How reuse of public assets (e.g. car parks etc.) can be used to facility micro-consolidation, enabling more sustainable last mile deliveries.

1. Using public
assets as parcel
delivery hubs

2. Concept, aim and
supporting policy
• Use public assets (e.g. community
centres, libraries or car parks) as
hubs for transfer of parcels to cycle
couriers or porters for last-mile
delivery
• Greener transport, by reducing
stem mileage and reliance on
(mainly) diesel vans
• Decarbonisation and air quality
targets incentivise local authorities
to actively support such initiatives
Image: https://kyburz-switzerland.ch/

3. Mobile depot – Brussels – Straightsol project
Image: straightsol.eu

4. Shared parcel carrier hub example in Berlin
Image: https://www.komodo.berlin/
Image: https://www.behala.de/en/the-future-of-urban-logistics/

5. Overview of this presentation
Case study in York to:
• Determine suitable hub locations
• Assess time, distance, emissions savings from using porters or cycles
Comparative case studies in Hampshire to investigate how savings
change with population density (or delivery density)
Town/city Population
Area
(km2)
Population density
(person/km2)
Portsmouth 238,137 37.34 6,380
Romsey 17,161 5.24 3,270
Lyndhurst 2,347 1.13 2,080

6. Case study example using car parks within York ring road
Image: hotels.com Image: yorkconservatives.co.uk

7. Case study example using car parks within York ring road
• Parcel delivery data of a major parcel carrier for a
single day of operation (19 May 2021)
• 3900 deliveries, 70 collections, 47 couriers (=
85 parcels/courier on average)
• area ~50km2 (80 parcels per sq. km)
• depot 10km from city centre (= significant
stem mileage)
• Total parcel weight and volume estimated to
be 3.2 tonnes and 32m3
• Individual parcels small and light; only 29
parcels modelled as being too heavy or bulky
for a porter or cycle courier
24 public car parks considered as potential MC locations

8. Case study example using car parks within York ring road
• Parcel delivery data of a major parcel carrier for a
single day of operation (19 May 2021)
• 3900 deliveries, 70 collections, 47 couriers (=
85 parcels/courier on average)
• area ~50km2 (80 parcels per sq. km)
• depot 10km from city centre (= significant
stem mileage)
• Total parcel weight and volume estimated to
be 3.2 tonnes and 32m3
• Individual parcels small and light; only 29
parcels modelled as being too heavy or bulky
for a porter or cycle courier
24 public car parks considered as potential MC locations
©2022 Esri UK

9. Walking and cycling options for last-mile delivery
Image: ecofleet.co.uk
Van
Porter
1000L trolley
Cyclist
620L box Units
individual parcel weight - 5 5 kg (max)
Individual parcel volume - 66 66 L (max)
Total load weight 1000 200 125 kg (max)
Total load volume 10000 1000 620 L (max)
Average speed 30 5 16 kph
Time at address (inc. MC) 3 1 2 minutes
Total time allowed - 4.5 4.5 hours (max)
Modelling parameters assumed
Image: www.ecofleet.co.uk
Image: fernhay.com

10. Modelling method – ‘portering’ algorithm
Bespoke heuristic algorithm which simultaneously determines:
• Allocation of parcels to selected MCs
• Van routes (depot MCs, collections, heavy or bulky deliveries depot)
• Porter (or cycle) routes (MC deliveries MC)
Inputs include:
Depot and MC locations; Delivery addresses; Parcel weights & volumes;
O-D matrices (travel times between locations); Carrying capacity constraints;
Time per delivery; Costs for van&driver, porter or cycle courier (£/hr)
Objective: Minimise total cost
Complex algorithm – managed to cope with York (4000 parcels) but not on
larger problems (e.g. Portsmouth, with 6000+ parcels)

11. Decomposition method (for larger problems)
1. All parcels are allocated to their nearest MC
2. Deliveries from each MC (by porter or cycle courier) solved as a
CVRP (capacitated vehicle routing problem) using Google OR-Tools
3. Van routes obtained using commercial vehicle routing software

12. Comparison of distances travelled (York)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
47 vans 50 bikes&4 vans 35 porters&4 vans
Distance
(km)
Delivery method
Van km Cycle km Walking km
Van travel reduced by 88% with corresponding
reduction in associated vehicle emissions
Daily emissions savings equate to 400kg CO2
and 450g NOx for this one carrier
Greater savings possible if more than one
carrier participates in micro-consolidation
More cycling than walking here due to
assumed carrying capacities: bike (620L),
trolley (1000L)

13. Comparison of time taken
This result based on assumed
delivery times of 1, 2 and 3
minutes per delivery for
porter, cyclist and van driver,
respectively
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
47 vans 50 bikes&4 vans 35 porters&4 vans
Time
(hours)
Van/car travel Van/car non-travel Cycle travel
Cycle non-travel Porter travel Porter non-travel

14. MC usage (for portering example)
16 of the 24 car parks were selected for use by
the portering algorithm
The space requirement ranged from 0.5m3 to
5.5m3 (a standard roll cage is around 1m3)
Green = selected; blue = not selected
Map data ©2022 Google

15. Assuming fewer hubs available (Portsmouth)
Total parcels 6196 50.7m3
Map data ©2022 Google

16. How number of hubs impacts time taken
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
3 4 5 6
Hours
Number of MCs
Walking (h) Driving (h)
5 hubs are sufficient for
Portsmouth (minimal gain
increasing to 6)
Reducing to 4 hubs adds 10%
walking time; reducing to 3 hubs
adds 20%
Minimal effect on driving times

17. Micro-consolidation on a smaller scale (Romsey)
Romsey (9 miles north west of Southampton)
Population (2011 census) = 17,161
Population density = 3,270 people/km2
Area = 5.24km2
Image: test-valley.gov.uk

18. Micro-consolidation on a smaller scale (Romsey)
Candidate MCs
• Abbotswood CC
• Woodley Village Hall
• Montfort Hall
• Crosfield Hall
• Romsey Library
Abbotswood chosen as
(marginally) most central
to all deliveries
Locations >3km from MC
(orange/red) to be
retained by van drivers
Romsey (Hampshire) population (2011 census) = 17,161
Population density = 3,270 people/km2
Area = 5.24km2
Postcodes visited by 11 couriers in Romsey area (coloured by distance from centre)
©2022 Esri UK

19. 7 Romsey ‘portering’ trips within 3km of MC
Red trip is 29km,
more suited to
cargo bike
Average of others
is 11.3km (7 miles)
Portsmouth(5MCs)
average trip was
7.5km

20. Lyndhurst (Hampshire)
Lyndhurst (9 miles west of Southampton)
Population (2011 census) = 2,347
Population density = 2,080 people/km2
Area = 1.13km2
Image: visit-hampshire.co.uk

21. Lyndhurst (Hampshire)
Town is a traffic bottleneck,
especially in summer
Two couriers made 98 deliveries
(700L volume) and one collection
All within 3km of proposed MC in
town centre (community centre)
Could be done by a single cycle
courier (19.6km) in 4.5 hours
Postcodes visited by 2 couriers (‘blue’ and ‘green’) in Lyndhurst
©2022 Esri UK

22. Van distance per parcel (km)
Van distance
savings
Portsmouth 95%
Romsey 81%
Lyndhurst 67%
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Portsmouth Romsey Lyndhurst
Van
distance
per
parcel
(km)
Business-as-usual Micro-consolidation

23. Total time taken per parcel (minutes)
Time savings
Portsmouth 53%
Romsey 31%
Lyndhurst 27%
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
Portsmouth Romsey Lyndhurst
Time
taken
per
parcel
(minutes)
Business-as-usual Micro-consolidation

24. Sensitivity of time savings to assumed delivery time for van
-40%
-30%
-20%
-10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Total
time
savings
of
micro-consolidation
BAU minutes/delivery
Portsmouth Romsey Lyndhurst

25. Cost considerations
• BAU is taking advantage of gig workers’ own vehicles at no cost to the
parcel carrier (unless pay takes into account)
• Alternative options would involve:
• Trollies or cargo bikes about £5,000 each
• Electric vehicle charging cost
• Rental of hub (unless council provide for free)