Models and Measures for Sustainable City Logistics : Behavioral Choice Processes

Models and Measures for Sustainable City: Behavioral Choice Processes Logistics offers a thorough understanding of urban freight movements, focusing on behavioral aspects of consumers. It outlines the role of modelling the behavioral aspects of people determining urban freight movements, mapping the behavior of the end consumer and the retailer which generates freight movements in an urban context. It provides new methods of urban freight transport simulation, taking into account the challenges of sustainable development goals, and uses the most recent approaches in modelling for city logistics scenario design and planning. It also outlines the relationships between measures and main components (expressed by indicators) of sustainable development.

This book guides readers in implementing the most effective city logistics measures and actions, addressing the choice of a set of measures and the definition of planning scenarios. Readers are introduced to simulation methods for estimating impacts and system performance, which can be used for comparing the future scenario outcomes according to the set of target indicators defined by Agenda 2030. The book first specifies end consumer behaviors in purchasing processes, analyzing the individual phases of the purchase. The retailer’s behaviors are then specified, and after specifying the patterns of the decision makers, the quantities of goods that constitute the references for the choices of the decision makers are analyzed. Finally, the book presents the problems whose solution makes it possible to identify the vehicles of the various types and then the flows on the network. The overall structure of the model system and the specification of each single model are then given. Some models calibrated in different real cases are presented, highlighting their applicability to other contexts. Finally, implementable measures are presented and the relationships between measures and main components (expressed by indicators) of sustainable development are examined.

Transport technicians, post-graduate students, and academics alike will find this a valuable resource for understanding how to incorporate user behavior into transport planning and logistics modeling, ultimately helping them to optimize processes and promote sustainability.