On the spatial feasibility of crowdshipping services in university communities

Abstract

Crowdshipping, i.e. delivering goods via the crowd, aims at combining passenger with freight trips. This concept is particularly useful, especially in urban contexts, since it allows using the spare capacity of vehicles and reducing the negative impacts of urban freight transport. While attractive in principle, a crowdshipping service needs to be appropriately conceived to be effective. In this respect, matching passenger with freight transport demand is one of the main issues to consider. Besides, it is important to promote a sustainable crowdshipping, i.e. perfomed via sustainable transport modes. This paper presents a GIS-based approach to evaluate the spatial feasibility of crowdshipping services using public transport or active modes in the context of a University community. The case study analyzed focuses on e-commerce deliveries and takes into account a campus with venues located in different zones in the city of Catania (Italy). The methodology is designed according to spatial considerations related to the proximity of delivery points and home addresses, students’ flows between origins and destinations and main mode of transport used. Results are useful to design the service in a well-established community, which could be considered more inclined to be involved.