Best Practices Radar

Unlock the potential of zero-emission urban logistics with the ULaaDS decision support toolbox, providing comprehensive insights to streamline planning and align strategies with city goals.

As urban spaces evolve, integrating parcel lockers has become crucial, especially with the booming e-commerce sector. This ULaaDS publication, developed by Bax & Company, with valuable insights from Gemeente Groningen, and the University of Groningen, addresses the rapid expansion of these services and their impact on urban life and public spaces.

With the rise of e-commerce, urban logistics has become a pressing concern for cities across Europe. The Horizon 2020 project ULaaDS (Urban Logistics as an on-Demand Service) introduces innovative solutions, while revealing challenges in the competitive market landscape.

Developed by the Covenant of Mayors Europe, this publication aims to serve as a resource for Covenant of Mayors Signatories. It catalogues key initiatives, projects, guidelines, case studies and tools in five cornerstone areas: public transport, urban logistics, active mobility, electromobility, and the integration of SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans) and SUMPs (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans). The central focus of the publication is on the reduction of mobility-related emissions.

Zag speaks with H Firkins & Sons Director Josh Firkins, a sixth generation sweep, who runs the oldest chimney sweep company in London about how he’s invested in a new EAV cargo bike to beat the Ulez charges.

The association Boîtes à Vélo – France pursues a non-partisan objective, of social utility and general interest, through its actions aimed at the development and sustainability of cycling entrepreneurship in France. It thus contributes to generalizing the bicycle as an alternative means to motorized vehicles for the transport of goods and people in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas.

USEfUL stands for Untersuchungs- Simulations- und Evaluationstool für Urbane Logistik (Investigation, Simulation and Evaluation Tool for Urban Logistics). The web application is used to provide information and to support decisions for municipal decision-makers, politicians and companies. (In German)

Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), the Swiss company working on underground freight transport, that will start tunnel-related activities for the first time.

The Alke’ tail lift truck fitted with hydraulic tail lift to facilitate handling of the load is, for example, ideal for use in parks to handle waste bins. It guarantees comfort in loading/unloading operations

Online tool that provides information about all available subsidies in Europe, including the size of the subsidy, the type of bicycle and the eligible target groups. This tool from the European Cyclists Federation is a great tool for those looking to shift their mobility modes, aimed at a wide range of stakeholders: businesses, public entities, cyclists.

Kleuster designs, develops and produces innovative, high tech and stylish vehicles that are easy to operate and environmentally friendly. Their non-driving license vehicles are a great solution for last mile in increasingly pedestrianised and cycle-friendly city centres, a great alternative to conventional solutions.

Bristol based bike courier services company contributing to greening of the city through bike couriers delivering big and small packages and food with cargo bikes and large backpacks.

Present in the ULaaDS city of Mechelen, Cargoroo offers a cost-efficient, eco-friendly, hassle-free way to carry cargo of any kind. Fun and active way to promote this sustainable means of implementing the shared economy at its fullest.

On 10 June 2022, the autonomous delivery vehicle Ona was tested in a real-world urban environment in Barcelona. The demonstration took place in the Can Vidalet neighborhood of the city of Esplugues de Llobregat, in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.

Innovative French cycle logistics solutions that offer three different models with higher load and weight capacities than most cargo bikes.

Inclusive citizen engagement methodology for feedback on new city SUMP update. An open process to gather opinion and views on SUMP edits and the new solutions and sections included in it. (In German)

Mover is an urban logistics startup from Copenhagen working to increase the efficiency and quality of last-mile deliveries through state-of-the-art technology.

The well-known last mile logistics company has an ongoing pilot in Paris where mobile micro-depots are being deployed. Read this article covering the innovative solution (in French).

Discover ECLF’s interactive map of the cycle logistics world including; operators, manufacturers, cargo bike users and more.

A Canadian-based startup exploring drone delivery solutions for last-mile logistics, high expectations and potential for a possible near future.

Micromobility operator Fenix has launched a 10-minute fresh grocery delivery service in a dense, mixed-use development off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

The 5^th edition of DHL’s Logistics Trend Radar, featuring an interactive tool as well as a report looking into 29 logistics trends for our futures.

This publication presents the results of the ‘Go Electric’ project: an investigation into zero-emission (ZE) service logistics in urban areas. It provides service organisations with tools to formulate plans for ZE transport and to embed them into their business operations.

The future of last-mile logistics is looking towards fully automated delivery vehicles, and so is Nuro, this Californian company that presents an innovative autonomous vehicle for inner-city deliveries. It has 115kg capacity, is as long as a regular car and only 1m wide.

A Paris-based study done by ULaaDS Advisory Board member Dablanc on the competition of e-commerce in urban areas and how it is transitioning to instant deliveries due to high customer expectations.

Bringg offers a unified delivery & fulfilment cloud solution for smaller players and companies to rapidly improve their delivery capacity, pickup services, and customer experience at scale, allowing the transition into the on-demand economy as a whole.

Following a two-year participatory and iterative process that involved different stakeholders (residents, civil society groups and neighbourhood representatives), the city of Rome approved its Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) in 2019. The SUMP marks a crucial point in the city’s transition to cleaner and better urban transport, and highlights the advantages of bottom-up sustainable urban mobility planning.

Pedal Me analysed data from their fleet in September 2020 and summarised the direct logistical advantages of e-cargo bikes. They report on the average speeds of their bikes, and compare the distances travelled by bikes and cars for similar journeys. They then investigate the case of larger logistics jobs to evaluate how e-cargo bikes fare against motorised vehicles with much larger capacity.

Written by Melle van den Berg, the following presents the 5 main trends seen while observing the last mile delivery ecosystem in the UK and how these shape it and have done so in the recent past and will continue to do so.

With a combination of mobile technology, autonomous robots and partnerships with stores and restaurants, US-based Starship Technologies make local delivery faster, smarter and more cost-efficient.

8-year-old, US-based, startup currently transforming the way local goods move around a city by enabling anyone to get any product delivered in under an hour. Postmates Urban Logistics platform connects customers with local couriers who can deliver anything from any store or restaurant in minutes, a clear and great example of the on-demand economy in urban logistics.

Building on the success of Cyclelogistics and Cyclelogistics Ahead, City Changer Cargo Bike (CCCB) exploits the limitless potential of cargo bikes promoting their usage amongst public, private, and commercial users. Supported by the Horizon2020 programme, CCCB brings together 20 partners including cities, research institutions, NGOs, and industries from all over Europe in the quest to achieve a faster, more cost-effective and larger-scale deployment of this sustainable mobility option.

The Novelog Toolkit enables the users to identify city logistics measures and their impacts (as recorded in various initiatives) based on a set of parameters. Easy to use by selecting any suitable parameters from the proposed lists to discover a list of measures, best practices and impacts implemented in cities with similar parameters.