Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Merchandise pick-up points

In CIVITAS MIMOSA - the EU flagship project on sustainable mobility - Utrecht is working to decrease car traffic in the city centre by looking into establishing merchandise pick-up points at the fringe of the city. Consumers can park their car at the pick-up point and travel to the centre by public transport. After purchasing large or heavy goods in the centre, they can return to the same pick-up point and collect the cumbersome goods there. Is the time right for this innovative concept? Utrecht has just finished a feasibility study in which nearly four hundred consumers and city centre entrepreneurs were approached to survey the market potential and requirements. “Choice travellers”, who make separate transport choices for every trip they make, and current P+R users are more prone to embrace the concept since they are most open to behavioural change. However, the reactions were not only positive. Utrecht will decide later this year whether to set up a pilot Pick-up point within the CIVITAS MIMOSA project, as one of the first cities in the Netherlands.Velo Mondial will keep you posted. Merchandise pick-up points are a good example of the indispensable connection between various areas of sustainable urban transport. Read more here.