Photo from http://smartset-project.eu/news/gothenburg-swedish-logistics-municipality-2015

The presentation was made at Logistik & Transport, the trade fair held at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre in Gothenburg, according to a report from http://smartset-project.eu/news/gothenburg-swedish-logistics-municipality-2015. Four cities – Gothenburg, Malmo, Eskilstuna and Stockholm – made up the finalists and the prize was awarded by the trade journal, Intelligent Logistik.

One of the reasons why Gothenburg was awarded the prize was the scale of its innovative City Delivery (Stadsleveransen) concept, along with associated benefits to the local community and economy. City Delivery is a ground-breaking development found in only a few cities in Europe. It involves the operation of small, electric-powered vehicles in Gothenburg’s narrow, city-centre streets to make deliveries in a coordinated system of goods distribution.

The reasons for Gothenburg’s win

The city of Gothenburg has been working with the issue of goods transport for a long time in different forums.  A particular strength of the projects and processes here lies in the  extensive local transport and logistics networks and the way different groups of stakeholders work together. One example is Gothenburg’s freight network, where stakeholders from local government, business and academia collaborate to develop logistics in the city. The network was established in 2006, and remains one of the few of its kind in Europe.

The city has two full-time logistics specialists at  Gothenburg Urban Transport Administration.  They act as project leaders and participate in working groups and  various other  projects, which cover everything from city planning to operational solutions. In addition to these full-time employees, three senior consultants have been employed by Urban Transport Administration on different assignments, making the equivalent of an additional one and a half full-time posts.

Smart deliveries and urban development

The concept of Smart Deliveries was introduced in 2014. It is based on the long-term continuous development of  innovative, sustainable solutions for last-mile distribution. The cornerstones are shared loading, and the use of clean and energy-efficient vehicles.  The major operator is currently City Delivery, which co-ordinates the loading and final delivery of goods to businesses in the city centre. City Delivery is the product of a long collaborative relationship between carriers, property owners, shops and other stakeholders in the city centre. The main partner in this joint venture is Innerstaden Göteborg AB. In 2014, City Delivery made over 400 deliveries a day, and currently the business uses two electric-driven vehicles and two delivery bikes. But further development is under way,  both in extending the catchment area and  in increasing the number of parties involved.

Two other components of the Smart Deliveries package are Feskeleveransen (Fish deliveries)  and Lindholmsleveransen (the Lindholmen connection). They will be described more fully at a later stage.

Infrastructure

The whole network of streets in the heart of the city has changed  – from traditional streets with pavements, traffic lanes and street parking, to pedestrian areas and streets where traffic speeds are limited to walking pace. This work was carried out over a number of years and was completed in 2014.

These developments have helped create a more pleasant and attractive urban environment, greatly facilitated goods distribution and significantly reduced congestion, as  conventional loading zones are no longer required. New regulations governing, for example, pedestrian areas and  parking times,  have been crucial in the establishment of City Delivery.

Strategy

A new traffic strategy for the city of Gothenburg was adopted in 2014. One of its three main sections  were about creating functional, sustainable and effective solutions for the large amount of freight flowing into and out of the Gothenburg region and included the questions of  the location of freight terminals etc. A shared loading system and the use of clean vehicles are both important components in the creation of an attractive city environment and a sustainable urban transport system.