Distribute Green Local Supply Chains for Tomorrow’s City

E-cargo bikes instead of vans and light trucks for the delivery of goods on the last mile: This is how the project “Distribute” tries to relieve increasing neighborhood traffic. Door delivery has long been an integral part of citizens’ everyday life, reinforcing the role of logistics as a keystone of a well-performing economy. However, in the field this results in decentralized distribution processes with low load factors, increased emissions of air pollutants, traffic and noise. “Distribute” intends to change that.

It is the project’s goal to establish holistic logistics concepts for environment-friendly supply chains on the local scale, increasing environmental justice and ensuring a resource-sensitive local supply through reduced environmental impacts and strengthened local production chains. The project’s vision is an efficient and climate-friendly delivery creating a neighborhood characterized by fresh air, safe roads and low noise.

In this sense, “Distribute” introduces e-cargo bikes in two quarters of the district Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin in order to reduce the amount of delivery trucks and other commercial vehicles in the neighborhood. Together with local residents, companies as well as an interdisciplinary team of project partners from the fields of science, economy and the municipality, sustainable business and allocation models for delivery on the last mile with e-cargo bikes will be developed and road-tested in the areas around the Mierendorff-Insel and the Klausenerplatz. The IÖW assesses the environmental impacts resulting from the operation of the cargo bikes and is responsible for the evaluation of the development process.