Light Ideas for Urban Freight

A bold plan is being embarked upon by the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, that could offer a sustainable and attractive city center road delivery alternative. Because of its narrow streets, Amsterdam's city center has had a chronic access problem for trucks. Hurried deliveries, increased morning rush hour traffic congestion, and increased emissions have resulted from truck deliveries, which are limited to 7:00-11:00 in the morning. Set up for cargo tram operations, the company City Cargo Amsterdam drew up plans to bring the concept of using light-rail vehicles (LRVs) for freight delivery purposes after a local entrepreneur saw the concept being used at Dresden, Germany's Volkswagen plant. A small-scale trial was approved by the Amsterdam city council in November 2006 and implemented in March 2007. Approximately 150 million Euros are being invested in the project's initial phase. Under the plan, freight will be unloaded from trucks, grouped by destination, and then loaded onto cargo trams. After the trams are unloaded at inner city transfer hubs, the freight will then be transferred into E-cars, small electrically-powered road vehicles, for delivery to customers.