Urban freight transport policy and planning

This report presents a general overview of public policy and planning in the field of urban freight transport. Urban freight transport is the subject of local, regional and national policies in different policy fields, such as transportation planning, environmental planning and economic planning. The most interesting developments in policies related to urban freight transport in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Japan are described. These countries show differences in underlying problems and approaches, but also present similarities. Their policies are mainly based on stimulating consolidation by voluntary cooperation between transport companies in combination with the establishment of freight centres, and measures in the field of licensing and regulation. None of these countries pretend to have found the optimal solution to the urban freight transport problems, so that further development of urban freight transport policy is still needed. Further regulation of urban freight transport, as well as technological innovation will considerably influence policy-making in the field of urban freight transport in the future.