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Roads and parking areas represent a place of conflict between freight vehicles and other urban activities, especially on mixed residential and commercial streets. This conflict results in traffic congestion, illegal parking, pollution and road safety problems. The challenge is to allocate public space between the right operating activities, parking activities, public transport and so on. To address that, urban logistics delivery bays, also known as loading/unloading (L/U) zones, have become a real solution to facilitate the delivery and pick-up operations of urban freight vehicles, ensure accessibility for delivery drivers, reduce congestion and improve road safety. Therefore, this paper reports on planning and enforcement of urban delivery bays needs. It is part of the urban freight transport (UFT) surveys. This involves consolidating with new contribution the development, implementation and statistical analysis of a survey in order to quantify the need of delivery areas. Compared to the existing literature, this paper presents a mixed applied methodology which is divided into two parts : “Exploratory survey” and “Establishment-vehicle observation” survey. These two surveys techniques were conducted to offer an overview of the freight vehicle delivery and pick-up frequency according to the daytime and weekdays and the operations related to the loading/unloading activities. This makes it possible to estimate the delivery bays requirement in the study area. The findings from a methodological and practical angle are illustrated through a real case study in a commercial street in Morocco. The findings suggest that 60% of deliveries are made between 8:00 A.M and 12 A.M, and the movements generated by each establishment are 257 movements. For this, the study zone requires the development of three loading/unloading (L/U) bays. The main contribution is to propose an approach that urban authorities can use to estimate urban delivery areas efficiently and thus allow simple replication of the proposed framework in other cities.

The different stakeholders involved in urban freight transport, their behaviours, and interactions are attracting the attention of researchers and practitioners in logistics and freight transport, pushed by the need to develop methods and models for assessing ex ante actions/measures to improve the logistics process performance. Besides, the large amounts of data currently available open up new opportunities, as well as the possibility of using them to review past operations and provide suggestions and guidelines for future decision-making. In this context, to improve city sustainability and liveability, the cooperation and coordination among transport and logistics operators have been some of the measures for optimizing freight operations, with a subsequent reduction in vehicles and traffic impacts. Therefore, opportunities arise to point out the stakeholders’ decentralised collaboration and the dynamic information driving urban logistics operations. In this context, this paper presents a microsimulation model framework to support the operational decision-making of an urban supply chain that makes the most of such cooperation and coordination and appropriately responds to the dynamic changes of demand and supply. The model was first tested using data collected in the urban area of Medellin, Colombia and we obtained satisfactory results that show the benefits of implementing such modelling framework to support decision making policies.

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.

Freight tram systems can potentially reduce commercial road vehicle use and, consequently, reduce congestion, accidents, air pollution, noise levels, and road maintenance costs. This paper explores the new application for the urban rail system as a sustainable solution for urban freight distribution. A significant problem in using rail for urban freight is determining the most efficient tram route, in terms of related costs and accessibility for the distribution centers and end-users. The study takes a systematic approach, based on identifying scenarios, existing tramlines, traveled distances, and time durations, and appraises the scheme through an energy consumption analysis to assess a hypothetical freight tram scheme. In a German case study in Berlin, a freight tram system delivered the goods of five delivery companies from their logistics hubs in the Pankow district to a micro depot instead of to the trucks. Three different path scenarios from logistics hubs to the micro depot were developed, to make comparisons based on energy consumption. Freight tram implementation in Berlin (compared to the current situation) resulted in a reduction of more than 7 tons of CO2 emissions per year, and 60 road-vehicle-kilometers per day, in exchange for 275 MJ of daily electric consumption.

This paper assesses the effects on urban freight transportation of implementing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems. BRT systems have been widely implemented in Latin American cities in recent decades, with positive results driven by their high capacity and relatively low cost. Implementing BRT strategic corridors has led to changes in land use, and has required some restrictions on other urban traffic, particularly freight. These restrictions have significantly affected the supply of goods to establishments along those corridors, restricting freight operations and urban freight traffic in general. This paper studies the overall effects of BRT system implementation on urban freight using Cali (Colombia) as a representative case study to understand the origin and size of these impacts. Six key criteria were analyzed to assess the impacts of implementing a BRT system: 1. Mobility patterns, 2. environmental impacts, 3. infrastructure, 4. land-use, 5. legislation, and 6. geographic distribution. Observations and semi-structured interviews were used to complement hard data. The results from Cali show that the areas surrounding BRT corridors generate more than 62% of urban freight traffic. This concentration of freight activity has exacerbated the negative effects of restrictions that have accompanied BRT implementation and altered freight mobility and land-use patterns, not only locally but within the city centre, as well as suburban areas. In summary, the results show that post implementation, a significant share of freight-related externalities were amplified and transferred from BRT corridors to other parts of the city and to inter-regional corridors as well.

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.

Analyses of the potentials of electric mobility in commercial transport have shown that in terms of trip patterns and daily mileage EVs are suitable for urban freight transport and city logistics. The deployment of EVs could reduce exhaust and noise emissions. But the potential is not being exploited, and there are only a few vehicles in use in commercial fleets. This paper will give insights into the status of electric mobility in European urban freight and logistics. The paper introduces the potential for the further implementation and development of electric vehicles in city logistics, based on the activities realized under EUFAL (Electric urban freight and logistics) project, realized under the ERA-NET Cofund Electric Mobility Europe.

Using intelligent transport systems in cities is gaining popularity. The fundamental aim of their existence is to improve safety and traffic flow and prevent congestion in city centres. All people moving around the city, such as public transport passengers, as well as truck and emergency vehicle drivers and drivers of passenger vehicles, are users of intelligent transport systems. Research which was carried out for the article entirely concerns functioning and utility of intelligent transport systems from truck drivers’ experience. The main aim of the research was to evaluate services and tools within intelligent transport systems in European cities which are visited by Polish truck drivers. Our research indicates that most drivers (almost 98%) stated that they find intelligent transport systems useful and 92.5% of interviewed pointed that intelligent transport systems help with their everyday work duties. Of all the tools in the survey drivers agreed that variable content signs, accommodative traffic lights, and extra road illumination have most influence in road safety. Identifying the most useful and helpful tools of intelligent transport systems will allow to define their preferred development directions from truck drivers’ point of view.

E-grocery is becoming more and more popular, involving both pure e-commerce players and physical stores in its development and sales. As a consequence, the last mile delivery model has been heavily modified, with ambiguous final impact on the environment. This paper identifies the key elements germane to e-grocery (demand and supply), discusses e-grocery development and investigates the challenges ahead. In more detail, it presents the results of a stated preference survey on consumers’ channel choices for the grocery market. The survey was carried out in Shanghai (China) in order to investigate different purchase attributes, such as product and delivery service price, product range, lead time, time window and travel time. The paper identifies heterogeneous reactions to alternative service configurations, which allows to estimate market shares for e-grocery, with the in-store option as a reference. Policy implications and operational solutions to improve the sustainability of this renewed last mile delivery model are thus proposed.

Resumo Este artigo busca identificar, por meio de uma revisão de literatura, as principais iniciativas relacionadas ao transporte urbano de carga (TUC) que vêm sendo implantadas pelo poder público nas cidades em todo o mundo, levantando os impactos que a aplicação dessas medidas gerou em termos de sustentabilidade. Observou-se, por meio da revisão de literatura, que há uma falta de estudos que quantificam as medidas adotadas pelo setor público para o TUC, em especial nos países em desenvolvimento. Assim, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa survey, com especialistas sobre o tema, com o objetivo de identificar as iniciativas mais indicadas à mitigação dos impactos negativos gerados pelo TUC no contexto das cidades brasileiras, bem como avaliar as principais dificuldades encontradas à implantação das mesmas. As percepções obtidas, comparadas com os resultados quantificados em cidades de diferentes portes ao redor do mundo, fornecem um guia primário que permite aos gestores públicos considerarem não somente as partes interessadas na gestão do TUC, mas também o reflexo que as dimensões populacionais dos municípios possuem sobre a eficácia das medidas pretendidas, possibilitando a escolha de medidas mais adequadas ao contexto de suas cidades. Abstract This paper seeks to identify, through a Literature Review, the main UFT initiatives implemented by public authorities in cities worldwide, identifying the impacts that the application of such measures has generated in terms of sustainability. Considering the lack of quantitative researches on the impact of the implementation of these UFT initiatives by the public sector identified in the study, especially in the developing countries, a survey was carried out with experts on the subject, aiming to identify the initiatives that are most suitable to mitigate the negative impacts generated by the UFT considering the scenario of Brazilian cities, as well as to evaluate the obstacles found in the implementation of such initiatives. Results obtained, contextualized according to the size of the cities where such measures were implemented, provide a primary guide to a public manager that considers not only the stakeholders in the UFT management but also the population context of the municipality, its capacities, and limitations, aiming to select measures with the best possible match between expected goals and results obtained.

International audience; This paper aims at discussing the effects of the urban growth on freight mobility through the analysis of urban activities localisation. Thanks to the results of this work, we lay the basics of an original concept that synthetizes logistics sprawl and other localisation dynamics taking into principal consideration the mobility of freight in general: the logistics distension. Through the spatial analysis of activities and population localisation between 1982 and 2012 in Lyon's urban area, we show the evolution of the socio-economic morphology and evolution of the freight landscape. Through freight movements modelling, we show the evolution of freight mobility in the conurbation of Lyon with regard to the modifications of the urban fabric.

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.

Unloading zones are a fundamental part of the infrastructure of urban freight transport. The location and accessibility of unloading zones to commercial establishments reduce the operating time and, consequently, the transportation costs. In general, unloading zones are located on-street and allocated by local authorities. In this context, this paper aims to evaluate the level of service of unloading zones. The research approach uses the diversity measures in a multiplex network to identify the level of service and cargo accessibility of unloading zones. An analysis is developed for the central area of Belo Horizonte (Brazil). The results indicate that unloading zones located up to 25 m from the establishments have a high accessibility and low level of service. In contrast, unloading zones located up to 100 m from the establishments have a low accessibility and high level of service. These results allow us to conclude that the planning process of the location of unloading zones in Belo Horizonte is flawed. In addition, the maximum distance from unloading zones to establishments must be 75 m, so that there is a balance between the accessibility and level of service.

A mathematical model is developed to calculate the costs of alternative distribution set-ups for last mile transportation in a supply chain with small and fragmented volumes. The model is based on input from logistics cost models for urban areas combined with cost variables related to logistics processes, receiver attributes and local city characteristics. The cost variables for each aspect (logistics, receiver, city) influence the cost-effectiveness and applicability of an alternative distribution set-up. The model is applied on the delivery of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) towards small independent retailers in a megacity. The current supply of these stores is characterized by high costs, inefficiency and unsustainability. Four different set-ups are modelled. The model shows the effects of different city and store request parameters. When drop sizes are low and distances are short, direct shipments with smaller vehicles outperform the current direct set-up. When drop sizes are low and distances are long, collaborating in an urban consolidation centre (UCC) shows a saving. The model can be further validated with data from other cities and other distribution set-ups.

[EN] European cities are facing enormous challenges in accessibility and livability terms due to several European directives, which are compulsory in the mid/long term, traffic congestion levels are still increasing, and air pollution and noise disturbs citizens’ lives. This work presents the study carried out in a Mediterranean city to define an Environmental Zone with traffic restrictions for vehicles in the historical centre of the city of Cartagena (Spain) by exploring different urban logistics measures to tackle main problems caused by freight deliveries and pickups in the city centre. These solutions aimed to enhance the efficiency of vehicles, and to reduce both traffic congestion the environmental impacts caused by freight delivery in the city in order to improve urban sustainability., The research that has led to these results forms part of the work conducted by the students of the subject “Industrial Logistics” in the Master of Industrial Engineering during academic year 2016-2017 at the Technical University of Cartagena.

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. First Published Online:4 Sept 2018

Urban freight transport (UFT) is fundamental to the liveability of our cities, but it also contributes to the unsustainability of the same cities. Local authorities are primarily responsible for governing urban areas and implement different measures to regulate UFT. Measures often fail as they do not reach their intended goal and sometimes even produce adverse effects. One of the primary causes is that prior to implementation, the different stakeholders affecting and being affected by the UFT are not sufficiently involved. In this study, the multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) is applied ex-ante to evaluate to what extent different measures contribute to the objectives of different stakeholders. A municipality in Belgium, experiencing a lot of traffic, is used as a case study. Regulating UFT is in this case further complicated due to multi-level governance with different jurisdictions over infrastructure. To our knowledge, there are no similar UFT studies in a multi-level governance context. Results show that all proposed measures are an improvement for all stakeholders compared to the current situation. Future implementation of measures in this context is discussed.

Although urban freight transport (UFT) is vital for importing and exporting necessary goods and waste, a number of negative sustainability impacts characterise the process. The relatively recent attention for UFT spurred the emergence of a variety of policy measures. Nevertheless, local authorities experience difficulties in choosing a successful solution. Generally lacking are short and long-term assessments, a multi-stakeholder approach and a solid contextual understanding based on data. In order to tackle these pressing causes for policy failure, we developed a policy assessment framework. The framework includes four methodologies that are relevant for UFT policy assessment and introduces 45 indicators for the collection of UFT data that enable monitoring and benchmarking and provide input for the assessment methodologies. The paper covers the policy assessment framework and a case study application on the Belgian city of Mechelen. As the city struggles with selecting an appropriate and broadly supported policy measure to increase UFT sustainability, a multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) is applied. The results show that conflicting interests greatly impede policy measure selection, making further adaptations to the city's proposals necessary. The policy assessment framework represents a well-reasoned and solid process for UFT policy-making that is supported by the stakeholders involved.

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.

Megacities in emerging markets are a relatively new phenomenon. The size of these cities combined with the high growth rates provides substantial sustainability challenges. Urban freight transport (UFT) contributes to these challenges. Despite its relatively low share as part of total traffic, the negative impact of UFT is disproportionate. Improving the sustainability in this context is inevitable in the light of further prospected urbanization. To study this topic, a theoretical framework is developed which is subsequently applied on literature. This allows characterizing the UFT system in a city. Such a framework is currently lacking. The framework is developed around the components of a UFT system (demand, supply and context) and the factors influencing these components. Factors include the different supply chains (demand), vehicles used (supply) and traffic measures (context). It is applied to analyze the UFT system in megacities in emerging markets. Results show that demand in different supply chains is fragmented as well as the transport. Uncontrolled sprawl and the existence of an informal economy further contribute to the complexity to regulate UFT. Based hereupon, we discuss efforts to move to more sustainable UFT in this context.

As a result of growing international trade, port-related emission is a spreading issue for urban areas located near ports, especially, hub port cities where population density is concentrated. The awareness of rapidly increasing drayage trucks moving cargo between the port and its hinterland has motivated the necessity of a detailed look at negative environmental impacts of these truck fleets on the achievement of sustainability goals. This study analyzes emission inventory from trucking activities around the Port of Incheon (POI), especially focusing on major air pollutants, and suggests ideas to support establishing new policies in port area. Data on the number of truck, the year of production, the type of fuel, etc. during 2018 were collected from Incheon Port Security and Korea Transport Safety Authority. A bottom-up methodology is applied based on guideline from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As results, the major role of drayage truck fleets to local air pollution was highlighted with the high contribution of CO and NOx emissions. Hence, this study suggested the establishment of Emission Control Area (ECA) and Affected Zone on the landside as well as implementing Integrated Information System and Truck Appointment System to reduce congestion at gate, limit the number of emissions and minimize negative impacts to local community.

Cities crave innovative logistics solutions dealing with the requirements of the ‘on demand economy’. The paper estimates the willingness to act as a crowdshipper (supply) and to buy a crowdshipping service (demand) to get goods delivered/picked-up in the last mile B2C e-commerce situation. Specifically, it innovates by considering an environmental-friendly crowdshipping based on the use of the mass transit network of the city where parcels customers/crowdshippers pick-up/drop-off goods in automated parcel lockers located either inside the transit stations or in the surroundings. This issue is very important since “standard” crowdshipping is usually not able to reduce congestion and polluting emissions due to the dedicated trips performed using private motorized vehicles. The paper rests on an extensive stated preference survey. The hypothetical scenarios used to acquire both demand (customers’) and supply (crowdshippers’) preferences make use of the most relevant attributes emerging from a preliminary investigation performed in the study context. The investigation is performed in the city of Rome and the metro is the transit system considered. The results are useful in understanding and quantifying the potential of this freight transport strategy for e-commerce in an urban context and in providing local policy makers with a good knowledge base for its future development.

Many cities of different size and in different areas of the world have successfully tested the introduction of off-hour deliveries (OHD) on a voluntary basis, reporting positive effects, both on freight distribution efficiency and sustainability. However, those initiatives have not been implemented so far at a large scale. This paper investigates OHD potential in Rome, focusing on one of the most important barriers to its adoption, i.e. stakeholder acceptability. The study investigates stakeholders' preferences for different OHD configurations using both a qualitative approach, based on in-depth interviews, and a quantitative analysis, based on an interactive multi-actor multi-criteria analysis. Results show that stakeholders prefer a solution where OHD are jointly implemented together with one or more urban consolidation centres. This preliminary analysis paves the way for further technical/economic evaluations needed for OHD implementation in Rome. Stakeholders’ involvement is of outmost importance to understand their heterogeneous preferences and increase their awareness of urban freight transport problems, with the overall aim to foster behaviour change.

Despite its negative impacts, freight transportation is a primary component of all supply chains. Decision makers have considered diverse strategies, such as Horizontal Collaboration (HC) and the usage of alternative types of vehicles, to reduce overall cost and the related environmental and social impacts. This paper assesses the implementation of an electric fleet of vehicles in urban goods distribution under HC strategy between carriers. A biased randomisation based algorithm is used to solve the problem with a multi-objective function to explore the relationships between both delivery and environmental costs. Real data from the city of Bogota, Colombia are used to validate this approach. Experiments with different costs and demands projections are performed to analyse short- and medium-term impacts related to the usage of electric vehicles in collaborative networks. Results show that the optimal selection of vehicle types depends considerably on the time horizon evaluation and demand variation. This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (TRA2013-48180-C3-P and TRA2015-71883-REDT) and the Ibero-American Program for Science and Technology for Development (CYTED2014-515RT0489). Likewise, we want to acknowledge the support received by the Special Patrimonial Fund from Universidad de La Sabana (Colombia) and the doctoral grant from the UOC-Open University of Catalonia (Spain).

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.

Purpose The last decades have witnessed an increased interest in urban logistics originating from both the research and the practitioners’ communities. Sustainable freight transports today are on the political, social and technological agenda of many actors operating in urban contexts. Due to the extent of the covered areas and the continuous progress in many fields, the resulting body of research on urban logistics appears quite fragmented. From an engineering management perspective, the purpose of this paper is to present a systematic literature review (SLR) that aims to consolidate the knowledge on urban logistics, analyse the development of the discipline, and provide future research directions. Design/methodology/approach The paper discusses the main evidence emerging from a SLR on urban logistics. The corpus resulting from the SLR has been used to perform a citation network analysis and a main path analysis that together underpin the identification of the most investigated topics and methodologies in the field. Findings Through the analysis of a corpus of 104 articles, the most important research contributions on urban logistics that represent the structural backbone in the development of the research over time in the field are detected. Based on these findings, this work identifies and discusses three areas of potential interest for future research. Originality/value This paper presents an SLR related to a research area in which the literature is extremely fragmented. The results provide insights about the research path, current trends and future research directions in the field of urban logistics.

There is an increasing awareness that urban freight transport contributes to urban problems like air pollution, noise pollution and congestion which gives rise to much call for innovative urban freight measures and solutions. Throughout the past few decades, a range of solutions to reduce the negative impact of urban freight transport have been researched, tested and implemented. Since the start of this millennium, authors have been stating that successful measures and solutions require co-operation between the different (commercial and public) stakeholders. In the 1990's, Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff proposed the model of a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations for explaining innovation in knowledge-based economies. The Triple Helix states that innovation happens at the intersection of three institutional spaces and that there is an important role to be played by universities and knowledge institutions. In urban freight transport, the idea that innovation is driven by commercial and public actors as well as researchers is not very common. In this paper, the authors use the demonstrations of the European Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) project Straightsol to confront the Triple Helix model with innovation in urban freight transport. For each case, we explore the role of industry, government and knowledge institution and the mutual dynamics and interactions and analyse how this contributed to innovation.

Transport is one of the main sectors of the economy, which has a significant impact on the economic development of the country. The increase in the development of transport and transport infrastructure itself definitely develops the economic potential of the country, strengthens its economic, social cohesion and economic competitiveness. Depending on the type of emitted substances, transport pollution is of local or global nature. Considering the emission of pollutants in urban agglomeration, emitted toxic compounds mainly impact the local pollution of the environment. The primary toxic pollutants emitted into the environment from combustion of fuels include mainly: carbon monoxide CO, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzo(a)pyrene), sulphur dioxide SO2, nitric oxide NOx and particulate matter PM (soot, tar) and heavy metals. The paper is focused on model of urban freight transport influences on city environment. The road, as a line source of pollution, is included in the model with a set of emitters and concerns finite straight line with a constant source of emissions per unit length and a constant effective source height. In order to perform modelling it is necessary to divide vehicles into categories, which forms the basis for determining the characteristics of the emission. The model will cover simulation of the distribution of pollutants for vehicle traffic stream in a communication network of the city. In the first case, study will be conducted for the straight sections of road, and then combined into a junction, which will allow for identification of the impact of traffic on air quality in different parts of the urban area. The example area of analysis includes chosen streets in Szczecin city centre. The basis of the analysis are the data collected during the survey and using traffic detectors.

The success or failure of urban freight transport measures crucially depends on local policy makers’ knowledge and awareness of stakeholders’ preferences. The behavioral approach calls for stakeholder-specific data acquisition and model estimation. Considering the cost and time to perform an appropriate data acquisition process and the ever present aim of compressing research costs, it is important to investigate innovative data acquisition procedures that can satisfy the above mentioned constraints while not sacrificing data quality. The paper tests the capability of an alternative, less expensive and faster to administer procedure of acquiring stakeholder-specific data capable of reproducing policy evaluation results (i.e. willingness to pay measures) derivable from a standard data acquisition process. In more detail, the paper investigates the respective capabilities retailers and transport providers have in predicting each other responses to a stated ranking exercise aimed at measuring agents’ preferences for alternative urban freight policies for the limited traffic zone in the city center of Rome. Results show that retailers are capable of predicting with a good level of accuracy transport providers’ preferences for a given policy while the opposite is not true. This represents an important step forward in willingness to pay estimation for policy changes when the substitution rates between the various attributes considered are the main research objective of a strategic level analysis. Were this possible one could, in fact, interview retailers alone to understand also which would be transport providers’ preferences for the policies evaluated.

Considering that the transport sector is responsible for 30% of the CO2 emissions in the EU, reaching up to 40% in urban areas, the efforts for technological improvements and innovation in transportation have been increasing during the last few decades. It is evident that urban freight distribution requires innovative solutions that are capable of improving the efficiency of transport whilst promoting innovative use of renewable energy, thus reducing energy consumption and associated GHG emissions while adopting and not stifling economic development. In this context, six Mediterranean cities (Barcelona, Bologna, Piraeus, Rijeka and Valencia)) collaborated with the purpose of contributing to the improvement of energy efficiency on urban freight transport as part of the SMILE Project (2015) (SMart green Innovative urban Logistics Models for Energy efficient mediterranean cities project), funded by the MED Programme. The SMILE project aims to improve the energy efficiency of Mediterranean cities through the promotion of innovative ‘green’ and cost effective solutions for urban freight logistics, addressing the target of green and smart urban development. This paper shows the results of the live test of smart city urban logistics solutions in the cities of Barcelona and Valencia that consisted of combining the use of electric tricycles and Transhipment terminals (or Urban Consolidation Centres) for the last-mile delivery of parcels and small shipments. A thoughtful analysis of the quantitative outcomes of the pilot test in both cities are presented from different perspectives: economical, operational, energy efficiency, environmental and social.

The environmental impact of the road transport sector, together with urban freight transport growth, has a notable repercussions in global warming, health and economy. The need to reduce emissions caused by fossil fuel dependence and to foster the use of renewable energy sources has driven the development of zero-emissions powertrains. These clean transportation technologies are not only necessary to move people but to transport the increasing demand for goods and services that is currently taking place in the larger cities. Full electric battery-powered vans seem to be the best-placed solution to the problem. However, despite the progress in driving range and recharge options, those and other market barriers remain unsolved and the current market share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is not significant. Based on the development of hydrogen fuel cell stacks, this work explains an emerging powertrain architecture concept for N1 class type vans, that combines a battery-electric configuration with a fuel cell stack powered by hydrogen that works as a range extender (FC-EREV). A literature review is conducted, with the aim to shed light on the possibilities of this hybrid light-duty commercial van for metropolitan delivery tasks, providing insights into the key factors and issues for sizing the powertrain components and fuel management strategies to meet metropolitan freight fleet needs.

In this paper, we present the attributes that influence the choice of an urban freight vehicle by using a systematic literature review and a survey conducted with logistics operators that perform urban deliveries in some of the biggest cities in Brazil. The results obtained facilitate the analysis and determination of the main attributes of vehicle selection in some cities of Brazil. Descriptive statistics are used to describe the characteristics of the companies, and a principal component analysis identifies the dependent variables, in order to evaluate the importance of each attribute. Also, an ordered logistic regression model is used to identify if the characteristics of the companies influence the choice of an urban freight vehicle. The results of this analysis indirectly indicate the dependence of the decision-making process on the logistics policies implemented in a given city. These attributes agree with those in the literature review. These results, despite of being evident, are different from the present selection criteria, which depend on local city policies.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the perceptions of the transport service providers on the barriers in urban freight transport and the restrictions imposed on freight vehicles, identifying which urban freight transport policies can improve this activity in Brazil. Principal component analysis allowed us to identify which are barriers in urban cargo transport and the restrictions imposed on freight vehicles. In addition, we evaluated freight policies that can improve the activity using probabilistic preference. We obtained the database from a web-based survey of transport service providers in Brazil. The results indicate that the urban freight vehicle restriction is related to congestion and availability of loading and unloading areas. The freight vehicle restriction is a result of the lack of information and data. The theft of cargo significantly impacts urban freight transport. Transport service provider company perceptions indicate an urban mobility plan as the most-required freight policy to improve freight mobility. To reduce the barriers to urban freight planning, an understanding of the problem involving the stakeholders is needed. To do so, the challenge is to change the culture in the transportation planning process by integrating various actors to create an urban logistics plan that generates opportunities for the city.

This article focuses on the role of Urban Freight Transport (UFT) projects in improving the life quality of city inhabitants. The main focus of the deliberations is the aspect of UFT projects&rsquo, durability. The authors take an original approach to the definition of UFT project durability and also provide the results of a research study carried out in 2018. This made it possible to furnish an answer to the research questions that boiled down to the analysis of the current status of the relevant academic literature, to attempt to define the total durability of a UFT project, and to indicate the critical gaps in perception among the key stakeholders of the projects. In this study, particular attention is paid to the terminological synthesis and the conclusion resulting from adopting induction and deduction as the methods of solving research study problems. A novelty is the approach adopted in the project evaluation emphasising the mentioned durability aspect as one of the major success factors. This is particularly important for implementation of a Freight Quality Partnership as a solution enabling development of sustainable systems of urban logistics. The solution was treated as a specific implementation project for which the issue of key importance is the identification of success factors in the context of satisfying the needs of diverse groups of UFT stakeholders. It should be stressed that durability of projects in the area of UFT is critically important, even though there is a significant conceptual gap in that regard. The research study involved the originally developed concept of the Pyramid of Stakeholders Survey. By means of this concept, FQP durability was analysed on the example of the experience gained in the course of the solution functioning in Szczecin.

According to the Urban Mobility National Policy (UMNP), Brazilian cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants are obligated to elaborate Urban Mobility Plans (UMPs). The literature shows a lack of national research on urban freight planning and a need for better understanding issues on cargo transportation for authorities, especially regarding decision-making on policies and on urban freight transportation planning. City Logistics solutions can be considered on UMPs to reduce the problematic urban freight transport. Therefore, a survey was applied to investigate the resources available within cities to draw UMPs, the solutions for cargo movement in Brazilian cities, and the perceptions of public managers about freight transportation. The results show that “restrictions” are the solutions most adopted by Brazilian authorities, including the representative sample for cities within the São Paulo State with more than 250,000 inhabitants. The conclusions point out that Brazilian cities are not prepared to develop an efficient urban freight plan, as public managers seem to be unconscious about urban logistics demands within their cities or have neglected aspects regarding urban freight within the UMNP. Resumo Conforme o Plano Nacional de Mobilidade Urbana (PNMU), as cidades brasileiras com mais de 20 mil habitantes são obrigadas a elaborar Planos de Mobilidade Urbana (PlanMob). A literatura mostra falta de pesquisas nacionais sobre planejamento e políticas de frete urbano e de um melhor entendimento para as autoridades sobre transporte de cargas, especialmente para a tomada de decisão sobre políticas e planejamento do transporte urbano de carga. Soluções para Logística Urbana podem ser consideradas nos PlanMobs para reduzir o problemático transporte urbano de cargas. Dessa forma, um levantamento de dados foi realizado para investigar os recursos disponíveis para as cidades planejarem o PlanMob, as soluções para a movimentação de cargas presentes nas cidades brasileiras e as percepções de gestores públicos sobre o transporte de carga em suas cidades. Os resultados mostram que as soluções mais adotadas pelas autoridades brasileiras são as restrições, incluindo uma amostra representativa das cidades do estado de São Paulo com mais de 250 mil habitantes. As conclusões apontam que as cidades brasileiras não estão preparadas para desenvolver um plano eficiente de transporte de carga urbano, porque os gestores públicos parecem estar inconscientes sobre demandas da logística urbana em suas cidades ou os gestores têm negligenciado aspectos de carga urbana dentro do PNMU.

Today’s consumer has high expectations concerning retailers’ delivery services. Meanwhile, the impact of urban freight transport on cities intensifies. Crowd logistics is presented as an interesting innovation that responds to both developments. However, both practice and research contradict this claim. Our research aims to investigate which types of crowd logistics activities currently exist and which types are supported by the stakeholders involved. Therefore, we systematically review existing literature and execute a multi-actor multi-criteria analysis. Our findings indicate that stakeholders’ perceptions diverge significantly, which should be taken into account by both practitioners and policy-makers.

Urban areas are centres of business and innovation. Freight transport is indispensable for the proper functioning of any modern urban society. Urban areas cannot function without an appropriate freight transport system, due to the need to replenish stocks of food and other goods in retail shops. The complexity of the decisions concerning implementation of measures to improve the movement of goods in the city requires tools designed to support this process. In this context, a research gap and a research problem occur&mdash, how to obtain a reliable set of factors for development of sustainable urban freight transport (UFT). The purpose of this article is to introduce the possibility of applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as well as the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Method (DEMATEL) in choosing a set of measures and in analysing the field of distribution logistics, which will help to solve delivery problems and streamline cargo flow in Szczecin, in the context of sustainable development. This paper presents the findings of a survey in which experts evaluate the main coefficients for sustainable freight transport in the city area. Using both AHP and DEMATEL methods, we have concluded that: (i) all coefficients from administrative, financial, technical and promotional measures are highly interconnected, (ii) strategy of freight transport development should take into consideration how these coefficients influence each other, (iii) P2&mdash, eco-driving trainings, T4&mdash, alternative delivery systems and P1&mdash, promotional campaigns for sustainable transport are the most important criteria and should be priorities for investments, (iv) A1&mdash, implementation of loading/unloading and transit restrictions&mdash, highly influences other coefficients, (v) T2&mdash, intelligent route guidance in freight transport is greatly influenced by them.

In an urban freight distribution system, determination of the number and location of loading-unloading places is required to regulate loading-unloading opera ons. This pa-per presents mathema cal models for on-street loading-unloading space loca on based on set-covering problem and p-median problem formula ons. The approaches was tested with real data: an area has 160 city blocks and 60 on-street loading-unloading spaces, in Fortaleza, Brazil. We evaluated four scenarios considering different radius of influence of a loading/unloading spaces. The results indicate this approach has poten al for achieving gains in terms of reduc on of the distance between the clients and the loading and unloading places: considering that the average distance is a performance indicator (ra o between the total distance and the covered clients), a radius of influence of 400 meters has best rela on (0.489) and all clients are covered. The results indicate that the model can be used by planners to allocate loading and unloading area Em um sistema de distribuição de carga urbana, é necessária a determinação do número e da localização dos locais de carga e descarga para regular as operações de carga e descarga. Este artigo apresenta modelos matemáticos para a localização do espaço de carga e descarga na rua com base no problema de cobertura e formulação de problemas de p-mediana. A abordagem foi testada com dados reais: uma área tem 160 quadras e 60 áreas de carga e descarga, em Fortaleza, Brasil. Avaliamos quatro cenários considerando diferentes raios de influência das áreas de carga/descarga. Os resultados indicam que esta abordagem tem potencial para obter ganhos em termos de redução da distância entre os clientes e os locais de carga e descarga: considerando que a distância média é um indicador de desempenho (relação entre a distância total e os clientes cobertos), um raio de influência de 400 metros tem melhor relação (0.489) e todos os clientes estão cobertos. Os resultados indicam que o modelo pode ser usado pelos planejadores para alocar áreas de carga e descarga.

Last mile deliveries in urban areas cause a disproportionate unsustainable impact, while it is also the most expensive part of the supply chain. This is particularly true for freight flows that are characterized by fragmentation. Logistically, this becomes apparent in vehicles that are driving around with a low vehicle fill rate, leading to the unnecessary presence of freight vehicles in our cities. This study focuses on the operational feasibility of utilizing the spare transportation capacity of a service-driven company as a potential solution to supply small independent retailers, or nanostores. The aim is to reduce inefficient vehicle movement. Based on a real-life implementation, we use SYnchronization Model for Belgian Inland Transport (SYMBIT), an agent-based model, to simulate various bundling scenarios. Results show the total vehicle kilometers and lead times to supply nanostores for the service-driven company to serve its customers. There is a potential to utilize spare capacity to supply nanostores while maintaining a decent service level. The number of vehicle kilometers driven highly depends on the location of the distribution center where the service-driven company operates. Based on these results, the conditions that have to be met to replicate this solution in other urban areas are discussed. European Union [635898]

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.

Urban freight transport is a challenge for Brazilian cities due to the lack of adequate planning for freight flow movement. Public managers also show negligence and a lack of awareness when dealing with urban logistics. Decision-support data on urban freight transport are still scarce, despite being of fundamental value to economic development. With this in mind, this paper presents problems and solutions regarding urban freight transport in Brazilian cities. Data were obtained through a survey conducted in nine cities and analysed by means of descriptive statistics and the successive intervals method. Additionally, a cluster analysis was performed to identify patterns regarding the typical characteristics of each city in order to compare and generalise the perception of retailers regarding problems and solutions at the national level. The results indicate divergent opinions among retailers from different cities, even from cities with similar socioeconomic profiles and urban dynamics. The municipalities which demonstrated the most similarities were (i) Betim and Niteroi, in the Southeast of Brazil; (ii) Palmas and Quixada, in the North and Northeast, respectively; and (iii) Palmas and Caruaru, also in the North and Northeast. The results reinforce the importance of studying the local context and involving stakeholders in the process of planning urban logistics solutions.

Many actors are involved in the urban freight delivery system. They hold different visions, perceptions, goals. However, city logistics affects a well-defined set of subjects: their acceptance of (and even positive contribution to) policy can be enhanced by continuing consultation. This evidence stresses the need for the stakeholders’ engagement as a strategic factor of any decision-making process. The paper presents the guidelines of the EU-funded project SULPiTER (Interreg Central Europe Programme) for the stakeholders’ involvement (both public and private) in the definition of city logistics policies. In particular, the FQP (Freight Quality Partnership) tool is analyzed and discussed. After an overview of the institutional references and the implemented experiences, a methodological approach is presented, describing the steps for an effective FQP implementation. The case of the Metropolitan city of Bologna is presented as the local application of the SULPiTER methodology, considering two aspects: the way of defining the governance for combining horizontally different public authorities, and the tool for engaging the private stakeholders in the definition of Sustainable Urban Logistics Plans (SULPs).

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.

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.

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 Bdesk approach^ for data acquisition and knowledge-based policy rankings; a Bliving lab approach^ to foster stakeholders’ engagement in co-creating policies; a Bmodelling 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. Keywords: city logistics, urban freight transport, innovative solutions, behavioural models

Date of Conference: 29 May-1 June 2017 Conference name: 18th IEEE International Conference on Mobile Data Management (MDM), 2017 Among different components of urban mobility, urban freight transport is usually considered as the least sustainable. Limited traffic infrastructures and increasing demands in dense urban regions lead to frequent delivery runs with smaller freight vehicles. This increases the traffic in urban areas and has negative impacts upon the quality of life in urban populations. Data driven optimizations are essential to better utilize existing urban transport infrastructures and to reduce the negative effects of freight deliveries for the cities. However, there is limited work and data driven research on urban delivery areas and freight transportation networks. In this paper, we collect and analyse data on urban freight deliveries and parking areas towards an optimized urban freight transportation system. Using a new check-in based mobile parking system for freight vehicles, we aim to understand and optimize freight distribution processes. We explore the relationship between areas' availability patterns and underlying traffic behaviour in order to understand the trends in urban freight transport. By applying the detected patterns we predict the availabilities of loading/unloading areas, and thus open up new possibilities for delivery route planning and better managing of freight transport infrastructures. © 2017 IEEE.

Passengers and freight mobility in urban areas represents an increasingly relevant component of modern city life. On one side, it fosters economic growth, but, on the other, it also generates high social costs. Congestion and pollution are two problems policy-makers want to curb adopting appropriate measures. The pervasive use of information and communication technology will contribute to the fuller affirmation of the sharing economy paradigm. In this context, connected shared mobility can play a crucial role in relieving cities from transport-related negative externalities. This paper analyses the feasibility and behavioral levers that might facilitate the diffusion of crowdshipping in urban areas. Two are the main objectives the paper pursues. First: investigate under which conditions passengers would be willing to act as crowdshippers. Second: find out under which conditions people would be willing to receive their goods via a crowdshipping service. Crowdshipping can generate positive impacts such as the reduction of total and ad-hoc trips, by optimizing, through sharing, the use of resources and infrastructures. The study described in this paper represents a preliminary investigation, focusing on University students, to acquire the necessary knowledge base for developing a stated preference research endeavor. Preliminary results show that 87% of students would, in principle, be willing to act as crowdshippers (i.e. supply) with an adequate compensation, while 93% of them are willing to receive their goods through a crowdshipping system (i.e. demand) under certain conditions, especially characterized by delivery timing and punctuality.

The main problem arising in the process of management of the transport and distribution of goods in urban areas is the lack of data regarding deliveries, in particular with regard to the structure of demand as well as the classification of vehicles, their routes, changes in demand for transport, etc. The paper introduces the results of analysis of the goods distribution within the city centre of Szczecin and Oslo, covering a significant number of companies, retail and service entities, entities of the HoReCa sector, schools, universities, and public administration. The studies are part of research carried out under the project GRASS (GReen And Sustainable freight transport Systems in cities). The studies presented in this paper were carried out in two stages. The first stage of work included carrying out initial research allowing for an assessment of the current status in the analysed areas of Szczecin and Oslo. In the second stage of the survey results were updated with data on the increase in demand for delivery in the Christmas period. Moreover, the survey was conducted in the shopping centres located in the designated area of the city. This enabled to determine the seasonal increase in demand for freight deliveries.

Although the store shopping remains the predominant way to buy, internet is modifying the end consumer's behaviour. In fact, the advance of information and communication technologies have pushed more and more people to choose to shop on-line. This can have significant impacts on freight traffic in urban areas because purchases have to be delivered to customers (e.g. at homes) through delivery tours that cannot always be optimised. Besides, additional costs for repeated deliveries can occur. The paper begins focusing on demographic and socio-economic factors that mainly influence end-consumer purchase production and subsequent trips. Then, a new system of models for simulating shopping choices, including e-shopping, is presented. The models were obtained by using surveys carried out in Rome where about 800 households were interviewed. The system of models were used to assess the effects on shopping and goods delivering under future demographic and socio-economic changes in an urban area. The results indicate these effects can be significant and specific solutions have to be pointed out for improving city sustainability.

Cycle logistics is emerging as a promising alternative in urban freight transport. Compared to fossil fuelled vans, the use of cycles for delivering goods within urban areas offers advantages in terms of environmental friendliness, economic efficiency, flexibility, and liveability of urban neighbourhood. At the same time, cycle logistics has to face limits in terms of weight and volume of goods that can be delivered, distances that can be covered, and spatial urban structures that can be served. This latter issue has till now received less attention in the scientific literature: it is generally recognized that cycle logistics performs at its best in inner urban areas, but no systematic study has been realized to identify specific spatial requisites for the effectiveness of cycle logistics. This paper provides a brief review of the main issues that emerge from the literature over cycle logistics, and contributes to stimulate the debate over the spatial dimension of cycle logistics: it presents a classification of cycle logistics schemes, on the basis of their integration with other urban logistic facilities and of the spatial structure of delivery operations. A three-level classification is proposed, depending on the type of goods consolidation: only distribution without consolidation, consolidation in a fixed urban consolidation centre, or consolidation in a mobile depot; for each level, operational examples and case studies are provided. This systematizing typology could support both public and private operators in decisions about the organization of cycle logistics facilities, such as the location of urban consolidation centres or the composition of cycle fleets., Tema. Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, Vol 9, N° 2 (2016): Planning for livable and safe cities: Energy, pollution and the degradation of the urban environment