Edinburgh Napier University

  This thesis presents an analysis of policymaking by local authorities in the context of urban freight transport (UFT). The aim of this study is to understand the impact of policy actions taken at the local level on the viability of urban consolidation centres (UCCs). UFT is a neglected topic in the case of local authorities; they often give very limited or no space to freight in their local transport plans. The main problem is that local authorities do not see policymaking as a systematic process when it comes to regulating UFT. Cashore and Howlett (2009) emphasise the necessity for disaggregating different elements (e.g., high-level goals, objectives, on-the-ground requirements, norms, and specific instruments) of policy in order to construct accurate models of policy dynamics. Local authorities are lacking this process of disaggregation. The thesis topic is analysed in three distinct sections. Each section adopts a case study methodology. A case study methodology suits the overall aim of the thesis as it enables an in-depth examination of UFT policies in the context of local authorities. The sequence of the case studies is designed to first to provide a broader perspective on policymaking and policy choice of local authorities. Later, the discussion focuses on a particular UFT policy via identifying local transport policies as a means of support to develop and to encourage the use of UCCs.

The first study investigates UFT policy choice by local authorities, investigating how policy context, resource availability and the need for legitimacy influence how local authorities seek and select UFT specific policies. The methodology is a cross-case analysis of eleven cities across three countries (Sweden, England and Scotland), based on interview and documentary data. The second study investigates how local transport policies work in conjunction with stakeholder collaboration as a means of supporting mechanisms to enable the development of public led UCCs. The methodology is a multiple case study approach, comparing cases in Sweden and Scotland, two countries that, as discovered in the first part of the research, are more/less advanced in their approach to UFT policy. The third study focuses on UCC users, and the aim is to investigate the willingness of retailers to subscribe to UCCs when local transport policies (both existing and potential policies) are introduced. The methodology is a single case study approach based in the city centre of Edinburgh.

The first study reveals in most cases, the rather general high-level policy goals are not broken down into clear objectives with targets that can be measured. Therefore, selected UFT policy measures are chosen from a pool of common measures (primarily access restrictions such as time windows and weight restrictions), but without monitored targets that determine whether or not they are achieving objectives. There is a lack of a strategic approach to setting and reviewing measures according to achieving specific policy goals. This is primarily a result of a lack of resources and dedicated UFT personnel, as well as challenges related to public acceptability of restrictive policies. The second study identified that policies such as time window restrictions could support successful UCCs, but they cannot be considered in isolation from the collaborative UFT policy setting established by local authorities, confirming the results from part one. The findings of the third study showed that the current local transport policies are not enough to change the retailers’ opinions on UCCs, as opposed to the findings of the successful Swedish UCC studied in the second part of the thesis. Even if local authorities were to start imposing more restrictive transport policies, it would not influence many retailers’ decisions on receiving their deliveries through UCCs. Operational factors such as not being able to receive their deliveries on time and political factors such as the degree of communication between the stakeholders would be the driving factors for retailers to consider using UCCs.

The overall findings of this thesis show that local authorities are able to identify high-level goals, which are not broken down into clear objectives with targets that can be measured. UCCs are one of the policy measures that have been initiated by local authorities for many years, and yet the success rate of these initiatives remains low. The main reasons behind the unsuccessful implementation of UCCs and other UFT policy measures are various. Local authorities do not specify the formal aim of policies, and they do not invest in identifying specific on-the-ground requirements that particular places and stakeholders need. Many local authorities in Europe lack the resources that could enable them to improve their collaboration with commercial stakeholders such as retailers and logistics service providers and design effective UFT policy measures that can obtain public acceptance from the users and therefore stand a better chance of commercial viability.