T2.__ Reduce local delivery emissions
Last mile delivery accounts for roughly half the costs of getting goods from manufacturers to the door. Recent research in Seattle concluded that cruising for a parking space occupied about 28% of the median delivery trip time in downtown (and that average cruising time was 71% of the total trips, suggesting quite a few drivers cruise much longer). It suggests a number of possible steps to reduce that including more loading zones, off-peak or night delivery, curbside delivery lockers for apartment buildings, real-time parking availability data, logistics hubs, and cargo bikes. San Francisco’s two year pilot of dynamic parking pricing reduced cruising time by 50%.
Use small autonomous electric carts for the last mile of deliveries –
Nüwiel’s electric bicycle trailer automatically follows the movement of the delivery bicycle so the cyclist does not have to pull it.
Amazon is testing its autonomous delivery cart, Scout, in several locations, including Snohomish County. Nuro expects to have 50 to 100 of them in service this year. Among other things, they’re working on using them to provide fresh food deliveries in urban “food deserts”, low income neighborhoods with limited access to grocery stores. Similar robots are being tested in Japan and used in China.
Combine different functions –
In Stockholm, a package delivery company and a waste management company have combined their operations – trucks make deliveries from a warehouse outside the city; rather than driving back empty, they pick up recycling in the process.