Roundtable: “EcoLogistics: Improving last-mile delivery”
Wednesday, 24 March, 15:30-16:30 CET (09:30-10:30 GMT-5, 11:30-12:30 GMT-3)
The ongoing COVID19 pandemic showed the utmost importance of a reliable, efficient, and sustainable freight movement. E-commerce has grown at an unprecedented rate in recent years, and the pandemic has resulted in an explosion in the sector. The behavioral shift in today’s society caused by online shopping has put enormous pressure on the urban infrastructure. While meeting the “high frequency-less volume” demand for online shopping, the negative externalities are very high: air & noise pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, road safety, etc. Those externalities are further increased due to the absence of a comprehensive understanding of supply chain and freight transport in the urban area among planners and decision-makers (city, state, and national level). Moreover, there is a significant disconnect amongst the government bodies that regulate city transport network operations and freight operating industries.
The latest report of the World Economic forum suggests, without any interventions, the number of delivery vehicles in the top 100 cities globally will increase by 36% by 2030 and consequently, emissions from delivery traffic will increase by 32% and congestion will rise over 21% equating to an additional 11 minutes of commute time for each passenger every day. The last leg of the supply chain is getting great attention, especially of parcel deliveries. The market is not only large but also highly dynamic and is subject to significant technological disruption. What will be the levers of an EcoLogistics future – smart technologies, innovative policies, or data-driven planning?
The panel highlighted the challenges and opportunities in last-mile deliveries.
Agenda
Welcome and introduction by the moderator
- Michael Browne, Professor of logistics and urban freight transport, University of Gothenburg
Presentations
- Bicicarga Bogotá by Juan Esteban Martínez Ruíz, Undersecretary of Policies for Mobility, District Secretariat of Mobility, Bogotá D.C., Colombia (Presentation slides)
- City of Rosario, Argentina (Video)
Moderated panel discussion / Q&A
- Tu My Tran, Head of Sustainable Mobility, ICLEI World Secretariat
- Laura Iguavita, Focal point for Bogotá in the development of the pilot project with the World Bank, Bogotá, Colombia
Closing remarks