Footprints of goods movements: Spatial heterogeneity of heavy-duty truck activities and its influencing factors in the urban context

Abstract

Heavy-duty trucks have caused growing concern due to their negative environmental externalities. Existing studies have not adequately examined the heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of heavy-duty truck activities and identified major influencing factors behind the patterns, thus making effective traffic management difficult. This study extracts heavy-duty truck activities information from long-term trajectory data, and clarifies the mechanism in which heavy-duty truck activities are subject to various industrial, transportation, and land use factors by developing global and local regression models. The results of the Global Ordinary Least Squares and Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression models indicate that heavy-duty truck activities are driven not only by the location of industrial and freight hubs, but also by the availability of truck service infrastructure such as road networks and parking spaces. Moreover, the way these factors impact on heavy-duty truck activities differ across places. Local authorities therefore should evaluate the dynamic relationship between land use development and heavy-duty truck activities and mitigate the negative impacts of such activities on urban life. Locally tailored traffic management policies on heavy-duty truck will be helpful.