Deliveroo: from dark stores to dark kitchens?

The Guardian reports: “As appetite grows for upmarket takeaways, delivery service is setting restaurants up with satellite kitchens inside metal boxes. Deliveroo in London is setting-up dozens of “dark kitchens” in prefabricated structures for restaurants that want to expand their businesses without opening expensive high street premises”.

Lessons learned from common carrier lockers systems in Seattle (US)

As more delivery vehicles come into our city streets cities are looking for solutions to reduce freight-related congestion and improve the use of commercial load/unload zones. Among the possible solutions are common carrier locker systems (CCLS). The concept behind CCLS is to create the density that will allow carriers to leave parcels in one single secure, accessible area in …

MIMIC project: smart governance for urban construction logistics

The recently started JPI Urban Europe MIMIC project wants to demonstrate how smart governance concepts can be used as an aid in the construction and city planning processes to facilitate and support logistics to, from and on urban construction sites. The aim is to improve mobility and reduce congestion within cities and thereby reduce the negative …

TNO presents new model for air quality

Exposure to environmental pollution is thought to cause as many as 9 million premature deaths each year. The largest health impacts are associated with air pollutants and particulate matter in particular. The latter is thought to cause an average reduction in life expectancy of 6 to 12 months in Europe.

Telematics tools to support unloading bay utilization

Cities are taking measures to ensure that urban freight runs smoothly. These vary from stricter enforcement of illegal parking on loading and unloading zones and better route information for transporters (ITS) to optimization of delivery times windows. E-mobility will receive privileges in certain zones based on intelligent access.

CityDepot (bpost) to close more city hubs in Belgium

City logistics service provider CityDepot (part of Bpost) stops the activities in Bruges (B) last summer. Almost three years after the start, it turned out that there was too little volume to make the hub profitable. After just over two years, it turned out that there was not enough potential and that local retailers did not …

Analysis of freight distribution flows in an urban area

Supplying the consumers and businesses in cities is a daily challenge. Among various existing city models, the so-called compact cities presently tend to have more pedestrian zones in cities, which consequently affect surrounding areas; limited parking areas, restricted access for traffic, difficulties to enter with goods, and even access difficulties for the neighbors who live in …