What can councils do to make doorstep deliveries more sustainable?
Transport planning and policy have usually prioritised measures and interventions to target the mobility of people rather than goods.
However, freight transport accounts for one-third of the overall carbon emissions from transport, with road freight playing a major role.
This is partially acknowledged in the UK transport decarbonisation plan, which encourages the implementation of specific interventions to address carbon emissions from freight transport, including cleaner fuels and propulsion (for example, hydrogen and electrification) for lorries used for long-distance road freight, and operational solutions for local deliveries.
Our research project, commissioned by the LGA, was designed to explore the extent to which councils were concerned about ‘the last mile’ – the final leg in the delivery of parcels. The councils we spoke to identified a wide range of challenges related to parcel delivery, in particular because of the increase in the number of diesel vans and cars and the related increased congestion and pollution on local roads.
The UK is the third-largest market for online shopping and home deliveries in the world, with about three billion parcels sent each year across the country, so local concerns are unsurprising.
Participating councils considered a range of possible solutions including the design and implementation of compulsory consolidation centres, to be used in combination with e-cargo bikes.
This would have great potential for reducing van movements in targeted areas, but work would be needed to ensure acceptance from stakeholders, especially from logistics operators and retailers, who would have no other choice than using the scheme if they want to process any delivery.
“The UK is the third-largest market for online shopping and home deliveries in the world”
This kind of solution has also been suggested in the decarbonisation plan, but it does not account for challenges and enablers.
Several councils also liked the idea of extending the concept of road pricing to the mobility of goods, as well as people, and suggested a charge on delivery vehicles to access specific areas/roads or times of the day to reduce congestion.
On the other hand, a pricing scheme to encourage consumers to choose more sustainable delivery options for their purchases could also help reduce congestion and pollution in local areas.
Currently, most councils felt they did not have sufficient capacity or capabilities to understand what to do to address local freight issues and to align with national thinking.
This is a relatively new issue in their local transport agenda and, unsurprisingly, they sought a stronger steer from central government, as well as support, as they have very limited powers to design and deliver these solutions – some of which would require a change in regulations and funding.
Finally, the biggest barrier to the successful design and implementation of local freight solutions is likely to be a lack of data.
There is, in general, a lack of national and local data on freight movements and their related impact on carbon emissions. This is mainly because companies are not willing to share this kind of information, as it is considered commercially sensitive.
However, without this data, councils might lack the understanding of the local last-mile deliveries market, which might lead them to a wrong approach.
Future policy should consider enabling local authorities to collect this kind of data to inform local transport plans and the design of any local interventions.