by Walther Ploos van Amstel
From 29 April 2026, Boon’s Dagmarkt in the heart of Utrecht will be supplied by an electric boat. No more delivery trucks through the city center, no emissions, no vibrations beneath the historic vaulted cellars. Just goods delivered by water, as Utrecht did for centuries, but now emission-free. It sounds almost obvious. Yet this is …
DHL is expanding its pioneering water-based delivery project in Berlin, launching a second solar-powered ship route along the Spree. The new route runs from Köpenick through several stops — including Rummelsburg Bay — to the Osthafen near the Oberbaumbrücke, with solar-powered DHL parcel stations at each stop. The first solar ship has been operating between …
Amsterdam wants to turn the clock back 150 years. The canals, once the city’s economic lifelines, are being repositioned as arteries for supplying leisure venues and retail in the inner city. After years of pilot projects, a commercial freight boat service has now started operating between the Westelijk Havengebied and the city centre, including the …
Amsterdam maps the business case for waterborne urban logistics: it is not automatically a ‘no-regret’ option. The City of Amsterdam has been exploring for several years whether water transport can play a larger role in urban logistics. A recent exploratory cost–benefit analysis compared the societal and financial impacts of waterborne transport with road transport and …
Can city deliveries be made quietly, emission-free, and stress-free? Hamburg is testing exactly that. As part of the InnoWaTr project’s Freight Flow Coalition No. 3, the city launched its first pilot runs using fully electric boats on the Alster lake and canals. The pilot was carried out by Logistics Initiative Hamburg and TOP Mehrwert-Logistik, in …
A new paper addresses the escalating challenges in urban logistics by proposing an optimal distribution network that combines urban waterways with last-mile delivery, specifically designed for cities with extensive waterway systems. We use Amsterdam’s city center as a case study, driven by the pressures on quay walls, congestion, and emissions, which necessitates reevaluating its urban …
NYC DOT and NYCEDC are dedicated to promoting the use of NYC’s waterways for transporting goods in and around the city. By utilizing our marine facilities for freight, we can reduce our overreliance on trucks, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality. This initiative aligns with the city’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. NYC …
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 …
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust started a pilot with a daily riverboat delivery. This service would help Guy’s and St Thomas’ work towards reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and support the Mayor of London’s aim to reduce the number of lorries and vans entering central London in the morning peak by 10% …
CityBarge, Renewi, and their logistics partners are starting to transport commercial waste on the canals of Leiden (NL). CityBarge’s mission is to make cities more liveable by restoring existing canals and using them for city logistics. Through a combination of a zero-emission pusher tug and pushed barges, logistics flows in the inner city are transferred …