CityLogistics

Research: Location of urban micro-consolidation centers to reduce the social cost of last-mile deliveries

Urban deliveries of goods have become a rising challenge due to the increase of online shopping and the traditional business-to-business (B2B) dynamics. To maintain a satisfactory level of service, carriers must conduct delivery operations under restrictive environments, creating undesirable externalities such as congestion and pollution. Urban micro-consolidation centers (UMCs) are defined as on-street or off-street …

Directions for future research on urban mobility and city logistics

A survey article by Mor Kaspi, Tal Raviv, and Marlin W. Ulmer provides an overview of future directions for research in urban mobility and city logistics. It sets a focus on three severe changes in the business models: Service fleets might fully or partially be autonomous in the future, which brings new operational opportunities and …

Albert Heijn, bol.com and Budbee introduce parcel lockers

Albert Heijn, bol.com, and Budbee will collaborate to make the collection and return of parcels easier. Across 700 large Albert Heijn stores, parcel lockers will be installed to allow customers to pick up and return their bol.com parcels and parcels from other online shops working with Budbee. With the partnership, the three brands want to …

London: using the river Thames for light freight

River freight can help reduce road traffic and air pollution and be more reliable and provide an easy way to access Central London. CRP’s new Clean Air Logistics for London project, which started in July 2021, focused on river freight and further made the underused Thames a viable route for goods coming into London. Light …

Should we prohibit farmers from delivering directly to consumers?

Should we prohibit farmers from delivering directly to consumers? There are more and more well-intentioned initiatives for local food systems. In a local food system, there are short supply chain connections between the farmer and the consumer. Often in the form of a farm store, a food box directly from the farmer, a farmers’ market, …

Obstacles prevent waterborne city logistics, but opportunities exist

Construction traffic, garbage, and other deliveries could be run on water in Swedish large cities. But market mechanisms, regulations, technology, problems with quays and old habits stand in the way. This is shown by a pre-study carried out within the Swedish Transport Administration’s industry program Sustainable Shipping, which Lighthouse runs. “The threshold is high for …

Hellofresh inspires!

Hellofresh presented good financial results for 2021. HelloFresh delivered nearly 1 billion meals to 7 million households in 2021. Sales increased by more than 60 percent to 6 billion euros. Profit was almost 160 million euros. That could have been higher if the company had not invested heavily in expansion into new markets and fulfillment capacity …

EIT Urban Mobility: call for innovation 2023-2025 is open now

The EIT Urban Mobility call for innovation is open now; business plan 2023-2025. In 2021, the Climate Crisis and Covid-19 focused on the pressing need for more action and less reflection on how we can create healthy, liveable, and sustainable cities. The Innovation Programme of 2022 is well placed to help find practical ways to …

The status of SULPs in Europe: ULaaDS webinar report

While Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are becoming a requirement for all large TEN-T nodes, Sustainable Urban Logistic Plans (SULPs) are less widespread and well-known across European cities. Therefore, Bax & Company, together with EUROCITIES and Rupprecht Consult organized a ULaaDS session to explore the status of SULPs across Europe and zoom into the example …

Will Web3 enable fair local-for-local platforms? Maybe…

A reaction on Twitter about Gorillas’ ultra-fast grocery delivery was food for thought. “Flash delivery can also be done traditionally; ask the neighbors (via the neighborhood app). As recently done with success. I had forgotten to buy mushrooms. Within 7 minutes on the doorstep. Coronaproof with a smile”. The power of global platforms The rise …