Urban Freight Transportation Systems

Ralf Elbert, Christian Friedrich, Manfred Boltze, Hans-Christian Pfohl

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780128173633
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Transportation & Navigation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Urban Freight Transportation Systems offers new insights into the complexities of today's urban freight transport system. It provides a much needed multidisciplinary perspective from researchers in not only transportation, but also engineering, business management, planning and the law. The book examines numerous critical issues, such as strategies for delivery, logistics and freight transport spatial patterns, urban policy assessment, innovative transportation technologies, urban hubs, and the role factories play in the urban freight transport system. The book offers a novel conceptual approach for addressing the problems of production, logistics and traffic in an urban context.

As most of the world's population now live in cities, thus significantly increasing commercial traffic, there are numerous challenges for efficiently and sustainably delivering goods into cities. This book provides solutions and tactics to those challenges.

• Includes interdisciplinary contributors from around the globe
• Provides never-before-published original research to help users stay current and develop a deeper understanding of the field
• Presents the methods and results of research that is useful for both academics and practitioners

Part B

Logistics concepts and urban freight transportation

Outline

Chapter 4. Improving cost efficiency and environmental impact through the integration of light freight and passenger railway transport and last-mile distribution analysis

Chapter 5. Commercial traffic 2.0—analysis and recommendations of delivery strategies for the package delivery industry in urban areas

Chapter 6. The impact of data accuracy for efficient and feasible routing plans

Chapter 7. Last-mile transport of fragmented deliveries: delivery preferences of nanostoreowners

Chapter 8. The development and status quo of freight transport in China

Chapter 9. Transshipment hub automation in China's courier/express/parcel sector

Chapter 4

Improving cost efficiency and environmental impact through the integration of light freight and passenger railway transport and last-mile distribution analysis

Emilio Larrodé ^{1 , 3} , and Victoria Muerza ^{2 , 3 1} Department of Mechanical Engineering, Transportation Division, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain ² MIT International Logistics Program, Zaragoza Logistics Center, Zaragoza, Spain ³ Aragon Institute of Engineering Research (i3A), University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

Abstract

This chapter presents a distribution model of a light freight intermodal transport system in which rail transport is combined with urban road transport using nonpolluting or electric vehicles. The combination of modes of transport is established between regions with rail access to large urban centers with substantial commercial activity. Goods from outlying towns and surrounding areas are transported in shared passenger trains to the central rail station in the city. Here they are organized and classified for last-mile distribution by road to their final destination. A comparative study of traditional road distribution and combined railroad distribution is reported in terms of energy and cost efficiency.

Keywords

Cost efficiency; Environmental impact; Freight transport; Last-mile delivery; Railway transport

1. 1. Introduction
2. 2. Background
3. 3. Proposed railroad-based distribution model
   1. 3.1 General description of the model and bases of operation
   2. 3.2 Proximity freight transportation method based on railway
   3. 3.3 Efficient and ecological last-mile distribution
4. 4. Model analysis: comparison between pure road distribution and mixed railroad distribution
   1. 4.1 General characteristics of the railway line
   2. 4.2 Vehicles, handling, containers, and technology used
   3. 4.3 Analysis of the operational variables
      1. 4.3.1 Operation times
      2. 4.3.2 Available load volume
   4. 4.4 Cost analysis
      1. 4.4.1 Proposed model costs
      2. 4.4.2 Consumption costs
   5. 4.5 Analysis of emissions
5. 5. Discussion and conclusions
6. References

1. Introduction

Railway passenger transport services in Spain are divided into three main groups: long distance (average distance greater than 300 km), medium distance (60–300 km), and “Cercanias,” short distance, (<60 km). Medium-distance services are being underused in rural areas, where road and railway transport coexist. In fact, the occupation rate in 2016 was 30.46% (OFE, 2017). Although some lines are unprofitable, in terms of sustainability, railway outperforms the automobile because traffic problems are avoided and the risk of traveling by train is 30 times lower than using vehicles. In addition, for each ton-km by railway, four times less equivalent gasoline is consumed than by road (Adif, w.d.).

In terms of freight transport, most companies and services use road transport fleets, which are environmentally unsustainable and have the most transport quotas in Spain. To improve and provide a sustainable and competitive freight transport, an increase in the use of the existing railway network is necessary. A more extensive use of railway transport induces a reduction of emissions and transport costs.

Railway freight transport should be integrated into the last-mile distribution networks as it is possible to take advantage of the railway accessibility to the center of the cities. This would reduce the access of delivery vehicles, avoiding the congestion of urban centers and pollution. This chapter presents an integrated model of railway and road transport to bring ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Front Matter
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Authors' Biographies
• Emerging issues in urban freight transportation systems—introduction and overview of the book
• Part A. Land-use and urban production
• Part B. Logistics concepts and urban freight transportation
• Part C. Application of new technologies and deployment of electric vehicles
• Index