New trends on urban goods movement: Modelling and simulation of e-commerce distribution

In this paper, a modelling framework to complete the recent scientific works on urban goods modelling is proposed. More precisely, we introduce a substitution procedure that estimates the number of trips and the corresponding travelled distances for shopping drive, home delivery and reception points' strategies. Moreover, an appraisal of scenarios is proposed in order to study how these three new forms of proximity delivery services impact on the overall urban goods movement distribution. Starting from four extreme situations, we introduce more realistic scenarios in order to find a suitable combination of delivery strategies. All the scenarios are simulated using the proposed framework, and the main traffic issues related to e-commerce distribution channel are discussed. The best realistic combination promotes the joint usage of home deliveries and proximity reception points and allows a reduction of about 13% of the road occupancy rates in urban areas.urban goods movement, modelling, shopping trips, e-commerce

MODELLING THE DETERMINANTS OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OWNERSHIP: AN APPLICATION TO WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA

The majority of the existing transportation literature has been concerned with private travel activities. Fortunately, the importance of commercial vehicles and their movement has led to a surge of research activities to analyze and understand commercial vehicle movements. However, an absent theme in the emerging research activities is the process governing commercial vehicle ownership. This project attempts to fill the gap in the existing literature by developing a new model of commercial vehicle ownership. The focus is on studying the spatial prevalence of the various types of commercial vehicles, as derived from the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) classes, in a given traffic analysis zone (TAZ) within an urban area using various types of statistical methods. The results allow us to unravel the significant factors explaining the variability in the spatial distribution of commercial vehicles. The obtained statistical results form the basis for developing predictive urban commercial vehicle ownership location models

Observatory of Strategic Developments Impacting Urban Logistics (2017 version)

Urban freight living labs need to operate in full recognition of the challenges that will shape the mobility of goods in urban areas in the future. These challenges are several: macroeconomic, micro-economic, demographic, technological, societal, and legal. To help CITYLAB cities implement their urban freight initiatives, a better understanding of These challenges is necessary. This is what this Observatory of strategic developments impacting urban logistics intends to do, by providing data and analysis on some of the most important, or less well known, trends that will shape the urban mobility of goods in the future. This second version (2017) of the Observatory provides data and analyses on 1) Logistics Sprawl; 2) E-commerce; and 3) Service trips. Our findings about the main impacts of these three trends for cities involved in urban freight living labs are the following: - The number of logistics facilities (in their diversity: warehouses, fulfilment centres, distribution centres, cross-dock terminals) is increasing in cities, especially cities of some logistics importance as large consumer markets and/or logistics hubs processing the flow of goods generated by the global economy. These facilities are generally located in suburban areas, but a new niche market of urban warehouses is emerging. - Both e-commerce and logistics sprawl generate a rise in freight vehicles in urban areas, dominated by small vehicles, while medium to large lorries are relatively less important. These vehicles performing delivery operations are visible in neighbourhoods and at times of day when they were not identified before: residential neighbourhoods, residential building blocks, side streets, in the early evening and on week-ends. Emerging new types of vehicles (clean delivery vehicles, two and three wheelers) are now visible in urban centres. - Innovations in the urban supply chains include diverse forms of pick-up points and click-and-collect solutions, while the recent but extremely rapid rise in Technologies and algorithms supporting instant deliveries (on-demand deliveries within less than two hours) brings with it a flourish of new companies connecting customers, suppliers and independent couriers, often using bicycles. - The overall impact of these new trends on energy and carbon emission related to urban freight is difficult to assess. Urban freight in general, for the Paris region, brings the following environmental impact: the share of traffic-related CO2, NOx and PM10 due to urban freight is 2.5 times larger than the share of vans and trucks in the regional traffic. The contribution of urban freight to air pollution is larger in the city of Paris. Social costs of air pollution caused by road traffic in general amount to 0.9% of the regional GDP in 2012. Some of the new trends bring more CO2 emissions, such as the relocation of logistics facilities far away in the suburbs, as deconsolidated shipments are delivered to urban consumers and businesses in smaller and more numerous vans. Some trends bring less CO2 emissions, with a rise in cleaner vehicles and innovative solutions such as drop-off/pickup points or bikesupported instant deliveries. Substitution patterns between personal mobility and professional freight mobility can be a good, or a bad, thing for CO2 emissions, depending on the initial circumstances and the way personal shopping was done before online orders. - What is certain is that these changes bring diversity in the urban traffic flow. Instant couriers are using all sorts of transport modes, including foot, bicycles, electrically assisted cargocycles, motorbikes, and various types of vans and lorries. This can negatively impact traffic management, road safety and conflicts in road uses, congestion, air pollution. Also, the trends we have looked at bring new types of urban jobs, with many unresolved legal issues and poor working conditions in many instances. New types of logistics buildings bring architectural diversity and innovation in cities, but also complaints about noise, aesthetics, as well as congestion and pollution at entrance and exit points. - These environmental and social impacts have been so far poorly documented and researched. Consumers are the main drivers of the changes we have observed, but they are also the residents or visitors of urban areas, and for that they carry an important share of the burdens, as well as the benefits, of the new landscape of urban logistics. - Service trips are trips in commercial traffic induced by service oriented activities. According to the German study KiD 2010 service traffic accounts for 11.8% of traffic in terms of trips and for 19.9% in terms of kilometres travelled. There are differences in terms of vehicle types and economic sectors but few variations in Terms of spatial types. - An observatory on service traffic must take into account light duty vehicles and passenger cars in general. Establishment based analysis as well as vehicle based analysis can give detailed insight in traffic generation and traffic behaviour in Service traffic

TOOLS TO SUPPORT TRANSPORTATION EMISSIONS REDUCTION EFFORTS: A MULTIFACETED APPROACH

The transportation sector is a significant contributor to current global climatic problems, one of the most prominent problems that today's society faces. In this dissertation, three complementary problems are addressed to support emissions reduction efforts by providing tools to help reduce demand for fossil fuels. The first problem addresses alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) fleet operations considering limited infrastructure availability and vehicle characteristics that contribute to emission reduction efforts by: supporting alternative fuel use and reducing carbon-intensive freight activity. A Green Vehicle Routing Problem (G-VRP) is formulated and techniques are proposed for its solution. These techniques will aid organizations with AFV fleets in overcoming difficulties that exist as a result of limited refueling infrastructure and will allow companies considering conversion to a fleet of AFVs to understand the potential impact of their decision on daily operations and costs. The second problem is aimed at supporting SOV commute trip reduction efforts through alternative transportation options. This problem contributes to emission reduction efforts by supporting reduction of carbon-intensive travel activity. Following a descriptive analysis of commuter survey data obtained from the University of Maryland, College Park campus, ordered-response models were developed to investigate the market for vanpooling. The model results show that demand for vanpooling in the role of passenger and driver have differences and the factors affecting these demands are not necessarily the same. Factors considered include: status, willingness-to-pay, distance, residential location, commuting habits, demographics and service characteristics. The third problem focuses on providing essential input data, origin-destination (OD) demand, for analysis of various strategies, to address emission reduction by helping to improve system efficiency and reducing carbon-intensive travel activity. A two-stage subarea OD demand estimation procedure is proposed to construct and update important time-dependent OD demand input for subarea analysis in an effort to overcome the computational limits of Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) methodologies. The proposed method in conjunction with path-based simulation-assignment systems can provide an evolving platform for integrating operational considerations in planning models for effective decision support for agencies that are considering strategies for transportation emissions reduction

A time-dependent freight tour synthesis model

This paper introduces a model of urban freight demand that seeks to estimate tour flows from secondary data sources e.g., traffic counts, to bypass the need for expensive surveys. The model discussed in this paper, referred as Freight Tour Synthesis (FTS), enhances current techniques by incorporating the time-dependent tour-based behavior of freight vehicles, and the decision maker’s (e.g., metropolitan planning agency planner) preferences for different sources of information. The model, based on entropy maximization theory, estimates the most likely set of tour flows, given a set of trip generation estimates, a set of traffic counts per time interval, and total freight transportation cost in the network. The type of inputs used allows the assessment of changes in infrastructure, policy and land use. The ability of the model to replicate actual values is assessed using the Denver Region (CO) as a case study

Understanding How, Where and How much Freight Flows Using 2012 Commodity Flow Survey Data

In recent years, with increased economic globalization, growing e-commerce and internet based shopping, freight movement patterns are undergoing a transformative change. The shipment size distribution is moving towards a higher share of smaller size shipments affecting transportation mode and vehicle type requirements. In addition, freight transportation mode is closely affected by the destination location (and its attributes). In our dissertation, we contribute to freight research by developing a comprehensive framework to examine the how, where and how much freight flows in US. Specifically, we study the following dimensions of freight flow: (1) transportation mode, (2) mode and shipment weight choice and (3) mode and destination choice. For analyzing mode choice, an advanced discrete freight mode choice model- a hybrid utility-regret based model system has been estimated while accommodating for shipper level unobserved heterogeneity. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model system, detailed policy analyses examining the implementation of vehicle fleet automation and rerouting of freight movements away from a region were considered. While shipment weight could be considered as an explanatory variable in modeling mode choice (or vice-versa), it is more likely that the decision of mode and shipment choice is a simultaneous process. This joint decision is investigated both simultaneously employing a closed form copula structure and sequentially employing latent segmentation based sequence model. For destination choice, we investigated the connection between shipping mode and destination choice of shipment in a latent segmentation based sequential form. The analysis for the dissertation is conducted using 2012 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data

Urban distribution centres: international models applicability to the inner city of Melbourne

Urban freight transport is an important aspect which focuses on the sustenance of life and economies of a given urban centre. It involves carriage of the waste which is generated in the cities as well as other goods. Despite the many benefits which are associated with this process, there exist various negative impacts such as emission of toxic gases. An example of this kind of gas includes greenhouse gas which is abbreviated as GHG. This leads to dire consequences which have huge negative impacts on the wellbeing of a city and lives of its residents. Melbourne City has been experiencing an accelerated rate of growth in the recent past and this has attracted more investors to venture into urban freight transport. This has contributed greatly in the development of new solutions in the industry Urban Distribution Centre (UDC) is viewed by many as a solution to address the environmental and liveability issues generated by freight transport in urban city centres. Some of these solutions include UDC which is a facility that deals with logistics and it is usually located close to a city, more specifically near the Central Business District (CBD) or a shopping centre that it serves. Several freight transport firms deliver goods to that facility and from which combined deliveries are executed within the city, CBD or shopping centre. Although the literature has identified sustainability as one of the key success factors for the implementation of UDC, limited research exists on developing a business model and a framework that considers sustainability issues associated with UDC. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a framework for an urban distribution centre that considers the sustainability aspect, particularly its applicability to Melbourne context. To achieve the research aim, firstly the GHG emissions generated by different modes of transport are predicted using a data set of over 20 years via multivariate regression and double exponential smoothing model. The results show that the introduction of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles can reduce significant GHG emissions. Secondly, from 77 UDCs', two UDCs cases (the City of London UDC and Paris-La Petite Reine) that have already been implemented in other countries were examined in order to discuss their potential applicability to Melbourne. By analysing two UDC experiences and discussing models and relevant features and elements that may be transferable to Melbourne context, found that certain business models would likely work best in Melbourne City than others. Finally, a business case model and a framework are proposed for the implementation of a successful UDC in Melbourne

Sustainable Mobility and Transport

This Special Issue is dedicated to sustainable mobility and transport, with a special focus on technological advancements. Global transport systems are significant sources of air, land, and water emissions. A key motivator for this Special Issue was the diversity and complexity of mitigating transport emissions and industry adaptions towards increasingly stricter regulation. Originally, the Special Issue called for papers devoted to all forms of mobility and transports. The papers published in this Special Issue cover a wide range of topics, aiming to increase understanding of the impacts and effects of mobility and transport in working towards sustainability, where most studies place technological innovations at the heart of the matter. The goal of the Special Issue is to present research that focuses, on the one hand, on the challenges and obstacles on a system-level decision making of clean mobility, and on the other, on indirect effects caused by these changes

Exploring congestion impact beyond the bulk cargo terminal gate

Bulk cargo terminal congestion management, approaches have tended to bealmost exclusively focused on the sea side of bulk terminals. To-date there hasbeen very limited work on land-side approaches to mitigate congestion in bulkterminals. This research aims to address these gaps by considering the effectivenessof multiple congestion management methods across a range of throughputscenarios. This paper develops a discrete event simulation model based on datacollected from an Australian bulk wood chip export maritime terminal and analysesthe effect of infrastructure and process improvements on gate congestionand hinterland logistics chains. The improvements include: variations of terminalconfigurations, a terminal appointment system and gate automation technology.This paper argues that traditional efficiency and utilization measures fail to capturethe impact of these alternatives over the whole hinterland logistics chain.Results indicate that the gate automation technology and the introduction ofan appointment system can reduce average turnaround times by approximately20%. Interestingly additional unloading capacity has a relatively small influence(<10%) on the average turnaround time under the initial truck arrival frequency.Significantly, findings highlight how the range of alternatives that improve efficiencyand utilization can be impaired when organizations do not plan andnegotiate impacts with other terminal users along the hinterland logistics chain.The impact of these alternatives needs to be evaluated in the broader hinterlandperspective to enhance stakeholder ’buy-in’ and resilience over time of solutionsimplemented

\u3ci\u3eThe Conference Proceedings of the 1998 Air Transport Research Group (ATRG) of the WCTR Society, Volume 4 \u3c/i\u3e

UNOAI Report 98-9https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/facultybooks/1152/thumbnail.jp