Impacts of Environmental Access Restrictions on Freight Delivery Activities

Abstract

This study identified the position of goods vehicles in European low emissions zones (LEZs) and analyzed the impact of the access restrictions on transport and logistics firms and on their logistics activities. LEZs are delimited areas of a city or metropolitan area from which the vehicles that pollute the most are banned. Targeted vehicles are often freight vehicles as a result of the high levels of pollution emitted by today's urban delivery fleets. Through a literature review, interviews, and two specific surveys in London and Berlin, analysis of LEZ impacts on the urban freight industry was conducted. The creation of an LEZ was shown to reduce the number of firms making urban deliveries, and this reduction has probably benefited the urban freight market by compelling both public and private stakeholders to finds ways to promote more efficient activities. Such modernization is necessary because the urban freight market is dysfunctional: environmentally because of the old vehicles used until now and socially because of the many small firms that find it difficult to maintain a sufficient level of business activity without breaking the freight sector's labor laws and safety standards.