Monthly archives: January, 2022

FlexCURB project to improve last-mile operations in European cities

FlexCURB, an exciting new initiative focused on enhancing urban last-mile operations funded by EIT Urban Mobility, officially kicked off on Tuesday 11 January 2022. POLIS members Leuven and Toulouse will be involved, along with the cities of Strasbourg and Funchal. Thanks to the contribution of innovation-oriented cities and top urban mobility as partners, this project …

Sohjoa Last Mile: developing autonomous mobility

The EU-funded Sohjoa, Last Mile project, has released a video and key messages to support the deployment and development of shared autonomous public transport services in Europe. The key messages include policy recommendations for the international, European, and national levels. Supported by the EU’s Interreg Baltic Sea Region program, the project seeks to raise awareness of …

An exploratory study on integrated logistics and mobility hubs

Passenger and logistics transport challenges are approached as two different ecosystems despite the scarce space in cities. Therefore, policymakers called upon to tackle negative transport externalities face spatial challenges. However, despite a history in which both ecosystems have already been combined and the emphasis in the (limited) existing studies on how promising the combination can …

Survey from Bringg reveals that 99% of retailers will offer same-day delivery by 2025

 Bringg, a leading data-led delivery and fulfillment cloud platform provider released its 2022 Bringg Barometer: State of Retail Delivery & Fulfillment. The survey highlights new findings from a recent study of 500 enterprise retailers in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy. Insights uncovered include the current strengths and weaknesses of retailers’ last-mile delivery capacity, fulfillment …

Drone and self-driving vehicle adoption will create a $4.9B market by 2030

Demand in the food and retail sectors will push the adoption of delivery drones and self-driving vehicles. A report from consultancy MarketsandMarkets “Autonomous Last-Mile Delivery Market by Platform,” predicts the drone and self-driving vehicle sector will grow to $4.9 billion by 2030, growing more than 20 percent each year. The report sees the advancement of sense-and-avoid systems …

JD.com launches robotic shops Ochama in the Netherlands

Today, JD.com, a leading supply chain-based technology and service provider, opened two robotic shops by the new brand name “ochama” in the Netherlands, with more locations to follow soon. The new model of shops introduces an unprecedented shopping format merging online ordering and pick-up shops in which robots prepare the parcels and home delivery service. …

Innovation: winner takes all?

Last year I had the opportunity to participate in the discussion on the future of the Hyperloop for European freight networks. Inspiring and promising, it strengthens the sustainable competitive position of our region in, e.g., e-commerce, agro and food sector, and service logistics. Consumption regions come closer with faster, more reliable, safer, and more sustainable …

Defining urban freight microhubs: a case study analysis

Urban freight distribution has confronted several challenges, including adverse environmental, social, and economic impacts. Many city logistics initiatives that use the concept of Urban Consolidation Centers (UCCs) have failed. The failure of many UCCs does not mean that the idea of additional terminals or microhubs should be rejected. There is limited knowledge about the advantages …