A sustainable transport system 2030+
A prioritized development area within the HITS project is to explore the transformation towards a seamless, sustainable and flexible delivery of goods. As part of this work, the project has worked with three scenarios that is exploring the “sustainable future of urban logistics in 2030”. They are based on trends, drivers and what is seen as main shifts.
The project explores changes in the urban ecosystems and potential innovation, solution need from both product, service and system level. How can technology and service innovations improve the transport system in a sustainable way through collaboration. Following our explorative process, the scenarios aim to explore different degrees of alternative pathways around the future of logistics and autonomous vehicles.
Below is a description of the three scenarios.
Scenario 1
The scenario explores the concept hypothesis of “What if a lot of small areas (each district) has its own last-mile delivery hub/system?”
The main shifts are about increased collaboration with recycling services, specialization of last mile transport operation for a collaborative transport chain, authority engagement and more dynamic regulations to provide dynamic hubs. This is based on the need to better utilize assets, increase night-time delivery for large consolidated volumes and to create a more efficient multimodal transport system.
Scenario 2
This scenario explores the concept hypothesis of “What if the city is regulating transport as they do with waste or public transport?”
The main shifts are about the growth of service based and sharing economy, emergence of trusted database across the logistic system, the adoption of geofencing and the increase in vehicle free zones in cities. This is based on the need to create a smoother delivery and return experience for the end-receiver, increase collaboration and control over all assets, explore the potential of open infrastructure and small hubs as interface for more local exchange.
Scenario 3
This scenario explores the concept hypothesis of “What if citizens and businesses in the city forms a joint marketplace to circulate both new and used products locally to endorse the increased use of circular flows?”
The main shifts are based on trends around the growth of localism with circular last mile logistics, zero-waste behavior, densification in areas with higher concentration of services, repairability of products & manufacturer responsibility. The needs to limit long-distance transport, explore the impact of hyper-local system and economy on transport demand, and to create collaborative setup between all actors of the transport chain.
