City logistics solutions for distribution in the last-mile economy

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The COVID-19 crisis has provided ample evidence of the existential importance of goods movement to the Canadian economy and the well-being of Canadians. City Logistics for the Urban Economy (CLUE) is a collaboration among researchers at McMaster University, the University of Toronto and York University, with public sector partners representing multiple levels of government and several industry partners. CLUE will address an interrelated set of challenges and opportunities arising from trends in urban goods transportation. The challenges include meeting consumer expectations for same-day home delivery by vehicles travelling over congested urban roads, competing for curbside parking and contributing to increasing vehicle emissions. The opportunities include unprecedented access to data on commercial vehicle and goods transportation, advances in data science that enable sophisticated analytics and the CLUE partnership, which has the potential to translate research outcomes into practice. CLUE will address the challenges by investigating how new delivery models (crowd-shipping, cargo tricycles, mobile distribution centres, automated vehicles), new curbside loading zone technology, and lifting restrictions that prohibit late-night goods deliveries, for example, make the goods movement network more efficient and less impactful. CLUE will improve safety for drivers and other road users and reduce the public risks of exposure to hazardous materials and vehicle emissions. The transportation sector is the largest emitter, by sector, in Canada and emissions from freight trucks are rising notably faster than those of passenger vehicles. CLUE will investigate labour trends and the impacts of automation and technology to identify actions that will maintain and improve the efficiency of Canada's goods movement network and preserve and grow employment opportunities in this important sector. The outcomes of this research will thus have substantial economic, social and environmental benefits for Canada and Canadians.