When it comes to City Logistics, the need to innovate comes from multiple directions. Greenhouse gas emissions must be drastically reduced while at the same time maintaining a vibrant and healthy economy, demanding robust action from each and every sector, including transport. At the same time, competition for scarce and precious common resources in a city (open and green space, an attractive and healthy nvironment, safety, clean air and low noise levels) puts political and societal pressure on supply networks to innovate in order to do more with less consumption of these scarce resources. This needs to be achieved not only by means of low-GHG-emission vehicles, but with less noise, less danger, less local pollution harmful to citizens, fewer transport movements and reduced need for roads and parking spaces.
Research finds that the global market value of cargo bikes will hit 2.4 billion euros by 2031. Analysts with Future Market Insights assessing the growth of cargo bikes have placed the parcel courier industry as a key buyer of electric cargo bikes, forecasting that 43 per cent of sales could go to this industry. This growth is driven by city logistics trends, particularly as studies emerge showing the high efficiency and cost saving of the cargo bike versus the delivery van. It will not solely be direct incentives that drive uptake, however. The policy that restricts motoring and emissions is expected to be a key driver for businesses that seek profitability, with three-wheeled electric cargo bikes making up nearly half the market. The advance of e-bike technology has seen a strong rise in market share for assisted cargo bikes, now accounting for a 73 per cent market share. Potentially limiting the growth is the legislation governing the output and range of electric cargo bikes (FMI, 2021).To deal with the issues of faster delivery, clean delivery (low/zero emission) and less space in dense cities, the light electric freight vehicle (LEFV) can be–and is used more and more as–an innovative solution. The way logistics in urban areas is organized is being challenged, as the global growth of cities leads to more jobs, more businesses and more residents. As a result, companies, workers, residents and visitors demand more goods and produce more waste. More space for logistics activities in and around cities is at odds with the growing need for accommodation for people living and working in cities. Book: Innovations in Transport: Success, Failure and Societal Impacts
CILOLAB contributes to the transition of the UFT-system towards zero emission city logistics in 2025 by examining, developing and enabling alternatives for urban logistics activities. Specifically, CILOLAB focuses on the transferability and scaling-up of successful logistics initiatives; i.e. concepts that facilitate decoupling between transport towards and in cities. CILOLAB is an action-driven partnership where cities cooperate with transport operators, interest groups, research institutes and societal partners and collaboratively develop new approaches for urban logistical solutions. Through continuous monitoring and impact assessment these solutions are evaluated and further developed within this experimentation environment, all contributing to the CILOLAB ambition.
CILOLAB contributes to the transition of the UFT-system towards zero emission city logistics in 2025 by examining, developing and enabling alternatives for urban logistics activities. Specifically, CILOLAB focuses on the transferability and scaling-up of successful logistics initiatives; i.e. concepts that facilitate decoupling between transport towards and in cities. CILOLAB is an action-driven partnership where cities cooperate with transport operators, interest groups, research institutes and societal partners and collaboratively develop new approaches for urban logistical solutions. Through continuous monitoring and impact assessment these solutions are evaluated and further developed within this experimentation environment, all contributing to the CILOLAB ambition.
In 2021, Citython editions were held for the European cities of Eindhoven (Netherlands), Bilbao and Barcelona (Spain), Hamburg (Germany), and Lublin (Poland). Within this project, BUAS contributed to the organization of CITYTHON Eindhoven in cooperation with CARNET (an initiative by CIT UPC) and City of Eindhoven – an event which gives young talent the opportunity to work with mentors and experts for the development of innovative urban solutions. Participants of CITYTHON Eindhoven worked on three challenges:- Traffic safety in school zones - Travel to the campus- Make the city healthy The event took place between 18 May and 2 June 2021 with various experts, for example from ASML, City of Eindhoven and University of Amsterdam, giving inspirational talks and mentoring students throughout the ideation and solutions development process. The teams presented their solutions during the Dutch Technology Week and the winners were announced by Monique List-de Roos (Alderman Mobility and Transport, City of Eindhoven) on 2 June 2021. The role of BUAS within this project was to assist City of Eindhoven with the development of the challenges to be tackled by the participating teams, and find relevant speakers and mentors who would be supporting the students for the development of their solutions and jury members who would determine the winning teams. The project ended with a round table “Green and Safe Mobility for all: 5 Smart City(thon) Case studies” on November 17 organized as part of Smart City Expo World Congress 2021 in Barcelona. This project is funded by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. EIT Urban Mobility acts to accelerate positive change on mobility to make urban spaces more livable. Learn more: eiturbanmobility.eu.Collaborating partnersCARNET (Lead organisation); Barcelona Institute of Technology for Habitat; Barcelona City Council; Bilbao City Hall; City of Hamburg; City of Eindhoven,; City of Lublin; Digital Hub Logistics Hamburg; Technical University of Catalonia, Tecnalia; UPC Technology Center.
