Driving towards better air quality and lower emissions, cities are implementing zero-emission zones (ZEZs) for transportation, specifically targeting high-polluting commercial diesel vehicles. In the Netherlands, major cities have started adopting ZEZs at the beginning of 2025, driving the need for solutions, such as urban consolidation centers (UCCs) for last-mile deliveries. This study links an agent-based freight simulator (MASS-GT) with the TNO Digital Twin to assess the impacts of ZEZs and UCCs in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. While ZEZs improve air quality and reduce fuel-based vehicle kilometers, they further cause uneven spatial effects, specifically in lower socio-economic neighborhoods located near UCCs. Additional research is needed to optimize UCC locations and minimize these disparities.
Environmental concerns and urbanization pressures are driving demand for more efficient reverse logistics in city environments, where space constraints and dense populations create unique challenges. Polyurethanes (PU), used widely in insulation, electronics, and automotive industries, are integral to circular supply chain discussions because appliances containing PU are collected at relatively low rates, and the low-density, space-intensive foam creates significant logistical challenges. This study examines the challenges of urban reverse logistics for the disposal and collection of end-of-life (EoL) refrigerators in countries with different waste management systems. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the research demonstrates the complexity of urban reverse logistics for such waste streams. It is influenced by, among other things, regulations at EU and national levels, cooperation between stakeholders, consumer awareness and education, and real-time access to information on waste.
This paper shows the outcomes of applying a Living Lab approach as a method to engage students with real-world challenges. In Rotterdam, the students researched whether a consolidation hub could be a solution for the deliveries of coffee and hygiene products to their campus. Multiple characteristics of teaching and learning in sustainability-oriented Living Labs are explained for the case of Rotterdam. Students were free to make their research plans and obtained reflection, introspection and supervision on their plans by teachers. Collaborative learning with the stakeholders allowed students to apply their academic knowledge and skills with the professional people working in practice. All stakeholders were very enthusiastic about both the learning process and the study outcomes, as they want to continue by formalising contracts for setting up a pilot project for consolidation.
Urban freight movements are increasingly complex, creating challenges for understanding their dynamics. With detailed GPS data, this study assesses the movements of heavy trucks in the city of Antwerp, with particular attention to commercial zones. The results reveal that most heavy truck activities occurred in port and central urban regions. In the city center, retail establishment characteristics, such as density, size, and type, influence the frequency of truck stops. The findings provide critical insights for planning urban transport and logistics operations.
Failed deliveries in last-mile logistics contribute significantly to operational costs and customer dissatisfaction. This study examines the feasibility of integrating AI-based customer presence predictions into vehicle routing to reduce failed deliveries. The research identifies key requirements for the AI-based system through expert interviews with logistics professionals and a validation survey. Our findings indicate that, while presence-prediction-based routing holds promise, its real-world adoption faces significant hurdles, including data privacy concerns and driver compliance issues. Furthermore, cost savings projections from prior research may be overestimated, as increased routing complexity could offset efficiency gains. Still, practitioners’ most crucial requirement is for the system to be cost-efficient. This study offers a structured requirements model for successful practical implementation and highlights the need for further empirical exploration and validation. The insights contribute to bridging the gap between mathematical optimisation models and practical last-mile operations, informing logistics service providers, technology developers, online retailers, and researchers.
The integration between urban logistics and land-use planning is essential for optimizing freight transport while reducing congestion and emissions. However, Brazilian cities often overlook freight mobility in key planning instruments. This study addresses this gap through a comparative analysis of the Mobility and Master Plans of São Paulo and Santo André, Brazil. Using a two-stage qualitative methodology involving literature review and document analysis, the findings reveal structural and operational differences in how these cities integrate logistics into land-use planning. The results highlight governance, infrastructure, and coordination challenges, offering insights for strengthening urban freight policies and promoting sustainable and resilient logistics systems adaptable to different urban contexts.
This paper investigates the challenges of developing construction consolidation centres (CCCs) for construction projects in urban areas in Hanoi, Vietnam based on a suitability assessment model. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was utilized for model construction and assessment. Experts from construction contractors, logistics suppliers, and policy makers were invited to the interview process. Three construction projects in three key districts in Hanoi were selected for case studies, and suitability assessment was evaluated to confirm the necessity of CCCs in the local context. The results confirmed that economic benefits, logistics complexity, and construction logistics demand level are major challenges for developing CCCs in urban areas.
The increasing volume of e-commerce returns poses significant challenges for urban transportation systems. However, little attention is paid to e-commerce returns in transportation research. This study integrates return parcel volumes into freight demand modelling using the agent-based framework logiTopp. By categorizing parcel demand (e.g. fashion and electronics) through a Multiple Discrete-Continuous Extreme Value model and linking these categories to return probabilities, we estimate category-specific parcel order and return volumes for Karlsruhe, Germany. The results indicate that roughly one in five parcels is returned, corresponding to about 27,500 return parcels per week.This framework provides a foundation for assessing the impacts of return flows on urban logistics and for evaluating operational strategies such as parcel lockers, autonomous collection systems, or integrated pickup by delivery tours. The findings highlight the need for empirical data collection on return parcel drop-off behavior to enhance the modelling framework and enable a more comprehensive assessment of its transportation impacts.
Urban logistics is vital to keep the urban fabric running, but affects liveability while operators also have to deal with shrinking space in which they have to conduct operations. Despite this, there is primarily a lot of focus on decarbonising logistics as well as on logistics concepts to improve the efficiency of urban logistics going into urban areas. In this study we address the spatial footprint of logistics and possibilities to reduce this on a neighbourhood level. We develop a typology with different archetype neighbourhoods in which we estimate the logistics footprint per area with a decomposition in different logistics segments and number of vehicles towards the year 2035. Based upon that we propose interventions for stakeholders to jointly reduce the negative impact. This study sheds more light on the importance of area-specific approaches to reduce the negative impact of urban logistics.
This study presents an extension of an existing urban freight simulation model, with a cycling network model for the evaluation of city logistic policy scenarios involving cargo bikes. The purpose of the simulation is to provide indicators for the evaluation of bottlenecks in the bike lane infrastructure and from cargo bike parking on sidewalks. Simulation of cargo bike flows requires an explicit route choice behavior for cargo bike drivers, and sufficient detail in the zonal network connectors to have an accurate representation of trip ends. This paper presents the simulation results from the urban freight model with the integrated cycling network assignment. Two cargo bike network configurations were analyzed: single carrier hubs and open shared use for micro hubs. The results confirm a strong and varied impact on the emergence of bottle necks in the cycling network and the pressure of cargo bike parking in the city center.
Urban freight transport is essential for ensuring the timely delivery of goods within cities. However, its operations generate significant environmental and societal costs due to private sector dominance, fragmented stakeholder groups, and conflicting objectives. Addressing these issues requires implementing long-term participatory planning frameworks capable of prioritizing effective and acceptable policies while balancing public and private interests. Stakeholder participation plays a pivotal role in overcoming these challenges by fostering collaboration, building consensus, and enhancing the effectiveness of planning processes. This paper systematically classifies and evaluates methods for policy prioritization. A comprehensive review highlights the strengths and limitations of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The paper also discusses the potential of combining these approaches, providing actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners to develop robust urban freight participatory planning processes.
This review paper presents recent innovations in modelling city logistics. It covers important advancements in modelling urban freight transport using emerging technologies. We discuss big data, multi-agent simulation with machine learning, integrated platforms, digital twins, parcel lockers, micro consolidation centres, crowdshipping, modelling multi-modal freight transport, dynamic vehicle routing problem (VRP) and the location of micro hubs. We highlight innovative models to replicate the behaviour of stakeholders and properly evaluate policy measures. These models can be incorporated in hyperconnected city logistics to enhance productivity, sustainability and resilience in urban freight transport.
The Physical Internet (PI) is probably the most ambitious and visionary concept towards efficiency and sustainability in transport logistics. PI proposes a full consolidation of logistics flows from independent shippers using vertical and horizontal collaboration. The objective of this paper is to evaluate where the implementation of the Physical Internet concept stands in the practice of city logistics. From our research, it can be concluded that Hubs, Networks, and Extended Inter-networks are developing sufficiently. Access and adoption, as well as the governance of platforms, still seem to be too complex for big steps on the roadmap.
This paper examines how the transition management approach for sustainability transitions can be applied to the case of how Rotterdam established a zero-emission zone (ZEZ) for city logistics, aiming to stimulate the adoption of electric freight vehicles, enhance logistics efficiency and improve liveability. The study highlights the challenges and strategies involved in transitioning to a sustainable city logistics system. Through a case study methodology, this paper explores the development and implementation of Rotterdam’s ZEZ, emphasising the importance of stakeholder collaboration, strategic planning, and continuous monitoring. The findings provide valuable insights into the practical application of transition management theory in city logistics, offering best practice for other cities aiming to achieve similar sustainability goals.
Freight Trip Generation (FTG) models link establishment characteristics to delivery activity and are widely used in urban freight planning. While their reliability depends on establishment surveys, the implications of sampling design remain poorly understood. This paper examines how alternative sampling strategies affect FTG model performance and cost, using population data to sample from establishments in Stockholm. The authors compare simple random, stratified, and hybrid sampling across proportional, Neyman, and optimal allocation rules, as well as three levels of sector aggregation. Results show that simple random sampling overrepresents large, low-impact sectors and underrepresents freight-intensive ones. Stratified approaches improve accuracy, but only when allocation accounts for sectoral variance and survey costs. Aggregation reduces required sample sizes, with moderate aggregation offering a practical compromise and high aggregation suited for strategic planning.
E-commerce growth has transformed business operations and consumer behavior, significantly impacting last-mile delivery (LMD), particularly for business-to-consumer deliveries of small parcels. Challenges such as increased vehicle kilometers traveled and inefficient delivery consolidation, particularly in urban areas, have escalated logistical costs and inefficiencies. Autonomous delivery robots (ADRs) offer a promising solution by reducing operational expenses and bypassing traffic congestion. This paper introduces a multimodal LMD distribution network integrating vans and ADRs, formulated as a capacitated vehicle routing problem. A adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic algorithm is employed to solve this complex problem, leveraging ADRs’ characteristics. This model is applied to a real delivery network in Osaka, Japan.
This paper examines the role of storytelling in participatory planning for urban freight transport. Stakeholder engagement is universally recognized as fundamental to urban logistics governance, yet its practical implementation remains uncertain. The research explores how digital storytelling, integrated within the Living Lab environment through a purpose-built software, enhances dialogue, consensus-building, and policy acceptance. In particular, the study analyzes its application within the Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan of the Metropolitan City of Rome, using it as a case study to clarify the effectiveness of this tool. The results demonstrate that storytelling increases stakeholder satisfaction and engagement, supporting a more transparent and inclusive participatory planning process. Participants in the experiment were real urban freight stakeholders, such as shippers, receivers, and transport providers, engaged in the co-creation of actual metropolitan logistics policies. These findings advocate for broader adoption of storytelling in urban freight transport governance to improve stakeholder sense making and policy effectiveness.
This paper analyzes the spatial distribution of Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) freight vehicle-trips in the urban core of the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Amazon last-mile e-commerce (B2C) deliveries-per-stop data are combined with a new generation of econometric demand models that estimate B2B and B2C fulfillments (shipments and deliveries) using readily available zonal census variables (employment, median household income, and population) to obtain estimates of fulfillments and resulting B2C traffic. Sensitivity analysis is then performed for various B2B consolidation scenarios to determine the location(s) within the area where B2B traffic outpaces B2C traffic. The results of this show that B2B traffic dominates in the urban core, which is consistent with the concentration of commercial establishments and activities there – while secondary urban areas and suburbs tend to receive larger shares of B2C traffic. These results are crucial for the development of geographically targeted policies by planners and decision-makers who have recently placed an outsized emphasis on e-commerce in the densest parts of cities. Traffic generation differences, consolidation, and urban form are directly highlighted in this work.
Growing technology access and effects of social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased the demand for online purchases. Understanding the potential mobility impacts of e-commerce operations at a regional level becomes relevant. This study uses data from multiple sources to develop a modeling framework for on-demand delivery (ODD) operations for meals and groceries in POLARIS, a large-scale activity-based travel demand model and mesoscopic traffic simulator. Deliveries are simulated following similar characteristics of taxi operations, allowing for orders to be picked up by individuals using personal vehicles. The demand is modeled from a behavioral survey using a zero-one inflated Beta model aiming to address the excess of zeros in the data and the presence of ones. Estimations for low and high e-commerce demand are analyzed for operations in Austin, Texas, from 2020 to 2040 as the population grows by 60%. It is expected that ODD operations will increase in future years, leading to a significant increase in operational vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Although substitutionary trips come from exchanging a percentage of driving activities for e-commerce operations, a significant part of delivery operations corresponds to empty miles with driver repositioning or idling. Additional analysis of the effect of delivery policies for short trips indicates that nearly half of the VMT can be done using low-emission vehicles like bicycles.
