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Urban freight policies and distribution channels: a discussion based on evidence from Italian cities
Danielis, Romeo
Rotaris, Lucia
Marcucci, Edoardo
2010
Abstract
Urban areas are vital centers of economic activity and innovation generating large economies of density
and proximity. Yet, procuring and distributing goods in an urban context is fraught with difficulties
because of infrastructure congestion, external costs, conflicting objectives among stakeholders, and
asymmetric information.
In order to improve the performance of the urban goods transport system many policies have been
proposed, including goods vehicle time windows, vehicle-type restrictions, loading\unloading policies,
fiscal policies, the promotion urban transhipment and consolidation centres. Unfortunately, not much is
known concerning how these policies affect the existing distribution practices. It is quite likely that the
impact is differentiated by type of product and distribution channel. The aim of this paper is to explore
this issue. Drawing on the existing literature and on the empirical evidence from some Italian cities, the
paper identifies and discusses the relationship between each of the above-mentioned policies and the
distribution channels of some goods (fresh food sold in retail stores, food distributed by Hotels,
Restaurants and Catering (Ho.Re.Ca.), pharmaceutical products and clothing&footwear) which are
commonly distributed in Italian urban centers. It is found that the distribution of pharmaceutical products
is unaffected by these policies, whereas the distribution of fresh food is negatively affected especially by
access time regulation and loading\unloading policies. The Ho.Re.Ca. and the clothing&footwear
channels are likely to be impacted the most by fiscal policies and by the promotion of urban transhipment
and consolidation centres.
Series
European Transport / Trasporti Europei
46
Publisher
EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
Source
Danielis, R., Rotaris, L., Marcucci, E. (2010) Urban freight policies and distribution channels: a discussion based on evidence from Italian cities, European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, 46, pp. 114-146
Languages
en
File(s)