The EU-funded ULaaDS project sets out to offer a new approach to system innovation in urban logistics. Its vision is to develop sustainable and liveable cities through re-localisation of logistics activities and re-configuration of freight flows at different scales. Specifically, ULaaDS will use a combination of innovative technology solutions (vehicles, equipment and infrastructure), new schemes for horizontal collaboration (driven by the sharing economy) and policy measures and interventions as catalysers of a systemic change in urban and peri-urban service infrastructure. This aims to support cities in the path of integrating sustainable and cooperative logistics systems into their sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs). ULaaDS will deliver a novel framework to support urban logistics planning aligning industry, market and government needs, following an intensive multi-stakeholder collaboration process. This will create favourable conditions for the private sector to adopt sustainable principles for urban logistics, while enhancing cities’ adaptive capacity to respond to rapidly changing needs. The project findings will be translated into open decision support tools and guidelines.
A consortium led by 3 municipalities (pilot cities) committed to zero emissions city logistics (Bremen, Mechelen, Groningen) has joined forces with logistics stakeholders, both established (e.g. UPS) and new comers (e.g. ViaVan) as well as leading academic institutions in EU to accelerate the deployment of novel, feasible, shared and ZE solutions addressing major upcoming challenges generated by the rising on-demand economy in future urban logistics.
To do so, the ULaaDS project will work on 3 key focus pillars: i) co-creation process to model future on-demand scenarios for urban logistics and definition of relevant ULaaDS delivery solutions through novel toolkit; ii) deployment of 2 ULaaDS solutions co-created (combining new delivery vehicles and novel horizontal collaboration models) through a total of 6 multistakeholder research trials in the 3 pilot cities; iii) assessment of feasible value cases towards urban planning integration (SUMP/SULP).
The ULaaDS solutions will be designed complying with a framework of requirements highly aligned with the call topic and ETP ALICE research priorities. The 3 pilot cities propose 2 preliminary ULaaDS solutions building upon their SotA activities solutions to be further concretised through first project pillar: 1) modular innovative cargobikes operated by crowdsourced couriers to enhance logistics efficiency and multimodality in city centres; 2) integration of urban dual transport services (high on-demand distribution requirements of small goods with on-demand shared personal transport - eVans offering pooling for cargo, semiAGVs, public transport).
Finally, ULaaDS also involves 4
other satellite cities (Rome, Edinburgh, L’Hospitalet, Bergen) which will also
apply the novel toolkit created in ULaaDS as well as the overall project
methodology to co-create additional ULaaDS solutions relevant to their cities
as well as outlines for potential research trials.
ULaaaDS is a project proposal part of ETP ALICE Liaison program.