Technological innovations such as parcel lockers can only contribute to reducing the negative impact of last mile logistics on people, planet and profit outcomes if consumers adopt them. Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as a theoretical lens, the purpose of this study was to design effective interventions in the pre-delivery stage that stimulated consumers to choose to use parcel lockers, focusing on incentives and actions that online retailers and logistic service providers can easily implement. A vignette-based experiment was used to examine the impact of providing consumers with information about sustainability, information about parcel lockers and information about distance to nearest parcel locker on their choice to use a parcel locker instead of receiving their package at home. The originality of the study is twofold. The role of geographical context which is oftentimes overlooked was examined explicitly in this study by conducting the study with participants from the Netherlands and Lithuania. The present study used causal mediation analysis to study the combined effects of interventions and previous experience with parcel lockers through the UTAUT constructs. The findings showed that providing information about sustainability and information about the distance to the nearest parcel locker were effective interventions, however the effect of distance was country specific. Causal mediation analysis showed that familiarity with parcel lockers was positively associated with the choice to use parcel lockers by increasing perceived ease of use, expected performance, and reducing perceived risk.
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City logistics is one of the causes of today's road congestion in our cities, but at the same time its efficiency is affected by the traffic problems. The driving behaviour and mission strategies used by vans and lorries operating in urban areas usually does not exploit modern infomobility solutions. CityLog, a project co-funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Programme, aims at increasing the sustainability and the efficiency of urban goods deliveries through an adaptive and integrated mission management and by innovative vehicle features. More particularly, CityLog integrates a wide range of logistics-oriented infomobility services that include an optimized pre-trip planner, a new type of navigation system based on enhanced maps and a last mile parcel tracking service to avoid unsuccessful deliveries. © 2011 IEEE.
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The rise of e-commerce has led to an increase in parcel deliveries, increasing the need to address the cost and environmental impact of last-mile delivery. Customers who have become accustomed to next-day free delivery can play an important role therein by choosing more sustainable delivery options. Retailers and logistic service providers could give customers the choice to wait for their delivery or pick up their parcel from collection-and- delivery points. The purpose of this study was to examine how customers (the parcel recipients) can be stimulated to choose a more sustainable delivery option, and how this affects their satisfaction. Using two scenario- based experiments we found that customers can be steered towards more sustainable last mile delivery choices using financial and non-financial incentives. Financial incentives, in the form of a surcharge for the least sustainable option, were found to be very effective at extrinsically motivating customers to choose a more sustainable option yet had a negative impact on their satisfaction. The results provide insights for retailers to include sustainable delivery options at the check-out, and contribute to decision making on urban planning and utilization of urban space for e-commerce activities, as both parcel lockers and pick-up points require urban space
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Background: Research into termination of long-term psychosocial treatment of mental disorders is scarce. Yearly 25% of people in Dutch mental health services receive long-term treatment. They account for many people, contacts, and costs. Although relevant in different health care systems, (dis)continuation is particularly problematic under universal health care coverage when secondary services lack a fixed (financially determined) endpoint. Substantial, unaccounted, differences in treatment duration exist between services. Understanding of underlying decisional processes may result in improved decision making, efficient allocation of scarce resources, and more personalized treatment.
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Reducing recidivism of individual offenders usually is a multifaceted task. Behavioural interventions, based on the ‘what works principles’ go along with interventions in the domains of education, work, housing and social networks. An integrative approach seems to improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation. In most accreditation panels for offender interventions, continuity in the planning and realization of the various services is one of the criteria. In the Dutch panel a distinction is made between synchronous continuity, that is integration of services at a given point in time, and diachronic, that is integration of the sequence of interventions in the course of the probation process. This contribution focuses on synchronous continuity.
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A new urban consolidation centre, called Binnenstadservice.nl ('Inner city service'), started business in April 2008 in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. The consolidation centre in Nijmegen differs from initiatives in the past, distinguishing itself from other UCC initiatives by its focus on receivers rather than on carriers. After one year already 98 stores joined Binnenstadservice.nl and this number is still growing. Due to Binnenstadservice.nl, fewer trucks enter the city centre and fewer kilometres are driven. In this paper we provide insights into the local effects of the Binnenstadservice pilot after one year, such as air quality, inconvenience for residents and noise nuisance. The effects on local air quality and noise nuisance are limited, due to the amount of passenger and bus traffic remaining. Plans exist to start Binnenstadservice.nl franchises in other Dutch cities, which could result in making Binnenstadservice.nl a more serious partner for carriers to handle the transport of last mile distribution in cities.
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This article delves into the acceptance of autonomous driving within society and its implications for the automotive insurance sector. The research encompasses two different studies conducted with meticulous analysis. The first study involves over 600 participants involved with the automotive industry who have not yet had the opportunity to experience autonomous driving technology. It primarily centers on the adaptation of insurance products to align with the imminent implementation of this technology. The second study is directed at individuals who have had the opportunity to test an autonomous driving platform first-hand. Specifically, it examines users’ experiences after conducting test drives on public roads using an autonomous research platform jointly developed by MAPFRE, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The study conducted demonstrates that the user acceptance of autonomous driving technology significantly increases after firsthand experience with a real autonomous car. This finding underscores the importance of bringing autonomous driving technology closer to end-users in order to improve societal perception. Furthermore, the results provide valuable insights for industry stakeholders seeking to navigate the market as autonomous driving technology slowly becomes an integral part of commercial vehicles. The findings reveal that a substantial majority (96% of the surveyed individuals) believe that autonomous vehicles will still require insurance. Additionally, 90% of respondents express the opinion that policies for autonomous vehicles should be as affordable or even cheaper than those for traditional vehicles. This suggests that people may not be fully aware of the significant costs associated with the systems enabling autonomous driving when considering their insurance needs, which puts the spotlight back on the importance of bringing this technology closer to the general public.
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Het onderzoek is onderdeel van het SURFfoundation project 'Open Onderzoek II'. Lectoren hebben hart voor hun zaak. Hun zaak is het verrijken van de wereld met kennis. Het belang van het vrij beschikbaar maken van onderzoeksresultaten wordt door vele lectoren onderschreven ― blijkt uit dit onderzoek ― en een aantal pleit zelfs voor een revolutie om dit te realiseren! Net zoals kunst eigenlijk niet acht jaar in de kast van het gesloten Stedelijk Museum zou mogen worden opgesloten, zo mogen publicaties van lectoraten niet achter de deuren van uitgeverijen verdwijnen. Het vereist lef om dit te voorkomen. Lef van de auteur om eisen te stellen aan de uitgevers. Lef om brutaal en ‘burgerlijk ongehoorzaam’ te zijn.
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Universities have become more engaged or entrepreneurial, forging deeper relations with society beyond the economic sphere. To foster, structure, and institutionalize a broader spectrum of engagement, new types of intermediary organizations are created, going beyond the “standard” technology transfer oces, incubators, and science parks. This paper conceptualizes the role of such new-style intermediaries as facilitator, enabler, and co-shaper of university–society interaction, making a distinction between the roles of facilitation, configuration, and brokering. As a case study, the paper presents the Knowledge Mile in Amsterdam as a novel form of hyper local engagement of a university with its urban surroundings that connects the challenges of companies and organisations in the street to a broad range of educational and research activities of the university, as well as to rebrand the street.
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In this policy evaluation report, the results of the first 2 years of the Interreg funded ABCitiEs project are presented. In total 16 entrepreneurship collectives have been studied in 5 partner regions, i.e. Athens, Vilnius, Varazdin-Cakovec, Manchester and Amsterdam. The report contains an analysis of the cases and gives an overview of the most important opportunities and challenges faced by these cases. On the basis of these result, 4 policy directions have been selected in which improvement are considered most successful, i.e. access to funding, intermediaries, monitoring and experimental learning environments. Also, the report presents the action plans that have been formulated on the basis of these policy directions for the cities involved in this project. In the last 2 years of the project, project partners will implement these action plans in their respective cities.
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