Cities across Europe are under pressure to deliver cleaner, safer, and more efficient urban logistics. With zero-emission zones expanding, e-commerce booming, and construction traffic reshaping streets, the need for reliable data on freight flows has never been greater. The recent recommendations of the Expert Group on Urban Mobility (EGUM) highlight how data sharing can unlock smarter city logistics, but also why it remains a complex challenge.
Why data matters
Urban freight transport shapes congestion, emissions, safety, and the use of scarce public space. Yet, in most cities, logistics data is fragmented. Public authorities manage regulations, traffic data, and infrastructure. Private companies hold journey logs, fleet details, loading patterns, and warehouse locations. Without combining these perspectives, cities risk designing policies in the dark.
Data can answer fundamental planning questions: Where should micro-hubs be located? How many trucks enter the city each day? Which streets are bottlenecks for deliveries? What charging infrastructure is needed, and when? Without insights like these, balancing the needs of businesses, residents, and sustainability targets becomes guesswork.
Barriers to sharing
Despite the clear value, data exchange between public and private actors is still limited. EGUM identifies several barriers:
- Trust and security: Companies fear that competitors or regulators could misuse sensitive information.
- Costs and benefits: Collecting and sharing data requires investments, while direct returns for businesses are often unclear.
- Technical capacity: Many city authorities lack the IT infrastructure and expertise to handle large, real-time datasets.
- Legal frameworks: Rules often prevent the reuse of data collected for one purpose, such as camera enforcement, for broader planning purposes.
The result is a patchwork where cities know too little about logistics flows, and companies have limited access to public information on regulations, parking, or charging availability.
Principles for progress
To move forward, EGUM stresses that data sharing must be voluntary, purposeful, fair, and mutually beneficial. Cities should not demand endless data dumps. Instead, they should ask for targeted information that clearly supports better policy—while ensuring that businesses also gain operational value in return.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) deserve particular attention. Unlike large international players, SMEs often lack the capacity to engage in complex digital schemes. Tools and processes must therefore be simple, standardised, and low-cost.
Practical actions
The recommendations translate into five clusters of action:
- Communicate benefits clearly
Cities should develop communication strategies that show businesses how shared data leads to smarter policies—less congestion, better loading zones, fairer regulations. Transparent dialogue and pilot workshops can build trust. - Use existing tools, not costly new platforms
Simple apps and widely used IT standards are preferable to bespoke city platforms that risk becoming obsolete. Madrid’s DUM 360 app, which manages loading bays, shows how a low-cost tool can simultaneously collect data and deliver value to drivers. - Enable legal reuse of datasets
Investments in enforcement systems or traffic monitoring often create rich datasets that cannot be reused. Reviewing legal barriers and developing standard European guidelines can unlock these resources. - Address heavy freight, not just last-mile
Policy debates often focus on parcels and cargo bikes. Yet, construction materials, waste, and bulk deliveries account for a significant share of urban truck traffic. EGUM calls for targeted data mechanisms to monitor and manage these flows. - Digitalise assets and infrastructure
Empty car parks, curb space, and office buildings could host micro-hubs or parcel lockers. Likewise, charging infrastructure must be visible to logistics operators. Cities should make such assets digitally accessible, enabling the development of new business models and the flexible use of space.
Learning from practice
European cities are already experimenting. France’s ZFE.green portal harmonises low-emission zone data nationwide. With the Freight and Logistics Observatory for Ile-de-France (OFELIF), Île-de-France and the Paris Region Institute are establishing an observatory to enhance knowledge and improve the region’s economic, social, and environmental performance in transportation. Helsinki’s Open Logistics Map collects last-mile delivery data through open platforms. These examples show that when tools are easy to use and benefits are tangible, uptake follows.
The Netherlands’ ITS-FMS interface standardises communication between trucks and traffic systems. The ITS-FMS Interface is a national standard in the Netherlands that connects logistics IT systems with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) cloud services. It enables real-time sharing of traffic, infrastructure, and route data between trucks and traffic management systems, improving safety, predictability, and efficiency. Developed with industry support and backed by the Dutch government, it ensures all certified service providers use the same communication standard. Already applied on Connected Transport Corridors, the system allows in-vehicle devices—ranging from onboard units to tablets—to seamlessly exchange information, making implementation easier for logistics software suppliers and enhancing smooth traffic flow nationwide.
Looking ahead
Data sharing alone will not resolve the challenges of urban freight. Issues like curb management, fair competition, or worker safety require broader governance and partnerships. But without better data flows, cities will continue to struggle with blind planning, and businesses will miss opportunities for efficiency.
The EGUM recommendations offer a pragmatic path: voluntary, purpose-driven sharing, grounded in trust and standardisation. For local authorities, logistics companies, and technology providers, the task is to co-create solutions that are simple, scalable, and fair. Done right, data sharing can transform urban logistics from a problem to be managed into a partnership that powers cleaner, more resilient, and more competitive cities.
Source: EGUM