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Upcoming SMART Events (SAVE THE DATE!) |
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Case study briefs: Delivering the Goods in Cities - At Home and Abroad |
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SMART news |
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About SMART |
Dear Friend of SMART:Welcome to Issue #5 of SMART’s e-NEWS briefs in which we profile urban goods movement at home and abroad. We’ll also catch you up on some of the latest SMART news. To learn more about SMART’s mission, activities, and how to get involved, please go to ABOUT SMART. And we’d like to hear from you. Please send your comments, questions, related research, favorite innovations, case studies, and collaboration ideas to Susan Zielinski, Managing Director of SMART at susanz@umich.edu. For past issues of SMART e-NEWS, go to:
Issue 1
Case study briefsJoint Distribution System in Tenjin, JapanTenjin district is the central business area in Fukuoka City, Japan. Spanning 370,000 square miles, the district’s more than 2,200 offices generate 2 trillion Japanese Yen (16.7 billion USD) of retail and wholesale goods. Freight carriers are the main option for transporting these goods throughout the country. However, the high volume of carriers has resulted in traffic congestion and negative impacts on the environment. Whatsmore, the limitation of loading/unloading spaces on and off the streets has led to illegal parking, which has led to higher congestion levels. Hakozaki Joint Distribution Centre Estimated effects of the Tenjin District Joint Distribution Center. (Graph courtesy of Bestufs.net) To address some of these challenges, Japanese freight carriers established joint distribution systems for the Tenjin region beginning in 1978. Joint distribution systems are a way for freight carriers to centralize delivery and collection services. In this particular system, freight carriers bring their goods to a distribution center, located in a Hakozaki, a suburb of Fukuoka City, close to the interchange of urban expressways. After sorting goods, The Tenjin District Joint Distribution Company Ltd. delivers goods from member carriers to each receiver at Tenjin district. ‘Truck-only’ parking lots have also been created to help truck drivers easily find loading and unloading space. The Joint Distribution Company also collects goods from customers in Tenjin district and unloads them at the distribution centre of the Joint Distribution Company for freight carriers to then take over individually. Tenjin’s Joint Distribution Company delivers about 90,000 parcels and collects around 10,000 parcels per month. Each freight carrier pays 160 Japanese Yen (1.34 USD) per parcel that weights under 50kg. Freight carriers, shippers, road users, and residents alike enjoy benefits of this joint distribution system. Joint distribution program benefits include: decrease in the number of trucks in the served area by 65%; decrease in total distance traveled (km/day) by 28%; decrease in total distance traveled within Tenjin district (km/day) by 87%; decrease in total frequency of parking (times/day) by 72%; and decrease in total parking time (h/day) by 17%. These effects have alleviated traffic congestion and have improved the environment in Tenjin district. Japan’s Regional Transport Office of the Ministry of Transport institutionally supports the joint distribution system in Tenjin district. The Regional Transport Office also provides a platform for discussing transport related issues and co-ordinates many stakeholders including shippers, freight carriers, residents, and administration who are involved in the systems. Due to successes in the Tenjin district, the Regional Transport Office is planning to extend this system to other areas of Japan. Case Study researched and written by Katya Seligman, based on of Bestufs’ “Best Practice Handbook.” Please visit Bestufs.net for more information on “Best Urban Freight Solutions.” Closer to Home: U.S. EPA SMARTWAY Sustainable Freight Movement Initiative
However, ground freight is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for approximately 20 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from all transportation sources. Ground freight is also a significant source of smog-forming emissions and other harmful air pollutants that impact people’s health, particularly the young and the elderly. Ground freight accounts for 40 percent of the oxides of nitrogen emissions (NOX) and 31 percent of the particulate matter emissions (PM) from transportation sources. These emissions can impact air quality and contribute to climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies’ SmartWay Transport Partnership is a voluntary public-private partnership that addresses greenhouse gas emissions, fuel consumption, criteria pollutants (NOX and PM), and operating costs associated with ground freight transportation operations. It also addresses other key national concerns: energy security, energy savings, and environmental justice. SmartWay Transport Partners are progressive corporations and organizations that recognize they can improve their business and the environment at the same time. Companies that provide and hire freight delivery services (carriers and shippers, respectively) become SmartWay Transport Partners by committing to improve the environmental performance of their freight delivery operations. SmartWay Transport Carriers commit to integrate innovative cost saving strategies into their fleet operations. SmartWay Transport Shippers commit to ship the majority of their goods with SmartWay Transport carriers. Companies that meet SmartWay Transport Partnership requirements benefit from reduced operating costs and enhanced visibility. By defining clear and achievable goals and committing to ambitious strategies, participants in the SmartWay Transport Partnership are actively addressing concerns about greenhouse gas reductions and air quality Through this voluntary partnership, the Environmental Protection Agency and its partners expect to eliminate 33 to 66 million metric tons of CO2 emissions and up to 200,000 tons of NOx emissions per year by 2012. This represents savings of as much as 150 million barrels of oil per year- equivalent to taking about 12 million cars off the road. Working together, SmartWay Transport Partners incorporate various strategies and technologies to achieve these goals.
For more information on SmartWay Transport Partners, please visit:
Case study courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency. Edited by Katya Seligman
SMART newsUpdates on SMART’s India and South Africa ProjectsBy David Berdish, Ford Motor Company and SMART member The summer of 2007 provided many significant milestones for SMART and the Ford Motor Company as we work on the challenges of developing a new and exciting New Mobility industry and work on not only the value to the world’s emerging urban areas, but the business case for revenues and growth. Masters project students Devon Douglas and Annie White joined Sue Zielinski in Bangalore, Chennai, and Delhi India to learn more about the potential of New Mobility industry development as a way to alleviate the problem of congestion and its economic and environmental impacts. SMART joined together with the Confederation of Indian Industry to connect some dynamic industry partners from information technology, communications and venture capital with transport thought leaders to develop incubators of New Mobility industry and technology, and to explore hub network development in a number of Indian cities. In South Africa, Tom Gladwin and Sue Zielinski were joined by Masters project students Matt McMurtry, Ben Massie and Jean Pierre Aramouni to facilitate and develop a wonderful stakeholder engagement in Capetown. Several local thought leaders, government officials and influential transportation leaders participated in the meetings, and pilot sites were identified in three or four locations. There was some initial design of the portfolio of mobility solutions, including vehicles by Ford and logistics and IT from Siemens. Joining in the energy was Kab Shuttle, a dynamic taxi business managed by two young entrepreneurs, and a local bike business. A Capetown Partnership of central city commerce is involved as well, and even as we speak, local Ford, Siemens and other Capetown leaders are designing and developing solutions in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. In the meantime, Ford is getting involved in the initial stages of new mobility solutions in Salvador, Brazil and is working with a global team to develop the appropriate business model and strategy through 2050. SMART / UIC Research CollaborationBy Dr. Moira Zellner, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and SMART Member Moira Zellner and Vonu Thakuria of UIC joined Sue and Devon and Annie in India (see Berdish article above) to assess urban transportation and infrastructure challenges and data availability and needs. In an overall context of research collaboration to accelerate New Mobility and accessibility development, they identified potential for collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry, businesses, governmental agencies and research institutions in India to address the social, environmental, economic and transportation dimensions of urban transportation and infrastructure. Accessibility Research Update: New Support for Comparative North American Accessibility IndexBy Dr. Joseph Grengs of the Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning, and SMART member A team of researchers including Sue Zielinski, Carl Simon, Jonathan Levine, and Joe Grengs from the University of Michigan and Qing Shen from the University of Maryland have been awarded a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to expand their ongoing work to develop comparative indicators of accessibility between metropolitan regions in the United States. The award of $118,569 over three years will be used to expand the set of case studies from 20 to 30 metropolitan areas, and to develop a web site so that urban planning professionals and public officials can draw on the data, maps, and indicators produced by the project. SMART at LargeSMART continues to grow its Community of Learning with thanks to the National Science Foundation HSD program. Recent exchanges of New Mobility and accessibility knowledge include the World Transport Research Conference in Berkeley in June and the Meeting of the Minds Conference in Oakland in September.
About SMARTSMART (Sustainable Mobility & Accessibility Research & Transformation) is an inter-disciplinary project of CARSS (Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society *) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It focuses on sustainable transportation and accessibility in city regions of the world. This is both timely and relevant as the global challenge of urban mobility becomes rapidly more vexing and complex. The accelerating pace of urbanization, population growth, globalization, and demographic shifts is leading increasingly to transportation systems that threaten climate, environment, biodiversity, energy security, social equity, productivity, and urban competitiveness. Yet the vital role of mobility and accessibility to meeting our daily personal and business needs cannot be denied. SMART takes a unique systems approach to understanding and transforming the future of urban mobility and accessibility. Moving beyond the technical fix alone, it "connects the dots," bringing together the various disciplines and sectors, the players, the theoretical approaches and the practical applications required to tackle urban transportation’s growing complexity, sophistication, impacts, and opportunities. Through collaborative, trans-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research, through on-the ground projects, and through academic programs, SMART concentrates in four main research and action areas: • Systems-based analysis and solution-building • Accessibility-based planning and policy making • Sustainability – environmental, social, and economic • New Mobility markets – identifying and developing new markets and business models for integrated urban transportation SMART’s innovative, integrative, applied approach carves a unique niche for whole systems solution-building that works to address the mobility and accessibility challenges of the 21st century. SMART brings together the efforts of a wide range of academic and industrial partners: the Center for the Study of Complex Systems, the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (TCAUP), the Ross School of Business, the School of Natural Resources & Environment (SNRE), the Institute for Social Research (ISR), the department of Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering (and Wu Manufacturing Research Center), the Ford School of Public Policy, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), the school of Literature Science & the Arts (LS & A), and the Ford Motor Company, and others. * CARSS was established in January, 2003 to extend and strengthen the intellectual and methodological foundations of social and behavioral science, and the degree to which that science is applied to addressing society’s most pressing problems and abiding dilemmas (http://www.isr.umich.edu/carss/).
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From ports to manufacturing facilities and distribution centers to your front door, trucks and rail systems are part of a sophisticated, fast moving ground freight delivery system that delivers products safely and on time. Ground freight is an integral and essential facet of the United States economy. According to government and industry statistics, 85 percent of the total value of United States cargo is trucked, accounting for 66 percent of all freight by weight. Trucking-related occupations employ about 10 million people. Railroads represent four percent of the total value of all freight by weight, carrying another 16 percent of the nation’s freight by weight.