The success and sustainability of an urban environment is in part dependent on having an efficient freight distribution network which provides for consolidation, movement and storage of goods. The locations at which these freight-related activities occur throughout a large city have a large effect on the efficiency of those activities, as well as the externalities associated with them. This paper presents material supporting the premise that a consolidation of freight activities within a limited number of locations in Metropolitan Melbourne would lead to considerable efficiency benefits together with lower fuel and energy usage and an associated reduction in emissions. It reviews the past and expected continuing growth in transport activity and measures which have been proposed to reduce the associated emissions. Acknowledging that land use development is only one factor in reducing emissions, it describes a research project that examined the effects of alternative future freight land use development scenarios on predicted freight traffic generation and the associated energy usage and emissions. (a) For the covering record of the conference, please refer to ITRD no. E218380.
Abstract