Urban Freight Transport Policies Research Articles

Vehicle telematics data for urban freight environmental impact analysis

Road freight transport is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. Hence, it is increasingly regulated in urban areas to reduce its impact on the environment and human health. The rich data available from telematics has the potential to provide high-resolution information, yet research has not been conducted to understand, evaluate, and ultimately improve the operation and impacts of urban road freight. This paper demonstrates the role of vehicle telematics data in enabling quantitative assessment of the impacts of urban freight transport for the effective management of relevant policies. We present a comprehensive data-driven approach that provides a robust quantitative evaluation and applies it to a case study of the London Lorry Control Scheme (LLCS) policy in UK. We show that, for the studied freight operator, the LLCS policy affects their drivers’ route choice both inside and outside the restricted hours. The spatio-temporal distributions of different parameters including traffic speeds, fuel economy and emissions at different times of the day are compared and analyzed. The results indicate that the unintended consequences of urban freight transport policies can include an extra 15% vehicle-km traveled per trip and 12% liter of fuel consumed per trip.

Transport Service Provider Perception of Barriers and Urban Freight Policies in Brazil

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.

Evaluating urban freight transport policies within complex urban environments

Urban Freight Transport (UFT) entails significant advantages for the economic growth of cities, but can also hamper population quality of life, obstructing vehicles and people movements while exacerbating environmental problems. Many initiatives have been engaged by many city administrators in order to efficiently manage UFT, evaluating different policies at a global scale. From the perspective of operators, most works analyze a limited set of policies or only focus on the benefits of companies. In this work, a decisionmaking process is used to evaluate a large set of UFT policies, through different attributes representing the advantages and limitations of each policy over promoter companies and the society. To do so, an ex-ante procedure in five steps is proposed to classify the policies: (1) attributes definition, (2) attributes weighting, (3) policy-attribute assessment, (4) policy ranking, and (5) feasibility threshold satisfaction. The whole process is supported on consultations to 26 experts regarding shop supply and restocking activities within complex urban environments. Results show a classification of the analyzed policies, according to their suitability for implementation ; which could be extended (directly or with small adjustments) to other contexts, given the flexibility of the decision-making procedure developed.

European urban freight transport policies and research funding: are priorities and H2020 calls aligned?

The European Commission (EC) has recently developed a growing awareness and interest with respect to the challenges urban freight transport (UFT) poses. Consequently, the EC has started defining specific policies and promoted dedicated tools to address them. Transport is a shared responsibility between the EU and the Member States, where the subsidiarity principle applies. Accordingly, the EC provides European local authorities with support in the different areas, including research and innovation funding. This paper aims to assess the linkage and consistency between EC policy priorities for UFT and the corresponding calls of the new Horizon 2020 (H2020) Research Programme, created by the EC in order to foster research and innovation. The paper identifies and extrapolates in a comparable format 10 UFT priority solutions, and consequently estimates their degree of correspondence with the H2020 Work Programmes (WPs) on the basis of the weight in monetary terms resulting from the research funds allocated to each of them. Findings show that, generally, the EC addresses UFT through a systematic and coherent approach. Moreover, all the identified solutions are covered by at least one H2020 call, although the extent of the coverage is heterogeneous.

Towards a decision-support procedure to foster stakeholder involvement and acceptability of urban freight transport policies

PurposeThis paper addresses the complex problem of multi-stakeholder decisions in urban freight transport policy-making from a public authority perspective, by proposing a procedure based on a modelling approach to support stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process. The paper analyses the existing methods that can be used for participatory decision-support, with the intent of contextualizing and introducing the innovative modelling approach.MethodsThe modelling approach consists of a well-thought integration of discrete choice models (DCM) with agent-based models (ABM) as an effective way to account for stakeholders’ opinions in the policy-making process, while mimicking their interaction to find a shared policy package. The integrated modelling approach is able to combine the advantages of the two methods while overcoming their respective weaknesses. Since it is well grounded on sound microeconomic theory, it provides a detailed (static) stakeholders’ behavioural knowledge, but it is also capable of reproducing agents’ (dynamic) interaction during the decision-making process. The integration allows performing an ex-ante behavioural analysis, with the aim of testing the potential acceptability of the solutions proposed. The methodology is applied in a real case study to prove its feasibility and usefulness for participatory decision-making.ResultsThe integrated modelling approach can be used for participatory decision-support and it can be casted in the overall UFT policy-making process. The results of the behavioural analysis, in terms of ranking of potentially accepted policies, linked with the technical evaluations from transport network modelling tools, provide a sound basis for active participation and deliberation with stakeholders and policy-makers. The aim is to guide an effective participation process aimed at consensus building among stakeholders, by proposing them a subset of policies that, as a result of a preliminary analysis, are likely to be accepted while performing well in terms of technical results.ConclusionsThis approach, integrating DCM and ABM, represents a promising way to tackle the complexity of multi-stakeholder involvement in UFT policy-making and to support an efficient and effective decision-making process. It produces an added value for UFT policy-making and it can be framed in the overall context of transport planning. In fact, together with technical and economic analyses, the stakeholder behavioural analysis proposed contributes to the ex-ante policy assessment needed to support decision-makers in taking well-thought decisions.

Behavioural implications of non-linear effects on urban freight transport policies: The case of retailers and transport providers in Rome

Cities import goods and freight transport is essential. However, it also generates social costs. Ensuring efficient urban freight transport is important although difficult. Policy makers intervene by defining and implementing policy measures that try to foster market efficiency in an environmentally sustainable way. General-purpose policies have often backfired when insufficient attention was paid to specific stakeholders’ preferences. This paper investigates the impact the number of loading and unloading bays, the probability of finding them free and entrance fees have on retailers’ and transport providers’ utilities. Willingness to pay measures are used to test and quantify possible non-linear attribute variation effects. The main findings underline both the substantial difference in retailers’ and transport providers’ utility while evidencing the presence of non-negligible non-linear effects. Unfortunately the research results obtained are at odds with the recently introduced changes of the regulatory framework governing the Limited Traffic Zone in the city of Rome that is the case study considered in the paper.

Urban freight transport policies in Rome: lessons learned and the road ahead

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.

Assessing knowledge and awareness of the sustainable urban freight transport among Swedish local authority policy planners

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.

Ex-ante assessment of urban freight transport policies

Many city public authorities have implemented measures to alleviate the negative effects of freight transport in urban areas, but these have often proved ineffective. The literature contains studies related to ex-post assessment of urban freight transport policies. This paper proposes a methodology for ex-ante assessment of their effects. The focus is the assessment of pollutant emissions. The application of the methodology to the inner urban area of Rome shows that an urban distribution centre can be more effective in reducing environmental externalities than policies based on vehicle fleet renewal.

The Impacts of Time Access Restrictions and Vehicle Weight Restrictions on Food Retailers and the Environment

Urban freight transport has many sustainable aspects. It contributes to economic vitality and the competitiveness of a region. However, the less socially and environmentally friendly effects such as noise, pollutant emissions, and nuisance, are usually the central theme in designing urban freight transport policies. Restricting policies as time access restrictions and vehicle restrictions gain popularity among Dutch local authorities. More than half of the municipalities uses time access restrictions. In spite of the popularity of these policy measures, the effects on the distribution of retailers, the environment and the transport costs are not known yet. In this paper we present three case studies of food retailers, in order to examine the effects of time access restrictions and vehicle weight restrictions. We discuss the impacts on the transport costs and the distribution processes (on the retailer’s side) and the environmental impacts. To find these effects we design five scenarios, in which we vary the length of time access restrictions, the allowed weight of the weight restriction and the number of cities in which these regulations are used. In these scenarios we adapt, based on the likely reaction of the involved food retailers, the distribution activities to fit the regulations. The results show that the vehicle weight restriction as well as the time access restrictions have a negative impact on the retailers’ transport costs. In most cases we see that the policy measures also cause an increase in the pollutant CO2 emissions that are emitted during the distribution of the goods. The time access restrictions cause a cost-increase that develops more or less convexly, as more stores are affected by this policy measure. The turning point is around 45% of the stores affected. The weight restriction causes linear cost-increase as more stores are affected. Both policy measures affect especially the roundtrips that combine multiple less than truckload orders for different stores. The policy measures have a different effect on different retailers.