Location of Warehouses and Routing of Cargo Bikes for Last-Mile Deliveries in Urban Areas

Urban logistics are not only essential for transporting goods within our cities, they also play a crucial role in the quality of life of city dwellers. Urban freight transport accounts for between 15% and 20% of a city’s total traffic, but it is also responsible for one-third of nitrogen oxide emissions, one-quarter of carbon dioxide emissions and half of fine particle emissions. Today, many city centres are restricted for polluting vehicles, most of which are diesel-powered. It is essential to [...]

Transition to Carbon-Neutral Freight Transport: A Case of Electric Boda Boda in Nairobi

Boda boda (two- and three-wheeler motorcycles) are a popular and one of the fastest growing modes of freight transport in the Nairobi City County, Kenya. Apart from freight, they are widely used to transport people. According to Kenya’s Economic Survey, the number of newly registered boda boda increased by 16.2% from 271,425 in 2015 to 252,601 in 2020. It is estimated that there are 50,000 boda boda in the Nairobi City County, most of which operate using an internal combustion engine (ICE). Since [...]

Mexica’s Logistics 500 years ago

By the time this is published, in 2021, 500 years will have passed since the conquest of Tenochtitlán, and the fusion of cultures of what is now Mexico. Let us review the legacy that this entire process has left, in the area of the topic at hand: logistics and freight transport. 500 Years Ago the Mexica Knew about Logistics and Practiced it on a Daily Basis as We Do Now… ¿Or Better? I dedicate this short piece to my son, Pablo Santillán Hernández, currently studying archaeology.

Freight Transport by Road: Reasoned Historic Overview and Chronicle

Humans have always needed to transport goods of all kinds, including food, construction materials, and raw materials for making tools and weapons. For thousands of years, the majority of heavy or bulky cargo was transported by sea, particularly through coastal navigation, and by river. Shaped by these anthropological requirements, civilisations frequently developed in coastal areas, including the entire Mediterranean region, and along navigable rivers such as the Nile. Since antiquity, efforts have [...]

Dynamic Weighing and High-Capacity Vehicles in the Pre-XVIII Congress on Road Design and Transport

The agenda of the Argentine Road Association’s Pre-Congress on Road Design and Transport, held virtually on 11 and 12 November 2020, covered broad and diverse topics and approaches, all of which are permanently dealt with by PIARC’s various Technical Committees. Of these, we would like to highlight the following: safe and sustainable mobility, block chain technology, pavements and asphalt, ITS and bridges.