Integrative freight demand management in the New York City metropolitan area : implementation phase.

PDFTech ReportRITARS-11-H-RPIUrban areasMetropolitan areasFreight trafficTravel demand managementOff peak periodsImplementationDelivery serviceUnited States. Dept. of TransportationRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteNew York (N.Y.). Dept. of TransportationRutgers UniversityUS Transportation CollectionUrban freight transportation is crucial to the quality of modern life, though at the same time itproduces significant negative externalities. Despite the relatively small proportion of freight with respectto all traffic, urban freight movements are increasingly recognized as significant forces of influence onurban transportation systems and urban economic vitality. A range of freight system managementstrategies have been tried and implemented with various degrees of success throughout the world. Someof these strategies are carrier-centered, such as the use of cooperative delivery systems, which change thelogistical aspects of carrier operations, but do not affect the actual underlying demand. As a result, theirinfluence tends not to extend beyond carriers, to other aspects of urban transportation systems. At theother end of the spectrum, receiver-centered traffic demand management (TDM) measures attempt tochange the nature of the actual demand for the cargo. These policies take advantage of the fact thatreceivers\ue2\u20ac\u201dby virtue of being the carriers\ue2\u20ac\u2122 customers\ue2\u20ac\u201dhave a great deal of power over when and howdeliveries are made. Carriers must respect receivers\ue2\u20ac\u2122 wishes if they want to stay in business.The Off-Hour Delivery (OHD) project is an innovative example of receiver-centered freight TDM.This initiative relies on incentives (financial or otherwise) to induce receivers to accept deliveries in theoff-hours (7PM to 6AM). Since the incentives remove the opposition of the receivers, and the carriers aregenerally in favor, entire supply chains can switch to the off-hours, and the effect of these shiftsreverberate through entire supply chains. The NYC OHD project has been implemented in stages. After asuccessful pilot phase that concluded in 2010, the Research and Innovative Technology (RITA) sponsoredimplementation phase (Integrative Freight Demand Management in the New York City MetropolitanArea: Implementation Phase) was launched in June 2011. Although this is technically the implementationphase, it should be noted that the term \ue2\u20ac\u2dclaunch phase\ue2\u20ac\u2122 may be more appropriate. The reason for this is thatfor a proper and successful implementation of an off-hour delivery program a sustained effort over a longperiod of time is required. After all, the program aims at transforming supply chains, which requiresprofound modifications of business practices. This report documents the key aspects and findings,impacts and influence of the OHD project, through the implementation phase which concluded inSeptember 2013