There's been a lot of official output on this and like subjects lately. Not only was the CCC at it, but there was a researchy one (it says "this document is not a statement of government policy" on every page) called "
A time of unprecedented change in the transport system: The Future of Mobility". That was from the Government Office for Science (the what?) in January 2019, doing roughly:
This report reflects on the history that has shaped transport and mobility in the UK▸ , examines the current trends in the system, and considers different scenarios that will help policy-makers to identify the choices and trade-offs to come – and to grasp the exciting opportunities that exist.
I think you should read "last mile" literally there - you still need something else for the next-to-last-three miles, ten miles, or whatever it is from the main depot.
More applicable, the National Infrastructure Commission published "
Better Delivery: the challenge for freight" - their Freight Study final report - in April 2019. That looks at the whole of freight, so delivery - in the "where's my Amazon goodies" sense - is only a small part of it. I can't see any mention of that sharing with buses, but it does come out in favour of the "cooperative urban consolidation centre".
For non-believers in the cargo bike (whether traditional or e-) it says:
The recent introduction of electrical assistance to traditional cargo bikes has significantly improved their ability to carry heavy loads over longer distances. Electrically assisted cargo bikes, or e‑cargo bikes, have been the subject of trials in various cities in Europe, including London. Some e‑cargo bikes can carry payloads of up to 125kg, and they are more manoeuvrable in towns and cities than vans or HGVs. They can be used in cycle lanes, are cleaner and quieter than motor vehicles, and occupy a much smaller footprint than a van or HGV when loading and unloading at the kerbside. E‑cargo bikes may well become a regular feature of deliveries in urban areas.
Both portering and e‑cargo bikes offer some marginal improvement on the standard model of last mile delivery in dense urban areas. Optimisations such as these could contribute to managing freight’s contribution and exposure to congestion. But the ways in which last mile freight movements in urban areas can be optimised points to an evolution rather than revolution in future last mile delivery operations and methods.
Basically, having studied the alternatives, it concludes:
Transporting goods by HGV or van is still the most efficient way of moving goods when vehicles are optimally loaded. Vans are particularly efficient in urban areas when it is more difficult to use vehicles which have a higher payload, but are far less manoeuvrable. None of the current or emerging alternative delivery vehicles for the last mile – e‑cargo bikes, droids or drones – have payloads equivalent to a standard van. It is therefore clear that vans and HGVs will continue to have the dominant role in freight in urban areas.
E-vans, obviously.
The
OP▸ was about Bath, which isn't big enough to be the next target for Gnewt or the like. However, I did spot this in the NIC report:
The Commission is already working with many of England’s cities through its Next Steps for Cities programme, helping them to develop ambitious, effective infrastructure strategies. This will include work aimed at helping cities to implement this recommendation through sharing expertise and good practice on addressing urban freight within an infrastructure strategy. The Commission has identified five pilot cities, each of which is committed to a locally‑led policy review on how best to support innovation in freight with the objective of reducing the impacts on congestion. The cities and city regions – Bath, Brighton and Hove, Liverpool, Southampton and the West Midlands – will set out their updated approach to freight within their own local infrastructure strategies by the end of 2020.
BaNES does appear to have something of that name already, but too old to be the one NIC is referring to, and I guess that should be about the city per se.
