On September 26th - 27th 2011 the European Commission co-funded research project STRAIGHTSOL is kicked off in Oslo. The project demonstrates and evaluates urban freight transport and urban-interurban freight transport interfaces.
Urban areas represent particular challenges for freight transport, both in terms of logistical performance and environmental impact. Past measures suffer from a lack of systematic evaluation and assessment of short and long term effects. There is thus a clear need for a comprehensive approach to urban freight solutions, particularly linking urban to interurban freight movements.
The objectives of STRAIGHTSOL are threefold:
1) Develop a new impact assessment framework for measures applied to urban-interurban freight transport interfaces.
2) Support a set of innovative field demonstrations showcasing improved urban-interurban freight operations in Europe.
3) Apply the impact assessment framework to the live demonstrations and develop specific recommendations for future freight policies and measures. The demonstrations represent cutting edge initiatives from leading stakeholders like DHL, Kuehne+Nagel and TNT, and cover Brussels, Barcelona, Thessaloniki, Utrecht, Lisbon, Oslo and the south of England. The project lasts for 3 years, and is supported by The European Commission, DG Research and Innovation under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
Ultimate outcomes of the project will be:
• Proof-of-concept of seven real-world solutions for more smooth and efficient urban-interurban freight transport interfaces across Europe
• Strategies for design of measures and solutions
• Roadmaps towards industrial roll out
• Methods for future prioritisation of measures
The consortium partners are Institute of Transport Economics (NO), The Free University of Brussels – VUB (BE), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (GR), The University of Southampton (UK), Instituto Superior Tecnico (PT), CENIT (SP), TNO (NL), The University of Ljubljana (SL), KUEHNE+NAGEL (GR), Oxfam (UK), DHL EXEL SUPPLY CHAIN (SP), Ajuntament de l‘Hospitalet de Llobregat (SP), EMEL (PT), TNT Express Worldwide N.V. (NL), and GS1 NORWAY (NO).
Further information
Senior Research Engineer Jardar Andersen, Institute of Transport Economics (TOI), Norway, +4722573840 / jan@toi.no
