Presented at the 2017 AITPM National Conference by Alexandra Kelly

1. 7 December 2016
Autonomous Vehicles and Other
Disruptors:
The Impact of Uncertainty on Urban
Growth and Supply Chains
Alexandra Kelly
1

2. 2
Urban Freight
Freight trips account for almost one third
of all trips in a city 1
Urban Supply Chains
Urbanisation
Quality of life & prosperity
1Mohan, 2015

3. 3
Freight and non-freight flows in
Australia
Interdependency between freight and non-freight
flows in Australia

4. 4
The Hudson Yards Manhattan Island skyline. Reprinted from Related Companies, 2017, Retrieved from
http://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/about/building-hudson-yards/

5. 5
Reprinted from Sydney Morning Herald, by R. Pearce, 2016, Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/glebe-island-
must-remain-a-working-port-industry-says-20160819-gqwja6.html

6. 6
Cringle Dock within the Battersea Redevelopment Area, London. Reprinted from Environment Media Group,
by R. Nierynck, 2016, Retrieved from http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/wrwa-to-redevelop-
cringle-dock-transfer-station/

7. 7
Cargo departing the waste transfer site on barges below a residential scheme above. Reprinted from Exterior
Architecture, 2016, Retrieved from https://www.exteriorarchitecture.com/cringle-dock-and-waste-wharf

8. 8

9. 9
Freight Sprawl
“Decentralised” or “suburbanised” freight
• Congestion
• Increased truck-kilometres
• Land pressures
• Last-mile constraints
Adapted from MIT Megacity Logistics Lab, by Winkenbach,
2016, Retrieved from http://megacitylab.mit.edu/

10. 10
Disruptors
 Rapid Urbanisation
 Limited resources and funds
• Autonomous and Connected Vehicle Technology
• Driverless urban freight delivery
• Intelligent communications between people and goods
• Overnight freight movements

11. 11
Disruptors
 Rapid Urbanisation
 Limited resources and funds
• Drones and other Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
• New delivery technology
• Trials and pilots that are increasing weight and spatial limitations
• Driverless
• Intelligent communications between people and goods
• Overnight freight movements

12. 12
Disruptors
 Rapid Urbanisation
 Limited resources and funds
• Innovative Models and Start-up Businesses
• Utilises technology and industry connectivity
• UberRUSH = an on-demand fleet service
• Sendle = cheaper parcel delivery, with door-to-door movements
• Smart Locker systems
• Electric vehicles

13. 13
Disruptors
 Rapid Urbanisation
 Limited resources and funds
• Advanced data analytics
• Real-time data analytics
• Predictive analytics
• “Tailor-made” services

14. 14
Impact of Disruptors
Likely – increased urbanisation, resource and
economic constraints
Probable – more data and connectivity
We need to think differently about our investment
decisions.

15. 15
Investment decisions around
infrastructure and freight
+$20 Billion on Australian roads per annum
How worthwhile were our investments? What is
the longevity of our investments like?
How do you provide a ‘safeguard’ against
uncertainty and possible disruptors?

16. 16
Investment decisions around
infrastructure and freight
Benefits Realisation Framework
• Resilience to future disruptors
• Build in the data and technology changes

17. 17
Investment decisions – “Resilience
to future disruptors”
• Wi-Fi coverage for infrastructure to communicate
• Sensor detection
• Data capture from GPS-enabled devices
• Data brokerage
• Speed monitoring
• Real-time transport data analysis
• Real-time transport data for influence road user
behaviours
• Predictive analytics + machine learning + artificial
intelligence

18. 18
Investment decisions – “Resilience
to future disruptors”
• Electric vehicle charging points
• Visual surveillance intelligence
• User detection intelligence
• Weather and flood detection and alert systems
• Investments that prioritise urban freight, not
just passenger transport or private users
• Funding R&D so that roadways have some other
beneficial secondary purpose
• Mitigate project risk by allowing dual-purpose
assets

19. 19
Investment decisions around
infrastructure and freight
Better investment decisions:
• Data and evidence
• Transparency
• Key learnings & continuous improvement
• Risk mitigation
• by incorporating a level of resilience to future disruptors
• By building in the data and technology changes
• Low-cost considerations, network optimisation

20. Conclusion
20
Be conscious of the growing significance of
urban freight transport in our rapidly
increasingly urbanised cities.
There is value to be gained by implementing
quality investment decisions in transport.
Enabling more sustainable urban freight
supply chain requires some changes and
innovations.
Alexandra Kelly
Engineer – Transport
SMEC
Alex.Kelly@smec.com