World Economic Forum about the future of the last-mile ecosystem

Growing demand for e-commerce delivery will result in 36% more delivery vehicles in inner cities by 2030, leading to a rise in both emissions and traffic congestion without effective intervention. Without effective intervention, urban last-mile delivery emissions and traffic congestion are on track to increase by over 30% in the top 100 cities globally.

Valeo is unveiling its autonomous electric delivery vehicle at CES2020

As an automotive supplier specialized in developing electric, autonomous and connected vehicle technologies, Valeo is presenting its autonomous, electric delivery droid prototype, Valeo eDeliver4U, at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. Valeo developed the technology in partnership with Meituan Dianping, China’s leading e-commerce platform for services, which operates popular food delivery service Meituan Waimai. 

Dutch Picnic: Milkman 2.0

The milk float, a home-delivery service that evolved from horse-drawn carriages to early electric vehicles, belongs firmly in the past. Or does it? Amsterdam-based e-groceries company Picnic had revived the milkman concept, but with a modern flourish. Bloomberg reports about it.

Cargo bike project: easy and green urban space transformers

Within the Metamorphosis project, the municipality of Tilburg (NL) is experimenting with the use of cargo-bikes to transport materials for “street openings,” temporary installations with primary schools, and for all kinds of open-air activities. The municipality is showing local citizens and professionals that cargo bikes are easy to ride, eco-friendly and can carry heavy items …

Exploring the future of city logistics via waterways

Smart, efficient and innovative solutions are needed to optimize urban transport. What distribution and infrastructure technologies have vast potential in providing integrated logistics solutions for the city of Amsterdam? What role could waterway networks play with regard to the transportation of people and goods?

ALICE launches the Roadmap Towards Zero Emissions Logistics 2050

In response to the Paris Agreement, more and more governments, associations and businesses are setting bold climate targets. The European Commission presented the European Green Deal with the ambition to be the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050. This will be achieved with a two-step approach, designed to reduce CO2 emissions by 50%, …

Vienna (AT) presents sustainable urban logistics plan

Vienna (AT) presented a sustainable urban logistics plan (SULP). The Vienna-Lower Austria area will continue to grow and with it the volume of traffic. At the same time, logistics is changing profoundly, for example through technological developments. The Action Plan is the result of a multi-stage process involving more than 300 stakeholders. Logistik2030 developed 35 …

Research: integrating first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery

In a recent paper, researchers analyze the route efficiency trade-offs that emerge from combining first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery operations in an urban distribution system. They build on the literature on continuum approximation of optimal route distances and propose adjustment factors that account for the effects of integrated pickup and delivery operations.