers and Logistics Service Providers (LSP) appears to be inconsistent with their beliefs. All these factors together can act as a barrier to the implementation of urban freight consolidation concepts. The Q-methodology is valuable for eliciting perspectives in urban freight and is a promising tool to facilitate stakeholder dialogue and, eventually, convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A game theoretic model is developed to obtain efficient joint time windows. • Cooperation between the cities is considered. • Regression models are developed to represent the city satisfaction score functions. • A case study of three cities and three retail chains is presented. • It is possible to obtain time windows, that improve all the city satisfactions. Abstract Many cities have implemented delivery time windows, which limit city center access for freight vehicles. Each city determines its time windows independently. However, time window restrictions of one city also affect store deliveries in neighbouring cities, since retailers combine deliveries to customers in different cities in a single trip. We develop a cooperative game-theoretic approach to find better time windows than those currently used. A study of three cities and three retail chains illustrates the approach. Compared to the current situation, we find time windows that improve all the city satisfactions, while they hardly impact the retailers' efficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s European urban freight transport has undergone several major changes with direct impact on vehicle use patterns. These include (i) freight vehicle downsizing and (ii) the dieselisation of van fleets (formally referred to as light commercial vehicles or LCVs). More recently, a new possible trend has started to emerge, mainly related to alternative fuelled LCVs for reducing air pollution emissions in urban areas. Electric LCVs up to 3.5 tons are considered a suitable option for last mile operations, yet only a few last mile operators are replacing their diesel fleets with electric vans. In order to probe electric LCV acceptance in the freight transport sector, we conducted 15 experiment-oriented interviews with urban freight transport and service operators who tested and adopted electric vans, exploring technical and operational obstacles in daily operations in Paris and London. Additional interviews (8) have been conducted with policymakers, to update the initial survey. The results show that, in addition to range concerns issues, last mile operators’ perception and acceptance of electric vans are affected by other concerns, such as queue, payload and grid anxieties. A number of financial and non-financial incentives to foster the adoption of electric vans are identified and compared by considering the cities of Paris and London. The research also explored potential policy tools for mitigating the detected barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several indicators have been established to monitor and evaluate the sustainability of cities. Logistics and related transportation activities are underrepresented in these established frameworks despite the substantial negative impact of urban freight transport (UFT) on the environment, society and economy. The result is the lack of an understanding of freight flows' impact on the liveability of cities. This paper fills this gap by introducing a comprehensive set of freight transport related indicators with an operational target in policy support and urban planning. It provides a discussion of its hierarchical design and 45 indicators. Using this indicator set, local authorities can assess and enhance UFT sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered as a feasible alternative to traditional vehicles. Few studies have addressed the impacts of policies supporting EVs in urban freight transport. To cast light on this topic, we established a framework combining an optimization model with economic analysis to determine the optimal behavior of an individual delivery service provider company and social impacts (e.g., externalities and welfare) in response to policies designed to support EVs, such as purchase subsidy, limited access (zone fee) to congestion/low-emission zones with exemptions for EVs, and vehicle taxes with exemptions for EVs. Numerical experiments showed that the zone fee can increase the company’s total logistics costs but improve the social welfare. It greatly reduced the external cost inside the congestion/low-emission zone with a high population, dense pollution, and heavy traffic. The vehicle taxes and subsidy were found to have the same influence on the company and society, although they have different effects with low tax/subsidy rates because their different effects on vehicle routing plans. Finally, we performed a sensitivity analysis. Local factors at the company and city levels (e.g., types of vehicle and transport network) are also important to designing efficient policies for urban logistics that support EVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to explore the intersection between two streams of literature: port cities and port-centric logistics. While many ports have moved out of city locations, partly facilitated by intermodal corridors, some ports remain in city locations, many retaining a large share of distribution activity in or near the port. This paper will consider distribution challenges arising from the port-city dynamic in relation to the port-inland distribution axis, in particular the role of port and city planners and decision makers in managing this process. The case analysis is based on the Port of Gothenburg, the largest port in Scandinavia. Findings suggest that the majority of influencing factors are marginally in favour of siting distribution facilities inland rather than near the port, yet city planning and national sentiment continue to incentivise development near the port. There are two conclusions for the port-centric city. First, it needs to coordinate its logistics from a regional perspective, determine what activities belong near the port and not compete with inland locations for what is better located there. Second, port-centric logistics needs to be better aligned with an urban freight transport and city logistics perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric freight vehicles have the potential to mitigate local urban road freight transport emissions, but their numbers are still insignificant. Logistics companies often consider electric vehicles as too costly compared to vehicles powered by combustion engines. Research within the body of the current literature suggests that increasing the driven mileage can enhance the competitiveness of electric freight vehicles. In this paper we develop a numeric simulation approach to analyze the cost-optimal balance between a high utilization of medium-duty electric vehicles – which often have low operational costs – and the common requirement that their batteries will need expensive replacements. Our work relies on empirical findings of the real-world energy consumption from a large German field test with medium-duty electric vehicles. Our results suggest that increasing the range to the technical maximum by intermediate (quick) charging and multi-shift usage is not the most cost-efficient strategy in every case. A low daily mileage is more cost-efficient at high energy prices or consumptions, relative to diesel prices or consumptions, or if the battery is not safeguarded by a long warranty. In practical applications our model may help companies to choose the most suitable electric vehicle for the application purpose or the optimal trip length from a given set of options. For policymakers, our analysis provides insights on the relevant parameters that may either reduce the cost gap at lower daily mileages, or increase the utilization of medium-duty electric vehicles, in order to abate the negative impact of urban road freight transport on the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper proposes an innovative approach to decision-making processes for urban freight planning that could easily be transferred across cities while capable of jointly taking into account: (1) all the conceivable and updated urban freight transport (UFT) measures that should apply to the specific city culture, structure and evolution, (2) all the relevant stakeholders and successfully involve them from the beginning, (3) behavioural, technical, operational, organisational and financial issues. Methods: The methodology is organised and deployed in three phases, following three different approaches, i.e.: a 'desk approach' for data acquisition and knowledge-based policy rankings; a 'living lab approach' to foster stakeholders' engagement in co-creating policies; a 'modelling approach' to evaluate policies and find/define an optimised mix of shared applicable/effective policies. Results: The three-phase methodology supports public authorities in: (a) increasing knowledge and understanding of the most innovative context-specific UFT policies; (b) integrating UFT policies in strategic urban planning via collaborative participation/governance processes; (c) developing an ex-ante behaviourally consistent, financially robust and technically compatible assessment of shared UFT policy mixes while providing appropriate instruments to facilitate policy adoption and deployment. Conclusions: The proposed methodology contributes to the identification and development of effective UFT solutions. Bringing together knowledge acquisition, policy co-creation, behaviour change analysis within a single methodological approach, aimed at identifying an optimised policy package, is both new and needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Passenger car occupancy has been falling for years. Partly empty vehicles on our road networks decrease passenger transport sustainability but also contain an opportunity for freight transport. Within Crowd logistics (CL), delivery operations are carried out by using passengers' excess capacity on journeys that are already taking place, resulting in economic, social and environmental benefits. Existing CL initiatives show, however, that there are important differences between concepts in terms of sustainability. The research aims to develop a suitable and comprehensive definition for CL and identify which factors determine the sustainability potential of CL. Methods: We systematically analysed a set of 42 papers and interviewed 11 logistics practitioners in order to capture the state of practice. Results: Following the literature and interviews, we firstly define CL as ' an information connectivity enabled marketplace concept that matches supply and demand for logistics services with an undefined and external crowd that has free capacity with regards to time and/or space, participates on a voluntary basis and is compensated accordingly'. Secondly, we identify a set of 18 characteristics that can describe the variety of CL concepts. Thirdly, we indicate whether the identified characteristics affect the economy, society and/or environment. The research shows that all characteristics influence economic sustainability while 11 characteristics also affect social and/or environmental sustainability. Conclusions: Our research helps local policy-makers to adapt laws and regulations to the sharing economy developments and provides insight for businesses which CL concept fits their company's corporate social responsibility strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relations between perceived urban freight delivery parking issues and commercial establishment characteristics, their associated distribution channels, delivery operation patterns and local land use patterns using a structural equations modeling framework. The main motivation is to test hypothesized relations between urban freight delivery parking issues and the aforementioned factors as a way to perform an indirect, but informative, freight infrastructure adequacy assessment. The hypothesized model structure makes it possible to examine, for example, if the distribution channel characteristics (e.g., the most frequently used delivery vehicle type) can be linked to a certain type of parking behavior/preference, due to operation requirements, which could result in perceived urban freight delivery parking issues. The chosen variables are assembled from a plethora of sources. Establishment characteristics include size, number of employees and weekly deliveries, with this data being gathered using an establishment-based freight survey. Distribution channels are characterized by the predominant delivery agent and vehicle type. Delivery operations are represented by the most common parking location. Finally, the perceived issues include vehicles blocking other vehicles, lack of loading/unloading bays and illegal parking in loading/unloading bays. The land use data is obtained from parking records, the OpenStreetMap repository, the Portuguese National Statistics Institute (e.g., information on residents) and the City Council’s retail establishments’ census. The results show that, in general, the hypothesized relationships hold true. Perceived urban freight delivery parking issues are a function of the establishment characteristics, their distribution channels and delivery operations patterns. Weekly deliveries are dependent on distribution channels and establishment characteristics. Finally, weekly deliveries’ frequency did not seem to influence the perceived urban freight delivery parking issues. This supports the hypothesis that the retailers’ judgement is not biased by the frequency of said operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvement of operational efficiency is a common goal of most governmental freight transport policies. Productivity and efficiency analysis consequently provides a sound knowledge base. This paper illustrates how axiomatic production theory can be applied to model road freight transport, and proposes a logistics efficiency measure as the function representation. Based thereon, a logistics productivity index that decomposes into technical, cargo mix, vehicle capacity, and efficiency changes is established to determine the rate and drivers of growth. Emphasizing urban logistics, the paper discusses the limited access to reliable data at the micro level and illustrates how local or regional freight transport can be evaluated applying pseudo panel techniques to national freight surveys. Correspondingly, the theoretical productivity index is implemented on a pseudo panel covering the 24 largest cities in Norway between 2008 and 2012, when 12 of them entered a collaboration agreement to promote efficient transport. The results indicate a modest 0.6% average productivity growth. Efficiency change is the key driver of growth, countered by technical stagnation and regress. Negative productivity growth is expected if this trend continues. Moreover, the results do not reveal productivity gains from urban agglomeration or membership of the collaboration agreement, suggesting that prevailing transport and land use policies have so far been unable to foster productivity growth in urban freight transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies in Germany to support electric vehicles, which are free of exhaust emissions, mostly focus on urban road passenger transport. However, road freight vehicles are a main source of the traffic air pollutants and noise emissions in cities. Available vehicle types, tour planning and purchase decisions in urban road freight transport differ from the passenger transport segment. The political and scientific literature lacks a comprehensive discussion of specific policy measures to support electric urban road freight vehicles. This article contributes to the existing body of knowledge, by undertaking a multi-criteria analysis of policy measures to support battery electric freight vehicles based on the rating by two stakeholder groups, “policymakers” and “freight electric vehicle users”. These stakeholders rate 23 policy measures as suggested in the literature or which are implemented in European countries. In comparing and ranking the rating results of the groups, we find that the discordance between the groups can be large and offers noticeable insight and room for future research and practice. Although financial support of electric vehicles is often named in the literature as the primary measure to overcome the total cost of ownership gap of freight electric vehicles, the current study shows that the effect of special legal measures and supporting the setup of company-charging infrastructure are underestimated by the policymakers. Recommendable policy options – beyond several fiscal measures – are to request emission-free vehicles in municipal tenders, to allow drivers with a class B license to drive freight EVs over 3.5 tons, or to implement a city toll on the long-term. The practicability of other policy measures depends on the local implementation goals of the municipality. Hence, a transparent debate on the aim of supporting electric freight mobility is as necessary as choosing measures targeted at the freight transportation segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities, characterised by scarce resources and facing increasing citizens’ requests for more liveable and attractive environments, need to define and implement more efficient urban freight transport policy interventions. It is strategically relevant to perform an ex-ante in-depth policy evaluation. The paper aims at investigating the relevance, the needs and the implications of the data acquisition process by combining a focused review with an original research study. It critically compares five categories of methodological approaches adopted for policy evaluation purposes with an explicit focus on the stated preference method given its behavioural peculiarity and robustness. The review, following a systematic procedure where scientific quality is complemented by relevance and coverage, underlines a high variability in the level of sophistication for data acquisition. While a stakeholder-specific approach seems natural in all those cases where local authorities want to adopt distinct policy instruments for each stakeholder, this is also needed when homogeneous policies impacting the various stakeholders are tested. Stakeholder-specific data acquisition translates into the creation of multiple experimental designs, explicitly conceived for each stakeholder considered. A case study, intended to compare two alternative strategies for data acquisition, provides a quantitative measure of potential distortions in policy evaluation due to the adoption of a stakeholder-generic approach. Results, in terms of willingness to pay measures, show that a stakeholder-specific approach is needed not only when modelling but also in the data acquisition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the characteristics of urban freight transport in Rome, Barcelona, and Santander and the logistics measures being implemented in the three cities. The analysis is based on three similar surveys carried out in recent years involving interviews with retailers and transport operators. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the similarities and differences in terms of spatial patterns, current regulations, socioeconomic characteristics, commercial structures, freight demand characteristics, and current distribution patterns followed by different transport and logistics operators. The study shows that there are some different patterns of urban distribution that need to be taken into account when implementing city logistics measures in order to meet desired sustainability goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of shared mobility has recently challenged the way mobility has traditionally been conceived. In this perspective, this study investigates the Environmental Life Cycle Costs of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) services to evaluate their potential integration with other transport systems, in the three-time horizons (2025, 2030, 2035). The key area of research was focused on the determination of the cost components of UAM required to calculate the unit costs of UAM transportation. To this end, unitary data and the method from a 2017 EC DG MOVE's report on urban accessibility have been adopted. The analysis confirms that most of the cost is related to the aircraft energy consumption during flight, while the rest is used by ground infrastructure. Moreover, the energy cost is strongly correlated with the distance travelled and the size of the aircraft. The longer the flight and the bigger the aircraft, the higher is the energy cost. Complex cost analysis should be able to support decision-makers in the definition of Sustainable Urban Mobility and their principles of integration, participation, monitoring and evaluation. However, it will be necessary to be able to draw on more consolidated and widespread data over time for the creation of Urban plans for Sustainable Mobility. • The costs components of Urban Air Mobility are determined. • The unit costs of the Urban Air Mobility transportation are computed. • Data are based on the in-house expertise on helicopters and aircraft. • The results evidence that the initial start-up phase of the Urban Air Mobility service will be the most expensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freight transport companies are facing new challenges linked to sustainability, energy efficiency, and cost optimization issues in the urban distribution of goods. In this sense, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will help in reaching sustainability targets due to their local cero emissions and lesser expensive operational costs than fossil fuel vans. However, shortly other electric powertrain technologies will be available, such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) and range extender hybrid electric/hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FC-EREVs). Depending on the powertrain typology, electric vans present operational limitations related to range, recharging time, recharging infrastructure, and the lack of experience in the powertrain performance or economic feasibility. The variety of available powertrain options and the operational uncertainties urge the development of tools to assist fleet managers in vehicle replacement decisions. In this research work, it has been developed an optimization model to assess the influence of several operational and economic aspects of van fleets within the framework of the Spanish market, taking into account the powertrain technologies available and their related infrastructure to shape the cost-optimal van fleet composition in an established period and the associated cost breakdown. This research determines the key operational and economic variables from the cost per kilometer point of view where a certain van type becomes competitive compared to the other options. The results indicate that FC-EREV vans using purchased hydrogen delivered at the depot are the best option in a wide range of economic and operational conditions. Additionally, considering onsite hydrogen production via electrolysis using the grid, the BEV van is the preferred vehicle, but FC-EREV could be a suitable option for limited yearly distances (up to 25.000 km/year) and hydrogen purchase costs over 4,2 €/kg. [Display omitted] • Configurable fleet replacement optimization model based on a mixed-integer linear programing. • Depot refueling and recharging points have been considered for hydrogen/electric vans. • Electric drive technologies are analyzed as a replacement for vans powered by compressed natural gas. • The feasibility of fuel cell range extender vans in urban freight transport is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that few studies have investigated the effects of implementing city logistics measures, this paper focuses on actions implemented in the inner area of Rome in the last 10 years in order to improve both livability and freight distribution, providing insights into the effectiveness of such measures. The analysis covers the famous inner area of the city where the main tourist monuments are located and includes several pedestrianized shopping streets. Evaluation is based on data collected in 1999 and 2008 consisting of traffic counts and interviews with retailers and truck drivers. The implemented measures provided effective in abating through-traffic, in reducing the share of transport on own-account and in increasing the use of less polluting vehicles. Further, the increase in the number of stops per tour, in the average quantity delivered and hence in the average loading factor was revealed. Although all these changes improved the freight transport within the city, some critical issues remain and further measures have to be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a novel information retrieval approach for personalized itinerary search in urban freight transport systems. The proposed approach is based on the integration of three techniques: Case Base Reasoning, Choquet integral and ontology. It has the following advanced features: (1) user-oriented ontology is used as source of knowledge to extract pertinent information about stakeholder’s preferences and needs; (2) semantic web rule language is considered to provide the system with enhanced semantic capabilities and support personalized case representation; (3) a CBR-personalized retrieval mechanism is designed to provide a user with an optimum itinerary that meets his personal needs and preferences. The above features lead to a personalized and optimum itinerary search that meets the user’s needs as specified in their queries such as fuel consumption, environmental impact, optimum route, time management etc. This has the potential to effectively manage fright movement according to stakeholder’s needs and alleviate congestion problems in urban areas. The proposed intelligent decision support system (Onto-CBR) is implemented to an itinerary search problem for freight transportation users in urban areas. Its performance is further compared to an itineraries search system that was proposed by the authors in an earlier publication. Both approaches are compared in terms of their ability to meet user’s personal preferences and achieve accuracy in case retrieval. The experimental results showed the ability of the proposed system to improve the accuracy of case retrieval and reduce retrieval time prominently. The ability of the proposed system tailor the search to stakeholders needs, improve the accuracy of case retrieval and facilitate the search process are among the main positive features of the proposed intelligent decision support system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Sustainable freight distribution is of growing interest for many local authorities in urban areas. Numerous policy measures on urban freight transport have been taken throughout Europe during the last decade. This paper presents the results of a study on the state of urban freight transport policies and planning among Swedish local authorities. Results are compared with existing research in the European context in order to find possible links between the freight transport awareness and the successes or failures of measures addressing urban freight transport issues. A questionnaire sent to all Swedish municipalities was combined with a literature study, to map the state of policy and planning within the freight transport as well as the knowledge and awareness of the area. The importance of adequate knowledge and personnel resources in municipalities as well as communication, information dissemination and knowledge exchange is discussed. The empirical data confirm the lack of coordination, sufficient resources and effective knowledge transfer among stakeholders in urban freight transport. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Around the world, many cities are struggling with the negative effects of urban freight transport, such as congestion and emissions. To mitigate these negative effects, both innovative solutions, such as urban consolidation centers, and regulations, such as city toll schemes and delivery time windows, can be adopted. In this paper, we investigate the impact of city toll regulations on the vehicle routing and transshipment decisions of logistics service providers. We present a mixed-integer linear programming formulation and an adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic that address the interdependent decisions of vehicle routing and the use of urban consolidation centers, taking into account city toll schemes and time window constraints. In this context, we consider heterogeneous fleets, multiple trips per vehicle, and use a multigraph to address the trade-off between fastest and cheapest paths. We validate the adaptive large neighborhood search by comparing it with the mixed-integer linear programming model on test instances with up to 20 customers. To analyze how city toll schemes affect the cost attractiveness of urban consolidation centers and the fleet composition of logistics service providers, we conduct an extensive computational study featuring real-world instances that provide managerial insights for both local administrations and logistics service providers. Our results show that both per-day and per-entrance tolls can be used by local administrations to support the use of urban consolidation centers and that the number of truck entries into urban areas can be reduced. However, our results also indicate that due to the transshipment fee per unit load, the cost attractiveness of using urban consolidation centers is considerably lower for logistics service providers with larger delivery quantities per stop. • Proposes a multi-trip vehicle routing problem with transshipment facilities, heterogeneous fleets, city toll schemes, and time windows. • Formulates a mixed-integer linear programming formulation of the problem. • Presents an adaptive large neighborhood search with embedded local search to solve the problem. • Provides managerial insights on the impact of city toll schemes through a real-world case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores how governing bodies and planning authorities in Norway take urban freight transport into consideration in three different cities. Based on empirical studies of actors and processes relevant to city planning, the paper highlights challenges related to integrating urban freight transport considerations in city planning. The paper demonstrates how different planning approaches shape the integration of urban freight transport in city planning. The paper shows that early integration of freight considerations and stakeholder engagement in city planning is vital for developing more effective and sustainable transport and freight systems in urban environments. Political anchorage, geographical scope, and time are also three dimensions that considerably influence the way urban freight transport is integrated in city planning. Insights from this analysis may be used to develop better ways of integrating freight transport into city planning in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of pollutant emissions is a prerequisite for planning and development of sustainable urban transport systems. Majority of extant studies on sustainable urban transport is focused on pollution caused by urban passenger transport, with marked paucity of literature on the impact of urban freight transport. To partly bridge this gap, the paper objective is the impact assessment of selected regulative measures, i. e. fleet renewal on freight transport emissions. We used the case of Novi Sad to estimate the potential impact of selected restrictive measures on the external freight transport air pollution. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies on impact of urban freight transport on the air pollution in the cities in the Balkan region. Several research findings are of interest. Firstly, the analysis of particular gas emissions reveals expected overall positive effects of the fleet renewal in most of cases. Still, the total amount of same emissions hardly increase, so this particular measure is not enough to reach the ambitious EU strategy goals concerned with sustainable urban freight transport. Further, some negative impacts of restrictive measures on gas emissions were also recorded and discussed. The observed complex impact of restrictive measures on urban freight air pollution indicates that urban freight transport planning and modeling requires a comprehensive database, clear goals and higher priority of environmental criterion in traffic planning. Our results and recommendations may be useful for scholars, urban transport planners, policy makers, and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Freight transport in urban areas is still not well understood and there is no methodology aimed at the analysis and planning of such areas. To achieve urban sustainability, new models for the management of urban freight movements are needed, in which local authorities play a pro-active role. The aim of this paper is to contribute to lay the groundwork for designing strategies to overcome the challenges involved in sustainable urban freight transport. This paper is based on a multiple-case study analysing the current state of urban freight transport and current planning practices in cities around the Baltic Sea. While the cities differ in size, economy, and political and cultural frameworks, the transport sector plays a strong role in all cities. In-depth freight interviews with public and private stakeholders were conducted and complemented with several holistic interview sessions and document analysis. Potentials and shortcomings in urban freight transport planning are presented and the results show that freight transport is increasingly important for regional competitiveness while freight traffic is a growing threat for urban sustainability. In turn, the urban context is a barrier for efficient freight operations. However, both local authorities and transport operators neglect the problems that arise from freight in urban areas. An overall awareness is needed to understand that a deeper integration of freight transport and urban sustainability strategies can be beneficial for both the efficiency of freight transport networks and for local sustainability. City authorities need more logistics competence to facilitate the required integration between private and public actors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An efficient urban freight transport (UFT) system is crucial for sustainable city development. However, implementing city logistics measures still seems challenging for municipalities and decision-makers. Moreover, city authorities' decisions depend on politics and social issues, and the city residents' opinions seem to be very important in this context. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper was to assess the perception of urban mobility problems and freight solutions from the perspective of city users, considering the point of view of Brazilian and Polish city dwellers. The work was based on a survey realised in Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and Szczecin (Poland). The analysis identified the similarities and differences between the perceptions of different resident groups in both cities. The practical advantage of this research is the establishment of a set of recommendations for city decision-makers in the context of residents' perceptions and their expectations regarding the implementation of urban freight measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inland navigation is hardly ever used to transport cargo in cities. In most urban areas, it is performed almost exclusively via road transport, with the virtual exclusion of rail and inland transport. Research and implementation projects in several European cities have shown that employing inland navigation is a viable alternative for road transport in urban areas. The research involved a case study of transporting the same number of 40-foot containers by inland waterway and road and then comparing the results in terms of transport time, transport costs, and carbon dioxide emissions between two metropolitan areas in Poland. The article shows that River Information Services (RIS) system can contribute to improving freight transport efficiency not only on longer routes, but also in urban and inter-urban conditions. The findings were that inland shipping is much cheaper and more environmentally friendly, but transport takes much longer and is not always possible due to insufficient waterway infrastructure. The paper can be used as a road map to proceed with new approach to planning urban and inter-urban logistics, with the use of inland navigation supported by the RIS system. The study delivers evidence that the main benefits of using RIS for urban logistics are: optimization of the cargo route, improved supervision and control of cargo transport, optimization of inter-branch transport, optimization of the use of fleet, more efficient use of technical infrastructure of waterways, combination of many recipients/senders into one transport, and reduction of administrative barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delivering parcels to collection and delivery points (CDPs) is often seen as a better option compared with home delivery. However, if the demand is inhomogeneous, either the parcel locker utilization or the service level (i.e., the number of parcels that can be delivered) is low. Either situation would reduce the financial viability. This paper compares two options to increase the utilization, namely: (i) modular lockers (i.e., numbers of lockers adjusted periodically depending on demand) and (ii) combining parcel lockers with staffed CDPs. The latter has the advantage of a low investment cost of staffed CDPs and a low cost per parcel of parcel lockers. Secondly, the paper calculates the optimal number of lockers at a staffed CDP, assuming that all parcels are placed in the staffed CDP if the parcel locker is full. This method was applied to data collected by a parcel delivery company in London. The advantage of using real world data over one year is that it includes seasonal and daily changes in the parcel demand. The decision support method accounts for parcels not being picked up by customers on the delivery day, returned deliveries, and the net present value (NPV) of the investment. This paper shows that having enough lockers for 100% of all parcels compared with 80% doubles the number of required parcel lockers because of the inhomogeneity of the demand. In addition, combining fixed lockers with staffed CDPs offers greater financial benefits compared with modular lockers in this case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]