by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Platform-based on-demand delivery services are rapidly developing in urban areas, especially in the food sector, raising new issues for urban planners, especially in transport. Based on a survey of over 100 couriers conducted in 2018 in the municipality of Paris (France), a new paper aims to analyze the profile, delivery activity, and mobility practices of …
Some policymakers and unions have challenged the “gig economy” model of engaging independent workers and call for a reclassification of independent platform workers as employees. This policy shift would imply a move from a flexible work model, where couriers decide when and where to work, towards an inflexible work model, where the platforms or other …
A paper by Arianna Seghezzi and Riccardo Mangiaracina focuses on on-demand food delivery (ODFD); the delivery of freshly prepared meals to customers’ homes, enabled by online platforms. In ODFD, a key process is represented by last-mile deliveries (LMDs): they directly affect customers (the delivery price influences their purchase intention), riders (the compensation drives their willingness …