Innovative Intermodal Urban Freight Transport Solution

城市供应链受到道路拥堵的困扰，并且是造成道路拥堵的重要因素。商业效率的下降、空气污染的增加、道路网络的破坏等，估计每年给英国经济造成320亿英镑的损失。“鼹鼠城市概念”旨在通过将两种经过验证的减少拥堵影响的方法（城市整合中心边缘和城市内部的电动货车）与管道运输胶囊联系起来，降低城市地区的道路货运水平，每个胶囊都能够携带两个全尺寸的托盘。虽然运输管道的好处是显而易见的，但资本成本和开发时间表被认为是主要的可行性问题。该项目旨在为特定的城市位置和现实的发展时间表建立商业案例。它建立在Mole Solutions （MSL）之前对散装产品运输的研究基础上：1)DEFRA资助/DfT管理的研究，以评估运输管道运输集料的可行性，2)智能概念验证赠款和3)原型开发赠款；2014年的输出是一个可操作的演示器。这些都表明，单独的技术是可用的，创新来自于将这些技术结合成一个非常具有成本效益，社会可接受和低环境影响的货运解决方案。这名示威者引起了公共部门的兴趣；城市内部货运管道的潜力。北安普顿议会、LEP和大学都渴望了解将散装概念修改为北安普顿托盘运输系统的可行性。这将为全球城市应用提供一个模型。该项目将：a)确定批量示范系统所需的技术变化，b)确定经济可行性的限制（资本和运营成本，产能利用率），c)估计不同情景的社会环境影响，d)确定“变化的障碍”& e)准备一个现实的发展计划。

Urban supply chains suffer from, and are a significant contributor to, road congestion. Theloss of business efficiency, increase in air pollution, damage to the road network etc. areestimated to cost the UK economy £32bn/year. The Mole Urban Concept is aimed at reducingthe level of road freight within urban areas by linking two proven congestion impact reductionmethods (edge of city Consolidation Centres and inner city based electric vans) with pipelinescarrying capsules, each capable of carrying two full sized pallets. Whilst the benefits offreight pipelines are readily appreciated, the capital cost and development timescales areconsidered major viability concerns.This project aims to establish the business case for a specific urban location and a realistictimetable for development. It builds on previous studies by Mole Solutions (MSL) for thetransport of bulk products: 1) DEFRA funded/DfT managed study to assess the feasibility offreight pipelines to transport aggregates, 2) a Smart Proof of Concept Grant and 3) aDevelopment of Prototype Grant; output being an operational demonstrator in 2014. Thesehave shown that individual technologies are available, the innovation comes from combiningthese into a very cost effective, socially acceptable and low environmental impact freightsolution.The demonstrator attracted interest from the public sector; the potential for freight pipelineswithin cities. Northampton Councils, LEP and University are all keen to understand thefeasibility of modifying the bulk concept to a pallet carrying system for Northampton. Thiswould provide a model for urban applications globally.This project will: a) establish technology changes required from the bulk demonstratorsystem, b) determine limits of economic viability (capital and operating costs, capacityutilisation), c) estimate the socio-environmental impact for different scenarios, d) identify‘barriers to change’ & e) prepare a realistic development programme.