Combined passenger and freight flows

Integrating freight and passenger transport can increase efficiency in the freight sector. Combining passenger and freight flows generally follows two models. First, logistics providers can collaborate with public transport operators to deliver goods using their vehicles (Van Duin et al., 2019). Alternatively, logistic service providers can partner with individuals to transport goods on their regularly planned trips, removing the need for delivery trips. Both approaches can increase logistics efficiency and reduce freight traffic and resulting CO2 emissions.

Combining freight and passenger transport is a common practice in air transportation. Transporting goods on public transportation is a growing practice in cities around the world. European cities, including Dresden, Vienna and Zurich, designate freight trams for intra-urban goods movement (Van Duin et al., 2019). In Mumbai’s dabbawala delivery system, foot or bike couriers use trains to deliver lunch boxes from kitchens to workplaces (Baindur and Macário, 2013). Moving goods on public transport replaces freight traffic and facilitates the use of smaller vehicles for last-mile deliveries (Van Duin et al., 2019).

Recruiting individuals already travelling from one point to another to deliver goods along their route, dubbed “crowdshipping” (a merger of “crowdsourced” and “shipping”), offers a way for logistics companies to deliver small packages with low marginal costs. Under this system, individuals earn a commission for deliveries, potentially offsetting their transport costs and providing an additional source of income. For logistics providers, paying individuals to deliver parcels can be cheaper than delivery vehicle trips, especially in rural areas where the density of demand for deliveries is low (McKinnon, 2016). Numerous online platforms for crowdshipping emerged in the last decade, including major online retailer Amazon launching its service in 2015 (McKinnon, 2016).

Authorities can work with private logistics service providers and public transport agencies to streamline of regulations that may inhibit transporting goods on public transport vehicles.

Impact on CO2 emissions

Combining freight and passenger flows reduces CO2 emissions by lowering the demand for separate freight deliveries. Integrating freight and passenger trips also facilitates the use of smaller vehicles for remaining delivery trips (Van Duin et al., 2019, McKinnon, 2016).

In Venice, Italy, a study estimated that using available space on public transport to deliver goods would reduce the daily distance travelled by freight vehicles by 67.5% and related CO2 emissions by 38% (Mazzarino and Nathanail, 2018).

Costs

The costs of integrating freight and passenger transport are primarily associated with the institutional co-ordination required between logistics service providers, public transport operators and individual couriers.

For crowdshipping services, logistics service providers must develop infrastructure to assign parcels to couriers and connect them with the final receiver (McKinnon, 2016). Costs are also attributed to hiring, training and insuring individual couriers.

Co-benefits

Combining freight and passenger transport generates the most co-benefits when infrastructure is shared, as in the case of using public trams to move goods within a city. Integrating freight and passenger flows can reduce transportation costs, congestion, noise and local air pollution (Van Duin et al., 2019). In urban areas, replacing freight vehicle trips can increase efficiency in street space use.

Other considerations

Passenger and freight transport are subject to different regulations regarding safety, public service obligations, contractual arrangements and employment guidelines and standards. This complicates the integration of both services and underscores the need for institutional co-ordination between stakeholders to achieve common goals (Bruzzone, Cavallaro and Nocera, 2021). Furthermore, developing a sustainable business model is vital to ensure the long-term feasibility of such collaborative models (Van Duin et al., 2019).

A variety of factors influence the sustainability of crowdshipping services. If individual couriers take significant detours from their regular passenger route or take extra trips to deliver parcels, the efficiency gains from carrying goods on a pre-arranged passenger trip can be lost.

The informal status of individual couriers under crowdsourced shipping systems pose risks for both logistics service providers and for couriers (McKinnon, 2016). For service providers, risks include difficulties ensuring service quality and the higher chance of parcels being lost, damaged, or stolen with informal couriers. On the other hand, couriers run the risk of carrying illegal or dangerous goods and of being exploited by logistics companies.

Cite this measure as

ITF (2022) Transport Climate Action Directory – Combined passenger and freight flows, [https://www.itf-oecd.org/policy/combined-passenger-and-freight-flows](https://www.itf-oecd.org/policy/combined-passenger-and-freight-flows).

Sources

Baindur, D. and Macário, R. M. (2013) ‘Mumbai lunch box delivery system: A transferable benchmark in urban logistics?’, Research in Transportation Economics, 38(1), 110-121. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2012.05.002](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2012.05.002). 

Bruzzone, F., Cavallaro, F. and Nocera, S. (2021) ‘The integration of passenger and freight transport for first-last mile operations’, Transport Policy, 100, pp. 31–48. doi: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2020.10.009.

Mazzarino, M. and Nathanail, E. (2018) Integration of passenger and freight transport in Venice and use of NOVELOG Evaluation Tool (EVALOG). Brussels.

McKinnon, A. (2016) Crowdshipping: a Communal Approach to Reducing Urban Traffic Levels? Hamburg.

Van Duin, R. et al. (2019) ‘Evaluating new participative city logistics concepts: The case of cargo hitching’, Transportation Research Procedia. Elsevier, 39, pp. 565–575. doi: 10.1016/J.TRPRO.2019.06.058.