by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Approximately 80 percent of European and American citizens live in an urban environment. Due to their large populations and extensive commercial establishments, urban areas require large quantities of goods and services for commercial and domestic use.
In countries like the UK and the US, retail space is now increasingly being used to accommodate showrooms for online retailers. In their quest for wider audiences, retailers are joining forces with logistics providers to incorporate online sales into their business models.
A new approach to cargo trams is under testing in Frankfurt/Main, in combination with e-cargo bikes. The tram brings containers (‘micro depots’) to various points in the city, where they are loaded on special e-bike trailers for further last mile distribution.
Dutch Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Water) has decided to take the Stint, the electric car with which the children were transported during the tragic accident in Oss (NL), off the roads. Preliminary results from the research on the Stint point to ‘potential safety risks’.
City logistics in Amsterdam (NL) is becoming more complex resulting in unnecessary extra mileage and higher costs. At the end of 2017, the city of Amsterdam, together with Stichting Connekt, Topsector Logistiek and Amsterdam Smart City, wrote a competition: who would come up with a smart solution for the logistical problem in the city center?
In cooperation with startup, citkar, this October Zalando is testing an alternative to traditional parcel delivery in Berlin with the Loadster e-bike. The Space-saving, fast and efficient Loadster, a 500-liter freight e-bike, brings parcel delivery off the road and onto the cycle path.
In the past months, pupils from schools in the Dutch city of Groningen formulated ideas for future urban logistics in cooperation with students of the University of Groningen. ‘Web Expeditie Groningen‘ is a collaboration among the University of Groningen (UG), Public Education Groningen, the municipality of Groningen, Cisco and the Logistics Top Sector.
According to Dutch RAI/BOVAG on January 1st, 2018, there were 957,239 commercial vehicles ≤ 3.5 tons in total on the Dutch roads (fleet). The amount of commercial electric vehicles on January 1st was 2,208 (0.23% of the total). Since January 2018 the number of electric vehicles increased 495 to 2,703 at the end of August …
Engadget presents Renault’s EZ-PRO as a ‘workspace, coffee truck and rolling post office’. Renault is trying to help us imagine a world with fewer cars. Earlier this year, Renault unveiled the EZ-GO concept, a sort of autonomous ride-sharing vehicle for the masses. The EZ-PRO is a last-mile autonomous electric delivery vehicle system.
During the IAA transport fair in Hanover, Gazelle presented the new D10 e-cargo bike. With the D10, Gazelle, in collaboration with Aluca and mobility as a service start-up, is responding to DOCKR’s demand for smart, fast, green and efficient ‘last-mile’ city logistics solutions.