Shaping logistics in the city of the future
Region of expertise: urban logistics Since 2016, the state capital Hannover (LHH) has taken a proactive approach to shaping the future with regard to urban logistics. This commitment comes from the Urban Logistics Initiative Hannover that was called into being as a result of the city dialogue “My Hannover 2030”.
Besides addressing the requirements of citizens in a liveable city, the need to act results from many different, closely related social trends. The growth in e-commerce has triggered an increase in parcel consignments in the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) sectors. Digitalisation is changing habits, forms of mobility and related services. Examples here include mobility as a service (MaaS) and transport as a service (TaaS), or autonomous and connected systems. Given the currently fierce competition for public space, the long-term outlook aims point to bringing relief, safety and efficiency. LHH is the ideal location for shaping and testing the future of logistics, thanks, among others, to the efficient infrastructure of the city that was reconstructed along car-friendly lines, together with its geographically favourable position at the intersection of the A 2 and A 7 motorways, as well as the many large-volume logistics processes and players in the city area.
The stakeholders in the Urban Logistics Intiative Hannover are partners from business (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge, DHL, enercity AG), the academic sector (Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover University of Sciences and Arts, Technical University of Braunschweig) and the public sector (LHH, state of Lower Saxony). They developed a shared vision for urban logistics in the city of the future, focussing on people’s needs in a liveable city. Future logistics in climate-neutral Hannover stand for quiet, emission-free, safe transport solutions and innovative infrastructure in the urban space.
Knowledge and research
The Urban Logistics Initiative Hannover has established Hannover as a region of expertise when it comes to questions and solutions covering all aspects of urban logistics for the future. Initiated by the partners involved, the USEfUL research project funded by BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research started in 2017. As part of the USEfUL project, a web application was developed as an investigation, simulation and evaluation tool for urban logistics to simulate and optimise logistics concepts and visualise their impacts on the life of the city and on traffic in general. The composition of the project partners in the USEfUL research project brings together local authorities, the academic sector and business with the intention of sharing ideas and specialist know-how.
LHH played a leading role in the project in cooperation with the partners Leibniz University Hannover, Technical University Carolo Wilhelmina of Braunschweig, Hannover University of Sciences and Arts and Volkswagen AG. One example of the activities involved consists of considering and assessing the use of microhubs. Microhubs act as mobile or stationary storage sites that allow local-level distribution by service companies with electric vehicles or cargo bikes. This seminal transport solution can help to decrease the number of heavy goods vehicles in urban areas, also reducing the related impacts on public space and the environment.
Citizens were also involved in the USEfUL research project to gain insights into the acceptance of trend-setting logistics concepts in the population at large and among business companies. The transfer and perpetuation project USEfUL XT is now looking at how effective urban logistics concepts can be transferred to rural regions. Hacon Ingenieursgesellschaft mbH has joined the perpetuation project USEfUL XT as a new business partner for further development of the web application. As the name says, the project is intended to be useful: politicians and local authorities in particular can use the web application to identify effective measures according to their defined sustainability targets. Implementation of the identified logistics concepts should then make inner-city logistics quieter, for example, with lower levels of pollution. In turn, this can make cities more liveable for the citizens.
Pilot project and implementation
Besides researching int into innovative logistics concepts and understanding the interdependence of commercial traffic, establishing a region of expertise for urban logistics also means forging ahead with the practical implementation of pilot projects in the city. Comprehensive sharing with stakeholders for planning and testing new logistics concepts in real operation makes it possible for local authorities to run through and evaluate internal administration processes, and for companies to adapt and optimise their internal operational processes. The LHH approach consists in initiating pilot projects regardless of funding, essentially free of regulations and aspiring to achieve long-term economic efficiency and efficacy. In the summer of 2019, this approach initiated in Hannover formed the basis for launching a pilot project in Linden-Nord, a borough of the city with 17,000 citizens and the greatest population density. The pilot projected worked with the four highest-volume courier, express and parcel service companies (CEP) and a local service provider. The aims were as follows:
1. to implement locally emission-free parcel delivery at short notice for a whole borough using innovative delivery methods,
2. to improve traffic safety by preventing vehicles from double parking, causing visual obstructions or using third-party infrastructure,
3. to promote greater awareness by making it clear how land is used up by logistics, and
4. to make public space usage in the city more efficient.
Working on a voluntary basis, the participating CEP companies converted their fleets of vehicle in Linden-Nord to electric vehicles and cargo bikes for locally emission-free delivery of about 1,000 parcels every day. To allow for local-level parcel distribution with carbo bikes while at the same time achieving the targets for traffic safety, promoting awareness and efficient land use, LHH set up 21 logistics points in compliance with the traffic regulations, together with two transfer points in Linden-Nord for local-level distribution on public streets. Each of the logistics points takes up two car parking spaces and is reserved for delivery traffic between 9 am and 5 pm on working days. This ensures that people living in the city are able to use the parking spaces at other times of the day. The positive results have perpetuated the project that now acts as blueprint for other boroughs in Hannover, with plans for successive expansion of the logistics points. At the same time, other possibilities are being examined to define requirements and digital access in public spaces.
Between 2022 and 2024, the project 5GAPS – 5G Access to Public Spaces is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport. 5GAPS is a project that maps and breaks down public spaces in the three spatial dimensions in (almost) any level of detail, addressing the resulting spatial cubelets systematically with an ID and thus giving access to target groups with differing and partly competing use requirements. The target of 5GAPS consists in a high-precision three-dimensional positioning system with discrete virtual cubelets that can assume any characteristics yet to be defined. Dynamic changes in the cubelet characteristics over time have to be registered in real time and processed in order to facilitate use or prevent usage conflicts. The technical approach consists in a globally defined scalable coordinate system covering information in terms of space, time and condition.
Creating digital access to public spaces is another step in controlling logistics processes and associated competition for space in an efficient, climate-friendly and liveable manner. Further information is available at: www.urbane-logistik.de.
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