Abstract
Urban freight sector in India witnesses the exponential usage of cargo bikes since 2011, for reaching its customers. Cargo bikes are used by e-retail firms for mobility in traffic dense roads. This research contributes to the sustainable development of e-commerce and it measures the economic, environmental and social efficiency of cargo bikes in e-retail firms using survey method. It also estimates the optimum volume of cargo bikes on city roads for effective and timely delivery. Data collected by video graphic study is analysed by a traffic simulation tool 'PTV Vissim'. Simulation results are validated with the real data. The findings of this research help to replace mini trucks with cargo bikes, which in turn minimizes the delivery time, carbon emission, and driver discomfort. The major implications of this research are: e-retail firms have to motivate its customers to prefer prepaid orders and delivering the goods at non-peak time to achieve sustainability.
Highlights
Travel demand is a motivational term [1] of every trip
Air pollution was measured by measuring carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), nitric oxide (NOx), sum of hydrocarbons and nitric oxide (HC+ NOx) and these values were measured in g/km respectively
Cargo bikes had low air pollution {CO-18.75%; NOx-11.14%, PM (0%) relative to the trucks whereas the vibration frequency of noise is higher for cargo bikes and it is measured in meters per square second
Summary
Travel demand is a motivational term [1] of every trip This demand is highly dynamic and some of the influential demands are: faster delivery of goods to the customers (e-commerce transaction), desire of travel to the employment areas, schools and hospitals. The economy of trip performance would be assessed by several factors such as minimal road use price (toll), parking cost, fuel price, maintenance cost, environmental cost (sound and air pollution), quick transit in narrow lane width. It assists e-commerce companies (about 95%) to decide optimal logistic modes (cargo bikes) for last mile delivery within city zones. The objectives of this research are to investigate the potential solutions for the following research questions: How far the cargo bikes are green & sustainable for the regional logistics? What is the limit of significance in every key factor to improve the cargo delivery time?
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