by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Given trends in urbanization, e-commerce, active mobility, and modal shifts, streets have sprung up as scenes of conflict where competing demands for curbside space have increased. Because public space is limited, urban transport planners are called to solve public space conflicts by defining how much space is allocated to specific users to achieve sustainable cities. …
Today Nicolas Brusselaers (VU Brussels) promoted his thesis about the impact of off-site construction transport on air quality. The effects of air pollution are responsible for more than 364.200 premature deaths in Europe each year. Most urban areas still exceed the NOx and PM WHO air quality guidelines, of which a large share of pollutants …
E-commerce is a rapidly evolving sector. With 94% of Belgian inhabitants having access to the internet, 80% of them are e-shoppers. Additionally, 7 in 10 Belgians shopped at least once to up to five times during the past three months to the survey conducted in 2021 by EUROSTAT. Impact of e-commerce deliveries The consumers’ convenience …
We are living on a finite planet. Mankind is overstepping planetary boundaries, however. In 2021, worldwide consumption exceeded the yearly bio-capacity of the Earth (what we call the overshoot day) on the 29th of July. The situation is far worse for industrialized countries: In 2022, Belgium reached that overshoot day on the 26th of March. …
Scientists are increasingly concerned by the health impact of air pollution produced by the wear of vehicle tires. The particles are especially damaging due to the toxic chemicals they are made from, say scientists from Imperial College London. The Guardian reports about it. The warning follows UK government data showing that significantly more tiny pollution particles now come …
Efficient freight transportation is necessary for the economic development of markets in metropolitan areas. Without it, the cost of goods increases, and larger negative externalities are produced, negatively impacting the quality of life. In this context, the efficiency of supply chains is strongly influenced by the spatial patterns of economic activities, given the role, freight …
Implementation of construction projects is a determinant of the development of modern cities. However, this entails transport for supply purposes, significantly affecting the volume of freight transport in cities. Such a large share translates into a growing interest in more sustainable ways of organizing and providing construction-related transportation. A new paper presents research to build …
Autonomous delivery robots are a promising alternative for last-mile delivery. To realize the successful implementation of delivery robots in public spaces, it is important to study the interaction between robots and the traffic environment. The traffic environment includes the physical infrastructure and the objects using it, like cars and people. New research proposes an assessment …
In the Netherlands, until 2030, € 625 million in investments is needed for logistics charging infrastructure on private premises (just for logistics companies alone). The logistics sector is facing a significant sustainability challenge. As of 1 January 2025, 30 to 40 Dutch municipalities will introduce zero emission (ZE) zones. At the Climate Summit in Glasgow, …
From the extraction of raw materials to its operational phase, battery electric trucks produced in Europe today can deliver the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions over their lifetime, according to a new study by International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). To reach the Paris Agreement goal, Europe needs to decarbonize its trucks and buses, the …