A. Project name and duration

Project name:

Freight Hitchhiking: Integrated people and freight synchromodal transportation networks

Commencement date:

1 September 2012

End date:

December 31, 2016 (Includes slack for hiring resources)

B. Project applicant and project leader

Company / organization:

Eindhoven University of Technology

Contact person:

Tom Van Woensel

E-mail address:

t.v.woensel@tue.nl

Authorized to sign:

Harry Roumen

Financial administrator:

Piet Jacobs Richard Jansen

E-mail address:

p.l.jacobs@tue.nl - r.l.jansen@tue.nl

Applicants visiting address:

Den Dolech 2

Postal code:

5612AZ

Postal code:

Postal address:

Postbus 513

Postal code:

5600MB

Postal code:

Project leader

Company / organization:

Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

Contact person:

Tom Van Woensel

E-mail address:

t.v.woensel@tue.nl

C. Partners in consortium

Organizations name

Type of organization

SME

Binnenstadservice

Company

Yes

Last Mile Logistics (COEPA)

Company

Yes

Connexxion

Company

No

Green Cab

Company

No

Lekkerland

Company

No

Sectorinstituut Openbare Bibliotheken

Company

No

Stichting Ubbo Emmius Fonds

Company

No

Medialogistics

Company

No

Urgenda & DOET

Company

No

Groningen Seaports

Company

No

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Knowledge institute

No

Universiteit Twente

Knowledge institute

No

Eindhoven University of Technology

Knowledge institute

No

D. Signatures

By signing this form, I certify that all the required documents are attached and that I am familiar with Dinalogs conditions and procedures.

Applicants organization:

Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

Authorized to sign:

Harry Roumen

Position:

Secretaris TU/e

City:

Eindhoven

Date:

Signature:

See separate document

Submit to Dinalog:

E-mail, all documents in PDF, but also original Word and Excel documents to tenders@dinalog.nl;

Post, printed versions of all documents requested to Dinalog Management, Princehagelaan 13, 4813 DA Breda

Summary

Combining people and freight flows creates attractive business opportunities because the same transportation needs can be met with fewer vehicles and drivers. This can make socially desirable transport options economically viable in rural areas where the population is declining. In urban areas it reduces congestion and air pollution and facilitates the introduction of electric vehicles. This project will design integrated people and freight synchromodal transportation networks and the related coordination (4C), planning and scheduling policies to enable efficient and reliable delivery of both persons and small- to medium-sized freight volumes.

Substantial growth and new business models are expected following the increasing freight volumes due to the Internet shopping growth and improved mode utilization (both in time and fill rate). New coordination mechanisms supported by ICT solutions leading to control towers, need to be designed to enable efficient integration. Additionally, price and sharing mechanisms have to be proposed to facilitate combining people and parcels transportation. This leads to successful business cases. We identify two high-potential areas: High-density areas, where congestion and pollution are pressing problems that can be alleviated because combining people and freight means fewer vehicles, and Low-density areas, where combining people and freight can keep public transportation and freight transportation at socially acceptable levels in an economically viable way.

Throughout this project, the potential and the necessary conditions, tools and methods for successfully integrated people and freight synchromodal networks are provided, analyzed and quantified. We identify strategic, tactical, and operational decision problems and specific joint research issues. These issues are risk management and gain sharing, identifying the enablers (related to ICT and data) and proof of concept leading to demonstration.

We have a number of workpackages. The first workpackage involves the management and organization of the project. The second workpackage aims to design methods to integrate nodes and functionality for integrated people and freight synchromodal networks. In the next workpackage, 4C (offline) planning and scheduling algorithms are developed leading to a control tower. The fourth workpackage will develop real-time decision-making tools for combining freight with unscheduled passenger transport. The last workpackage integrates the research into innovative transportation pilots and assures wide dissemination. This means that on multiple locations, vehicles and drivers will use the methods, algorithms and applications created by this project to implement actual freight hitchhiking. Direct cooperation relationships with other 4C projects (e.g., 4C4More and 4C4D) exist.

In order to make significant steps forward in logistics, new out-of-the-box ideas are needed. This project has the potential to lead to smarter transport by better integration of people and freight modes. Given new technology and real-time availability of information, it is possible to think ahead for new and challenging solutions and make a major leap forward. The communication and dissemination activities aim at generating an effective flow of information and publicity regarding the targeted objectives, the results obtained during the project, the contributions made to knowledge on people and freight transport and scientific excellence, as well as the value of collaboration on a Dutch scale, a European-wide scale and the benefits to citizens in general.

The expected results are very diverse. We expect a large number of scientific papers and three PhD theses. Next to this, many Master students do their internship in the companies in our consortium, leading to a large repository of information for our project. A number of business cases will be developed, leading to innovative pilots and possibly implemented new business models. The outcomes are expected to have long- term effects for all participants on their actual decision-making in freight and public transportation. Based on the results developed in this project a significant amount of added value in innovative logistics for the Netherlands will be generated.

A. Orientation and Project Goals

Motivation

Combining people and freight flows creates attractive business opportunities because the same transportation needs can be met with fewer vehicles and drivers. This can make socially desirable transport options economically viable in rural areas where the population is declining. In urban areas it reduces congestion and air pollution and facilitates the introduction of electric vehicles. This project will design integrated people and freight synchromodal transportation networks and the related coordination (4C), planning and scheduling policies to enable efficient and reliable delivery of both persons and small- to medium-sized freight volumes.

Actual integration is already observed in long-haul freight transportation: passenger aircrafts and ferries like Norwegian Hurtigruten carry freight. In short-haul transportation however, people and freight rarely share transportation modes, although they largely share the same infrastructure, indicating the potential efficiency gains for an integrated approach (Lindholm and Behrends, 2012). However, no (scientific) research into this exciting possibility has been done. Throughout this project, we identify promising business cases and organize pilots and demonstration projects in collaboration with the company partners in our consortium.

The public transport provider in our consortium is Connexxion with 2680 busses on the road, which make 40,000 daily trips. Their busses have a large capacity based on peak demand but are underutilized outside rush hour. Connexxion also has around 4650 taxis on the road, which make 43,000 daily trips. Some 25,000 trips of the bus trips are group transport (e.g., between school and day care centers) and are mainly executed in the morning and late afternoon, with a long idle period in between. From a freight perspective, Lekkerland has 140 trucks doing a high daily drop percentage of less than one roll container for a few thousand customers, mainly located in restricted urban areas.

Consider the following integration examples. Taxis can be used for freight when already transporting a passenger or during idle time. In many cities, busses travel in a fine-mazed urban network: the start and end of their tours are usually in the middle of the city. Bus schedules might be adapted to accommodate delivery of small boxes to urban retail outlets. Trains can replenish inventories of the railway station based stores and restaurants. This is important since usually railway stations are located in time- and vehicle-restricted urban areas.

The above numbers and examples show the huge potential in cost savings and environmental benefits when integrating the two networks. Moreover, substantial growth and new business models are expected following the increasing freight volumes due to the Internet shopping growth and improved mode utilization (both in time and fill rate). New coordination me