Grid Smarter Cities has extended its Kerb Dock project by London’s Bankside Pier until the end of the year.
The project showcases the potential of dynamically allocating kerb space by riverside locations for greener last mile deliveries in the city. Two bookable bays are now available for light freight couriers to load and unload directly from river freight, goods can then be delivered by cargo bike or foot. This multimodal approach could transform how we currently think about urban freight logistics – unlocking a range of benefits for the city, environment and community.
Grid Smarter Cities explains the Kerb Dock platform gives the local authority greater opportunity to manage access to diminishing kerb space more efficiently and safely, while the courier operators gain more delivery certainty, by booking loading bays in advance for a desired time period, via an intuitive driver-centric app.
It says the exploration of a multimodal road, river, bike or foot approach could be key in heading towards a greener future for urban freight logistics, and that this progressive project intends to provide insight and data to assess this innovative opportunity for both city authorities and operators.
Ben Pearce, Portfolio Manager at Impact on Urban Health said: “Air pollution devastates people’s health in cities like London, particularly affecting children, older people, people with health conditions, people in areas of deprivation, and people from minoritised communities.
The transportation of goods around cities is a major contributor to air pollution. We’re delighted to support this project, which makes better use of the river to transport freight, therefore improving air quality and making London a cleaner, fairer, healthier city.”
Laura Jacklin, Commercial Manager at Grid Smarter Cities added: “We are excited to have this extension and delve into how upscaling river freight in central London will be implemented in these pier locations. In the first phase we have shown the technology works and that space allocation is key for safety in these areas. The next phase we are looking at how we can plan for future river freight demand at piers.”
Grid’s partner EMSOL will continue to collect the air quality and noise data to assess impacts to the local environment. In addition to Steer who will continue to lead the project evaluation and broadening the scope of stakeholders with interest in river freight.
The two bookable loading bays near Bankside Pier are now live and can be used by approved couriers delivering in the area.
The Kerb-Dock project is funded by Impact on Urban Health in association with Grid Smarter Cities and Southwark Council.
Watch a video explanation here:
(Picture – Grid Smarter Cities)
