by Walther Ploos van Amstel
City logistics in Amsterdam (NL) is becoming more complex resulting in unnecessary extra mileage and higher costs. At the end of 2017, the city of Amsterdam, together with Stichting Connekt, Topsector Logistiek and Amsterdam Smart City, wrote a competition: who would come up with a smart solution for the logistical problem in the city center?
Logistics are vital to ensuring that a city is both dynamic and pleasant to live. Organizing city logistics operations more efficiently and more sustainably can significantly reduce the negative aspects of vibrant cities, such as pollution and noise.
City Logistics comprises of a vast variety of supply networks, each with its own service demands driven by the particular wishes of the end-customer. This heterogeneity is reflected in the wide variation in the means of transport used, from cargo bikes to 18-metre truck-trailer combinations.
In recent years the transport sector has booked tremendous gains in terms of improving air quality. Unfortunately, its CO2 emissions have increased over the past 30 years, despite the major advances that other sectors have made in that area. During the 2016 National Climate Change Conference, various companies, levels of government and civil society organisations …