Assessing macro effects of freight consolidation on the livability of small cities using vehicle routing as micro models: The case of Bergen, Norway

This paper provides guidance for local authorities in small cities by equipping them with tools to comprehend and quantify freight consolidation within their urban areas, enabling them to integrate this into their regulatory decisions for enhanced city livability. Rather than advocating specific regulatory measures to facilitate consolidation, which is a political decision and can change over time, the paper establishes a basis for making informed policy decisions concerning consolidation. In this context, we focus on the perspective of authorities and, through an analysis of diverse market structures characterized by different degrees of consolidation, identify what is important to achieve in order to enhance city livability, measured by driven distance as well as the number and duration of stops. To this end, we propose a policy guidance framework tailored for authorities in small cities, adopting vehicle routing models as micro models to evaluate macro consolidation impacts for authorities. We apply the framework to a case that represents parcel distribution in Bergen, a small medieval city in Norway with a complicated street pattern and lack of parking, based on real maps and real demand patterns. Our findings suggest that small carriers take up a substantial space in the city, and increase the duration of stops while parking at various locations for parcel delivery. In this context, the city would benefit greatly from a market scheme, in which small carriers cannot deliver goods to end-customers, far more than moving between complete consolidation and a few reasonably large carriers.