Assessment of the Crowd Logistics Solutions—The Stakeholders’ Analysis Approach

Crowd Models for Last Mile Delivery in an Emerging Economy

The dramatic rise in online shopping means that the last mile delivery (LMD) task is becoming extremely important. However, last mile delivery faces many economic, social, and environmental challenges. A fast-growing innovative solution is Crowd Logistics Delivery (CLD). This study investigates how CLD is meeting these challenges in a rapidly emerging economy (Saudi Arabia). It uses semi-structured interviews to analyse CLD from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, focusing on its implementation, benefits to different stakeholders, and its limitations. While the findings of this study broadly support the work of other studies in this area, it provides several new insights. It observed three different business models being used for CLD: B2B, B2C, and C2C. It identified the internal success factors of each business model, including registration, assigning orders, compensation, and the payment model. It revealed the motivations for stakeholders to use CLD as a last mile delivery solution, such as LMD-related benefits and the social impact on society. In addition, the study highlighted the four main challenges these CLD implementations face that impede their success: legislation, availability of supply/drivers, trust, and culture. These results add to the rapidly expanding field of CLD.

Location of Urban Logistics Spaces (ULS) for Two-Echelon Distribution Systems

The main concern in city logistics is the need to optimize the movement of goods in urban contexts, and to minimize the multiple costs inherent in logistics operations. Inspired by an application in a medium-sized city in Latin America, this paper develops a bi-objective mixed linear integer programming (MILP) model to locate different types of urban logistics spaces (ULS) for the configuration of a two-echelon urban distribution system. The objective functions seek to minimize the costs associated with distance traveled and relocation, in addition to the costs of violation of time windows. This model considers heterogeneous transport, speed assignment, and time windows. For experimental evaluation, two operational scenarios are considered, and Pareto frontiers are obtained to identify the efficient non-dominated solutions to select the most feasible ones from such a set. A case study of a distribution company of goods for supermarkets in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia, is also used to validate the proposed model. These solutions allow decision-makers to define the configuration of ULS networks for urban product delivery.

Construction Risk Evaluation of Poor Geological Channels Based on Cloud Model-Improved AHP–Matter–Element Theory

In the process of economic development, the exploitation and utilization of resources has played an important role, but the subsequent post-mining collapse and the shortage of land resources have affected future reconstruction to a certain extent. Currently, there is a firm belief in sustainable development and its goals to be achieved in the future. Based on the concept of sustainable development, this paper examines the feasibility of rebuilding channels under adverse geological conditions, and studies whether there are risks and the degree of risk. According to the characteristics of the experts’ judgment language and the ambiguity and randomness between various factors, it is proposed that a cloud model is used to improve the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) risk assessment method. At the same time, the traditional matter–element theory is improved through the cloud model, so that the impact of uncertainty and randomness can be comprehensively considered in the evaluation; finally, forming the risk assessment system of the cloud-based AHP and cloud-based matter–elements. The application of examples shows that, compared with the methods in the relevant literature, the evaluation results of this article are more objective, more accurate, have better applicability, and play an important guiding role in channel construction under adverse geological conditions.

Trends of Environmentally Sustainable Solutions of Urban Last-Mile Deliveries on the E-Commerce Market—A Literature Review

The growth of e-commerce has increased urban freight transport, bringing negative externalities of emissions, pollution, noise, congestion, and habitat loss. There is a visible effort to make the urban last-mile (LM) deliveries more sustainable, mainly in the environmental aspects; however, the related literature lacks a synthesis of the up-to-date research trends and available solutions. This paper reviews relevant literature following SRL methodology in terms of topics related to green LM deliveries on the e-commerce market in urban areas, and identifies trends and the research gaps in this field. In addition, current research topics and existing solutions within the e-commerce market, which increase its environmental sustainability are presented. The findings provide an accurate and comprehensive synthesis of research in green LM e-commerce deliveries in cities, identify current and emerging interests of researchers worldwide, and discover areas requiring further studies. The topics of ICT and smart solutions, customer behavior, and performance assessment certainly seem to be underestimated in the current research. In practical terms, it is a source of knowledge and guidelines on the current developments regarding the existing solution for the LM e-commerce deliveries in the urban area, which might help local governments, freight operators, and other stakeholders of last-mile logistics to improve their sustainability.

An Integrated Approach of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making and Grey Theory for Evaluating Urban Public Transportation Systems

Improving the local urban transport system’s quality is often seen as one of the critical points for the government and the local operator. An amelioration of the system can improve users’ satisfaction and attract new users while simultaneously decreasing traffic congestion and pollution. Efficient methodologies are required to achieve sustainable development regarding complex issues associated with traffic congestion and pollution. In this study, we propose using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) grey values to overcome the limitations of the uncertainty in the classical AHP approach. The presented grey-AHP model assumes an efficient contrivance to facilitate the public transport system’s supply quality evaluation, especially when respondents are non-experts. Finally, we estimate and rank the public transport system’s supply quality criteria by adopting the proposed model for a real-world case study (Amman city, Jordan). The study’s outcome shows the effectiveness and the applicability of the developed approach for enhancing the quality of the public transport system.

Stakeholders’ Analysis of Environmental Sustainability in Urban Logistics: A Case Study of Tricity, Poland

Environmental sustainability, defined as the responsibility to protect the global ecosystem in a holistic way, has become an integral factor of city strategies. Designing and implementing environment-friendly solutions to make the standard of living in cities better is indispensable for present and future generations. This article’s main objective is to identify the most environmentally friendly urban logistics measures from the perspective of urban transport system stakeholders. A multi-method approach was implemented to achieve the article’s main findings. Firstly, the literature review provided the basics for designing the research framework. Then, a three-layer methodological approach was used: The first layer included designing and carrying out the case study approach; the second layer comprised a Delphi study involving interviews with urban logistics stakeholders; and the third layer included analyzing the voices of Delphi interviewees to assess which urban logistics measures are the most important for them. The study provides an initial insight into the opinions of stakeholders for a general audience, but at the same time, also presents specific, detailed views of Tricity urban space users and decision-makers. Significant differences in opinions were observed and confirmed in the interviewed group. This study can contribute to the scientific discussion about the stakeholders’ analysis of urban logistics goals.

Best–Worst Method for Modelling Mobility Choice after COVID-19: Evidence from Italy

All countries have suffered from the COVID-19 crisis; the pandemic has adversely impacted all sectors. In this study, we examine the transport sector with a specific focus on the problem of commuting mode choice and propose a new decision-making approach for the alternative modes after synthesizing expert opinions. As a methodology, a customized model of the recently developed best–worst method (BWM) is used to evaluate mobility choice alternatives. The survey reflects citizens’ opinions toward mobility choices in two Italian cities, Palermo and Catania, before and during the pandemic. BWM is a useful tool for examining mobility choice in big cities. The adopted model is easy to apply and capable of providing effective solutions for sustainable mode choice. The urban context is analyzed considering the importance of transport choices, evaluating the variation of resilience to the changing opinions of users.

The Impact of E-Commerce-Related Last-Mile Logistics on Cities: A Systematic Literature Review

E-commerce-related last-mile logistics have a great impact on cities. Recent years have seen sustained growth in e-commerce in most developed countries, a trend that has only been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The perceived impact of this phenomenon varies depending upon the perspective of the players involved: individual members of the public, companies, or the public administrations. Tackling the issue from these perspectives, the goal of this article is to explore the kinds of impact this phenomenon has and will have. We use as the basis for their classification the so-called triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability, encompassing people, planet, and profit; we complement this with the impact classification used by the European Science Foundation’s impact assessment working group. After performing a systematic review of the literature following PRISMA guidelines, our results show that, albeit to different degrees, the four impact dimensions analyzed (economic, social, environmental, and technological) have only received incipient coverage in the existing literature. Given its ever-growing importance, we believe that greater attention needs to be paid to this phenomenon, especially with regard to those aspects having the greatest impact upon urban systems and the different stakeholders involved. Only in this way can the public policies needed to mitigate these externalities be properly implemented.

Logistics Design for Mobile Battery Energy Storage Systems

Currently, there are three major barriers toward a greener energy landscape in the future: (a) Curtailed grid integration of energy from renewable sources like wind and solar; (b) The low investment attractiveness of large-scale battery energy storage systems; and, (c) Constraints from the existing electric infrastructure on the development of charging station networks to meet the increasing electrical transportation demands. A new conceptual design of mobile battery energy storage systems has been proposed in recent studies to reduce the curtailment of renewable energy while limiting the public costs of battery energy storage systems. This work designs a logistics system in which electric semi-trucks ship batteries between the battery energy storage system and electric vehicle charging stations, enabling the planning and operation of power grid independent electric vehicle charging station networks. This solution could be viable in many regions in the United States (e.g., Texas) where there are plenty of renewable resources and little congestion pressure on the road networks. With Corpus Christi, Texas and the neighboring Chapman Ranch wind farm as the test case, this work implement such a design and analyze its performance based on the simulation of its operational processes. Further, we formulate an optimization problem to find design parameters that minimize the total costs. The main design parameters include the number of trucks and batteries. The results in this work, although preliminary, will be instrumental for potential stakeholders to make investment or policy decisions.