Parcel carriers face increasingly difficult operating conditions in busy metropolitan areas due to growing consumer demand for ever faster delivery services and having to cope with traffic congestion and city authority measures that may restrict or penalise access for certain types of vehicle. This paper evaluates the potential environmental and financial benefits of switching from traditional van-based deliveries to an alternative operating model, where porters or cycle couriers undertake deliveries supported by a substantially reduced van fleet.

Results using a specially-developed algorithm to model operations of a real carrier in an area of central London, UK, suggested that the carrier could reduce CO₂ emissions by 45%, NOx emissions by 33%, driving distance by 78% and curbside parking time by 45%. Overall cost savings to the carrier were estimated to be in the range 34–39%. Scaling up the modelled emissions savings to London’s Central Activities Zone, an area of approximately 30 km² and with current total annual parcel delivery distance of around 15 million km, could see annual emissions savings in the region of 2 million kg CO₂ and 1633 kg NOx if all carriers utilised porters or cycle couriers. The key operating challenges identified were related to sorting and consolidating items by weight and volume, parcel handover arrangements and how to deal with express items and failed deliveries.

由于消费者对越来越快的送货服务的需求不断增长，并且不得不应对交通拥堵和城市当局采取的措施，这些措施可能会限制或惩罚某些类型的车辆的通行，在繁忙的大都市地区，包裹运输商面临着越来越困难的运营条件。本文评估了从传统的以货车为基础的交付转换为替代运营模式的潜在环境和经济利益，在这种运营模式下，搬运工或自行车快递员进行的运输大大减少了货车数量。

使用专门开发的算法对英国伦敦市中心地区的实际运输工具的运行进行建模的结果表明，该运输工具可以减少₂₅％的CO ₂排放，33％的NOx排放，78％的行驶距离以及路边停车时间减少了45％。估计给承运商的总成本节省约为34-39％。将模拟的减排量扩大到伦敦中央活动区的面积，该区域大约30 km ²，目前每年的包裹总交付距离约为1500万公里，每年可以节省200万公斤的二氧化碳₂如果所有承运人都使用搬运工或自行车快递公司，则为1633千克氮氧化物。确定的主要运营挑战与按重量和体积分类和合并物品，包裹移交安排以及如何处理快递物品和交付失败有关。