Transport of Goods!

As populations grow and urbanization continues, demand for goods also increases as much if not more. Not only should we be concerned about how people achieve sustainable mobility, but also how the things they consume and produce (food, clothes, all kinds of waste) are moved from place to place. A prominent idea within sustainability issues is the need for regional independence (local goods, esp. urban agriculture), meaning less reliance on transportation of goods/waste between cities. However, we cannot really limit free trade to reduce energy consumption and other environmental impacts since our global economy is currently based on the importing and exporting of goods. So, the need for technological innovation is vital and urgent in this sector of transportation reform.
The transportation of goods and waste is even more difficult to imagine alternative modes for than personal mobility since they require heavy loads and efficient movement; alternative fuels/energy for trucks, ships, airplanes are often spoken of, but not alternative modes.

"The United States economy depends on trucks to deliver nearly 70 percent of all freight transported annually in the U.S., accounting for $671 billion worth of manufactured and retail goods transported by truck in the U.S. alone. Add $295 billion in truck trade with Canada and $195.6 billion in truck trade with Mexico ."

(http://www.truckinfo.net/trucking/stats.htm )

"In fact, the urban transport of goods is probably the area where vehicles will be electrified first. Indeed, these vehicles do not need to run faster than 90 km/h (56 mph) or travel distances over 160 km (100 miles) per day. In addition, the vehicles return to the company every evening, where you can easily recharge their battery. The TNT company, the largest express delivery company in England, has understood this issue since it bought in 2007 and 2008, 150 Newton electric trucks with a payload of 7.5 metric tonnes (8,3 short tons), from the company Smith Electric Vehicles"
http://greentransportandenergy.blogspot.com/2009/03/transport-of-goods-in-sustainable.html

High-speed rail is a popular alternative for transporting goods and people longer distances, though within cities, transport via train seems excessive. China has by far the most high speed rail in operation and construction, followed by Japan, Spain, France and Germany. The US is far behind; California seems to be the only area where dedicated high speed rail construction is being developed, though there is one line running on the Northeast for passengers (not goods), Amtrak's Acela Express. There are many businesses around NYC that employ bicycles for their deliveries, and some new green businesses that aim to rely solely on bikes for all goods transport within the city, which is kind of amazing. [ex: Birdbath Bakery - "incorporated biking into the bakery's mantra by swapping delivery vans for bicycle rickshaws. He estimates that the rickshaws (which also account for half of City Bakery's deliveries) will travel more than 5,000 miles this year."] Waterways are also possible channels for transport, especially around Manhattan which is surrounded by rivers on both sides. More research in these alternative types of goods transport will be done!


From the White Paper:
"24. Freight shipments over short and medium distances (below some 300 km) [7] will to a considerable extent remain on trucks. It is therefore important, besides encouraging alternative transport solutions (rail, waterborne transport), to improve truck efficiency, via the development and the uptake of new engines and cleaner fuels, the use of intelligent transport systems and further measures to enhance market mechanisms.
25. In longer distances, options for road decarbonisation are more limited, and freight multimodality has to become economically attractive for shippers. Efficient co-modality is needed. The EU needs specially developed freight corridors optimised in terms of energy use and emissions, minimising environmental impacts, but also attractive for their reliability, limited congestion and low operating and administrative costs.
26. Rail, especially for freight, is sometimes seen as an unattractive mode. But examples in some Member States prove that it can offer quality service. The challenge is to ensure structural change to enable rail to compete effectively and take a significantly greater proportion of medium and long distance freight (and also passengers – see below). Considerable investment will be needed to expand or to upgrade the capacity of the rail network. New rolling stock with silent brakes and automatic couplings should gradually be introduced.
27. On the coasts, more and efficient entry points into European markets are needed, avoiding unnecessary traffic crossing Europe. Seaports have a major role as logistics centres and require efficient hinterland connections. Their development is vital to handle increased volumes of freight both by short sea shipping within the EU and with the rest of the world. Inland waterways, where unused potential exists, have to play an increasing role in particular in moving goods to the hinterland and in linking the European seas."