Tag «city logistics»

An Analysis of Last-Mile Delivery Challenges and Efficiency in Urban Logistics: A Study of Mumbai City

Last-mile delivery is a critical component of the logistics and supply chain industry, especially in densely populated urban areas like Mumbai. This study aims to analyze the key challenges affecting last-mile delivery efficiency and evaluate the role of technology and operational strategies in improving performance. Recent research was based on primary data collected through a structured survey of delivery personnel and consumers in Mumbai. Key factors such …

Smarter Cities, Smarter Deliveries: How Data-Driven Optimization Can Transform City Logistics

Urban logistics is in crisis. As city populations grow and e-commerce expands, the volume of goods moving through urban areas has risen sharply, leading to congestion, pollution, escalating delivery costs, and a diminished quality of life for residents. Logistics service providers (LSPs) are under mounting pressure to deliver goods faster and more cheaply, while municipalities …

From Research to Real Change: Using the Impact Plan Approach in City Logistics

City logistics research has a problem. Not a shortage of data, not a lack of clever algorithms, and not an absence of ambitious pilots. The problem is simpler and more stubborn: too much knowledge stays on the shelf. Reports get written, conferences get filled, and meanwhile, the delivery van is still double-parked on the bike …

Without Smart Logistics, City Centers Will Grind to a Halt

What should be included in the election programs of parties that truly care about a livable, accessible, and vital city center? It is commendable that a local party commits to smarter urban logistics… but with the right starting points. D66 Eindhoven states: “We are investing in smart urban logistics. With transshipment hubs, we ensure that …

Decarbonizing city logistics: collaboration over competition in London

Ross Phillips, Sustainable Transport Manager at Cross River Partnership (CRP) — a London-based public-private partnership — offers a grounded and practical perspective on the decarbonization challenge facing urban logistics. His answers cut through the ambition and land on the structural barriers practitioners actually face day to day. The most honest observation in the interview is …

The latest news on city logistics

Here’s a roundup of the most relevant city logistics news from the past two weeks: Urban consolidation centers: context matters more than the concept A recent analysis by the Dutch Kennisinstituut voor Mobiliteitsbeleid (KiM), published on 21 March, reviewed urban consolidation centers and reached a key conclusion: their effectiveness is highly context-dependent. In dense urban …

Closing the Loop: How Extended Producer Responsibility Is Reshaping Urban Logistics

Most discussions of city logistics focus on getting goods to people. The harder, less glamorous challenge is what happens when those goods reach the end of their useful life. Packaging, electronics, batteries, textiles — the volumes are enormous, growing with every e-commerce surge, and the urban infrastructure to handle them sustainably barely exists. A chapter …

Logistics belongs in street design: not as an exception, but as a given

How do we want the ‘liveable city’ to look? And what concrete steps are needed to get there? The delivery van is blocking the pavement. The cargo bike is maneuvering through a narrow alley. The parcel locker is disrupting the streetscape. Familiar scenes in almost every Dutch city. But are these logistics problems or design …

The City as a Living Model: How Digital Twins Are Reshaping Urban Logistics Policy

Urban freight is messy, fast-moving, and politically contentious. Deliveries compete with pedestrians for space, logistics providers compete with each other for efficiency, and city planners are left trying to regulate a system they can barely see. Digital twins (virtual replicas of city systems that can simulate, predict, and advise) are increasingly being positioned as the …

Cities as Logistics Brains: What Digital Control Towers and AI Tell Us About Last-Mile Delivery

Cities are getting busier, more crowded, and increasingly strained by the consequences of e-commerce growth. According to recent estimates, urban freight traffic already accounts for around 25% of traffic emissions in major European cities and occupies more than 30% of available road capacity during peak hours. Without targeted intervention, these figures risk climbing even further. …