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Barcelona

Spain

Context

Barcelona is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and is the capital city of Catalonia, Spain. The Barcelona Living Lab will assess and develop appropriate last-mile delivery models (primarily cargo-bike hubs, but also lockers, linked to rail stations in a variety of urban contexts (covering Barcelona’s city centre and towns along the metropolitan rail network).

ATM, the Authority of Metropolitan Transport, is the public entity that manages and coordinates all planning instruments in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona. The ATM is a consortium formed by the Catalan Government, AMB (Authority of Metropolitan Barcelona), Barcelona City Council and the AMTU (Association of Municipalities for Urban Transport). ATM realises the PDM – Mobility Master Plan and has obtained preliminary approval for the plan covering 2020-2025. Within the PDM framework, ATM has set up a “Freight Partnership” – the TSL – that brings together actors in the logistics sector. Also, within this plan, it has established an action to improve the interchange between mobility modes at 102 stations.

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya or FGC, is a railway company which manages the rail infrastructure and operates services that include some of the metro and commuter lines in and around Barcelona. ATM’s interchange improvement plan includes 28 stations managed by FGC.

VANAPEDAL operates a fleet of more than a dozen cargo-bikes from a hub adjacent to Estació de França rail station in the centre of Barcelona city. It has a strong track-record of green innovation, collaborating with partners in both the public and private sectors. Its services were originally developed to serve parcel shippers. Now, with an established fleet, it is harnessing its operational experience to promote services for local commerce.
Last but not least, Eurecat, and ICT SME companies Factual and Mosaic also participate in developing the GREEN-LOG Living Lab in Barcelona.

THE CHALLENGE

There are various challenges facing a wider deployment of sustainable logistics solutions. Barcelona focuses on making cargo bike services more viable. The central city pilot explores how operations based on an established set of delivery services can be optimally managed to realise the demands of local online commerce. The approach examines how different models of cargo-bikes in combination with electric vans can extend the market catchments of cargo-bike hubs. Information technologies will be applied to determine how combinations of services and vehicles can optimise the performance of a hub located at/near rail stations.

Rail stations within the Barcelona metropolis will be assessed to identify the extent to which cargo bike and/or locker solutions being piloted in the GREEN-LOG Living Labs can be readily taken up by other towns within the framework of the Metropolitan Transport Plan.

GREEN-LOG INNOVATION

GREEN-LOG aims to bridge the existing gap by:

  • Implementing measures based on needs and objectives of different stakeholders. A business model that adapts existing cargo bike operations to handle the online local commerce deliveries will be trialled and assessed.
  • The pilot will seek to combine cargo bike deliveries with complementary use of e-van sharing for larger / heavier parcels.
  • Opportunities to optimise service take-up based on ICT technologies – facilitating micro-incentives, for example – will also be trialled.

RELEVANT OUTPUTS

The following outputs are envisaged to be achieved:

  • The quantitative and qualitative assessment of the impact of the enhanced cargo bike services will be performed.
  • A roadmap for future sustainable logistics actions will be planned.

GREEN-LOG PARTNERS INVOLVED

AUTORITAT DEL TRANSPORT
METROPOLITA (ATM)

FERROCARRILS DE LA GENERALITAT DE
CATALUNYA (FGC)

SOLUCIONS ULTIMA MILLA SL
(VANAPED)

FUNDACION EURECAT (EUT)

FACTUAL CONSULTING SL (FACTUAL)

MOSAIC FACTOR SL (MOSAIC)

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