Growing consumer demand and the rising trend in fast, hassle-free delivery culture has a substantial impact on congestion, air quality with direct effects on communities. Limited city kerbside access and navigating narrow streets put a toll on freight operators and delivery drivers who spend time and mileage idling and circling for suitable delivery points. By 2030, the demand for parcels will have more than doubled in London. Effective solutions that meet these rising freight delivery challenges head on are needed now. 

The webinar will showcase independent research findings from global transport and infrastructure consultancy, Stantec, on the benefits of kerbside management in tackling the myriad of freight, delivery and servicing challenges. Research carried out by Stantec and smart technology company, Grid Smarter Cities, has measured the beneficial outcomes on congestion, air quality, revenues and operational efficiencies for cities and the freight, servicing, and delivery sectors. This comes in response to the growing freight challenges arising in the capital and the lobbying from the freight sectors for change and builds on recent research reports by the Centre for London and London First group.

Guest panellists will each give a 5 minute presentation on their subject matter before a live Q & A.

Panellists include:

• Chair: John McArdle, former British Parking Association President
• Neil Herron, Founder & CEO, Grid Smarter Cities
• David Bowers, Stantec, Director of Transport Planning
• John Crosk, Brewery Logistics Group, Vice Chair of the Brewery Logistics Group and Manager of the Central London Freight Quality Partnership
• Natalie Chapman, Head of Policy, Logistics UK
• Farah Asemi, CEO & Founder of EcoFleet Cargo bikes

Who does kerbside management benefit?

• London boroughs (kerb owners): with the ability to flexibly manage and increase kerbspace capacity, generate positive revenues and introduce EV charging infrastructure at locations where delivery vehicles dwell, enabling ‘graze’ charging.The scheme has the potential to generate positive revenues of around £140m per annum for London.

• Freight, servicing and delivery operators (kerb users): through operational efficiencies, reduced circling and idling and safer deliveries with increased compliance and reduced PCNs. Operators have benefitted from a 21% increase in productivity due to less time searching for suitable kerbspace to unload goods and services (i.e. parcels delivered). The solution has been designed with delivery drivers at the core of the user experience.

• The environment: with reduced congestion and CO2 and NOX emissions from fewer miles driven by circling delivery vehicles who are seeking suitable and safe places to unload. The scheme could save up to 15,000 tonnes of CO2  per year in London.

• The wider community: through positive health outcomes from improved air quality and increased safety and a better urban realm for both residents and businesses.

Key questions:

• How can the freight industry meet growing demand sustainably, while maintaining commercial outcomes?
• How can the Mayor and local authorities meet net zero targets by 2030 with rising delivery demand?
• How can simple, easy to adopt technology improve city kerbside access and help Londoncope with the doubling of parcel deliveries by 2030?
• How can cities and operators work together to meet the challenges in a collaborative way?

Key themes:

The session will look at the way in which digitising the kerbside can benefit:

• High street businesses 
• Online retailers
• Freight and logistics companies
• Last-mile and local delivery operations
• Local authority parking and street-scene teams
• Local communities
• Electric vehicle charging infrastructure providers
• Utilities and servicing
• Property and construction companies

Discussion point:

The expert panel will explore issues such as:

• The challenges currently faced by retailers and delivery companies
• The potential benefits of digitising the kerbside
• How to map and digitise the kerbside
• How the TRO and regulatory regime will operate in a digital context 
• Managing and enforcing digital kerbside management
• How pre-booking kerbside space is already a reality
• The future benefits of digitising the kerbside

Who should attend:

• Highways and parking managers
• Logistics, freight and delivery companies
• Retailers
• Utilities and servicing companies
• Car park, facility and estate managers
• National and regional government policy-makers
• Councillors and cabinet members
• Transport and traffic consultants
• Air quality experts
• Electric vehicle chargepoint providers
• Shared and micro-mobility providers
• Technology and service suppliers
• Transport, accessibility and air quality campaigners

Register your place here

 This free webinar is produced by Landor LINKS and sponsored by Grid Smarter Cities