Dialogue and commitment show the way for efficient freight transport in the Old Town!

Stockholm's traffic counselor, Lars Strömgren, began by talking about the city's visions for freight transport in a future urban environmental zone in the Old Town:

''We hear that Stockholmers are asking for a city with less asphalt, more tree canopy and more space for public life. In order to meet these requests, we want to make several efforts to make Gamla Stan a more accessible district. This feasibility study is part of the work to investigate how we can improve efficiency and find new solutions for goods deliveries. To make room for more public life, the number of parking spaces also needs to be reduced. The change will mean reduced car traffic, but we are keen to still ensure that buses, deliveries and accommodation can arrive.''

Lessons and insights from the pre study

Felicia Hökars, project manager, then presented the needs picture and problem formulation that emerged through interviews and workshops with, among other things, businesses and residents. Jack Lu, project manager together with Felicia, went through some of the solutions that have been developed in response to the identified needs picture. He also gave an overview of lessons learned from the work.

''An interesting insight from the preliminary study is that the concern regarding the introduction of environmental zone class 3 is largely due to prejudices or a lack of knowledge about others' ability to adapt, or the experience that one does not feel involved in the adaptation journey. The preliminary study has made it possible for various actors to make visible and share their needs, concerns and perspectives. In this way, the project has also increased the conditions for the actors to solve the common challenges that exist in the Old Town regarding freight transport.''

The results presentations were followed by a panel discussion with some of those who participated in the pre study.

- For the city of Stockholm, it has been particularly valuable to share the insight that the mere transition from today's vehicles to electric or gas vehicles, or to let transport work continue as usual, is not a desirable scenario. Together with key actors, we have identified tools where each individual actor contributes to instead streamline and reduce the number of transports and thus achieve a better local environment in the Old Town, commented Victoria Herslöf, responsible from the City of Stockholm. 

Katarina Malmgren, chairwoman of the Old Town Business Association highlighted the importance of continued good dialogue with all parties involved.  

- The transport of goods to hundreds of companies in trade and hospitality in the Old Town takes place during a few intense hours during the morning. The breadth of actors in the feasibility study has described many of the challenges that affect the outermost links of the supply chain. When new solutions are to be tested, it is crucial that the dialogue continues with all relevant actors for a successful result.  

Workshop on new supercargo space 

Based on the 15 solutions that were worked out during the preliminary study, the city of Stockholm has chosen, in the first stage, to proceed with examining the conditions for a "super load site" in combination with a mobile collective loading hub. 

As part of enabling continued dialogue, the meeting ended with a workshop based on these selected proposals.

The participants had to discuss and give suggestions on how freight transport can be made more efficient by converting an existing parking area in Gamla Stan into a supercargo area. What needs to be on the surface, how should inflows and outflows of goods transport work and what should the place look like in order for it to fit aesthetically into the Old Town environment? were some of the issues raised. The ideas and cooperation from the groups will be taken by the city as they continue to plan for the new loading site. The workshop ended with a short summary of the discussions from the four groups.