by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Over 110 innovative solutions for decarbonising EU transport were submitted for the European Transport Innovation Challenge 2017. The 12 winners offered solutions in a wide range of transport applications; futuristic systems for moving people and freight in cities, services for people with reduced mobility and emergency services, a robot platform, parking, railway and cycling.
Urban freight is responsible for almost a quarter of European cities’ CO2 emissions from urban transport, as well as 30 to 50 percent of particle pollution, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions. Small and medium size cities, and especially tourist towns, often have particular freight challenges due to characteristics such as old road infrastructures, narrow streets, …
A virtual loading bay that allows operators to pay for a time slot to load or unload on restricted kerb space will be trialled in south-west London. The Kerb Virtual Parking System (VPS) is one of a series of projects as part of Innovate UK’s £19m First of a Kind Deployment competition.
The Australian Intelligent Access Program (IAP) is a national program developed in partnership with all Australian road agencies. It uses satellite tracking and wireless communication technology to remotely monitor where, when, and how heavy vehicles are being operated on the road network. It provides an opportunity for transport operators to achieve productivity gains, better turnaround …
In 2016, the Brussels-Capital Region began the preparation of its third Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) in which freight will be a topic of special attention. Brussels aims at making the metropolitan area a model of efficient and innovative urban distribution. In applying a comprehensive planning approach, from situation assessment to measure selection and monitoring, Brussels …
The city of Stockholm has designed a strategy for freight which fits in the overall sustainable urban mobility planning strategy. The integration of urban freight in the transport strategy made Stockholm qualify as one of the three finalists for the 5th EU SUMP Award on the topic of urban freight.
In cities everywhere, people on bikes are clamoring for more space on the roads. Towns in the Netherlands have gone further than almost anywhere else in securing that space. But, the past month has shown that even the Dutch might be struggling to keep up with the demand for bike lanes. Citylab reports about it.
In 2015 Barcelona introduced regulated areas for Distribució Urbana de Mercaderies (DUM) areas for loading and unloading. Following the success of the pilot scheme in Passeig de Gràcia, the rest of the city got DUMs for the loading and unloading of goods. The designation of 9,000 parking places as DUM areas aims to update and …
Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are overrepresented in fatal collisions. HGVs make up less than 4% of the miles driven in London, but were involved in 78% of cyclist fatalities and 20% of pedestrian fatalities in 2015. Transport for London (TfL) is looking to improve HGV safety.
As a partner in the FREVUE project, the City of Amsterdam has been actively supporting the uptake of electric freight vehicles (EFVs), using different incentives, from purchase subsidies to encouraging zero emission deliveries in the procurement of its own office supplies. Among the most effective actions are operational incentives for freight companies using EFVs in …