The First and Last Mile — the Key to Sustainable Urban Transport. Transport and Environment Report 2019
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EEA Report No 18/2019 The first and last mile — the key to sustainable urban transport Transport and environment report 2019 ISSN 1977-8449 1994-2019 EEA Report No 18/2019 The first and last mile — the key to sustainable urban transport Transport and environment report 2019 1994-2019 Cover design: EEA Cover photo: © Catalin Tibuleac, Sustainably Yours /EEA Layout: Rosendahls a/s Legal notice The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the official opinions of the European Commission or other institutions of the European Union. Neither the European Environment Agency nor any person or company acting on behalf of the Agency is responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this report. Copyright notice © European Environment Agency, 2020 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020 ISBN 978-92-9480-205-7 ISSN 1977-8449 doi:10.2800/200903 European Environment Agency Kongens Nytorv 6 1050 Copenhagen K Denmark Tel.: +45 33 36 71 00 Internet: eea.europa.eu Enquiries: eea.europa.eu/enquiries Contents Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 5 Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 6 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 The challenge of urban transport .......................................................................................10 1.2 First/last/only mile options ..................................................................................................10 1.3 Structure of the report .........................................................................................................12 2 Environmental and health impacts of urban transport ................................................. 14 2.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................14 2.2 Urban and non-urban land transport in the EU ................................................................14 2.3 Costs related to environmental challenges .......................................................................18 2.4 Broader challenges ...............................................................................................................25 2.5 Relative importance of the different external costs of transport....................................27 2.6 Ongoing developments with an impact on these challenges ..........................................28 3 EU and international policy context ................................................................................. 30 3.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................30 3.2 Policy developments in transport and urban mobility .....................................................30 3.3 Cross-cutting policies and wider European initiatives ......................................................34 3.4 Other supportive actions ......................................................................................................34 3.5 Review and evaluation ..........................................................................................................35 4 Determinants of modal choice and the role of first/last/only mile options ................ 37 4.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................37 4.2 First/last/only mile options as means of reducing the environmental burden of urban passenger transport .............................................................................................37 4.3 First/last/only mile options as means of reducing the environmental burden of urban freight transport ....................................................................................................40 5 First/last/only mile options and their role in the transport system ............................. 42 5.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................42 5.2 Passenger transport: history and evolution ......................................................................42 5.3 Freight and logistics: history and future challenges .........................................................43 5.4 First/last/only mile options and innovations in passenger transport .............................45 5.5 First/last/only mile options and innovations in freight transport ...................................48 The first and last mile — the key to sustainable urban transport 3 Contents 6 The potential environmental and health effects of first/last/only mile options ........ 52 6.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................52 6.2 Assessment of potential environmental and health effects — passenger transport...52 6.3 Assessment of potential environmental and health effects — freight transport .........58 6.4 Case study 1: BiTiBi (bike-train-bike) ...................................................................................62 6.5 Case study 2: Deutsche Post DHL StreetScooter ...............................................................64 6.6 Case study 3: Gothenburg consolidation centre ...............................................................64 7 Lessons learnt: leveraging first/last/only mile options for systemic change .............. 67 7.1 Passenger transport .............................................................................................................67 7.2 Freight transport: create conditions to make last mile logistics profitable ...................68 Abbreviations, symbols and units .......................................................................................... 70 Glossary ...................................................................................................................................... 72 References ................................................................................................................................. 74 4 The first and last mile — the key to sustainable urban transport Acknowledgements Acknowledgements The preparation of this report was led by Comments on the draft received from EEA member Andreas Unterstaller (EEA). The report is based on a countries and the European Commission's TERM draft by the European Topic Centre on Air Pollution, advisory group (Eurostat, Directorate-General for Transport, Noise and Industrial Pollution (ETC/ATNI) Environment, Directorate-General for Mobility and written by Inge Mayeres and Bruno Van Zeebroeck Transport, and Directorate-General for Climate Action) (Transport & Mobility Leuven). are gratefully acknowledged. The first and last mile — the key to sustainable urban transport 5 Executive summary Executive summary All cities face the challenge of developing and providing impacts. However, people or goods rarely travel efficient, healthy and environmentally friendly mobility. between two mass transport hubs or stops. That is City dwellers are more often exposed to air pollution, where F/L/O options come in. Such options allow noise and heavy traffic than people living outside urban people or goods to travel between their starting point areas. Cities are also a prime source of greenhouse gas (origin) and the start hub and/or between the end hub emissions, which contribute to climate change. A large and their destination. At the same time, they make part of these emissions comes from transport. the transport system as efficient as possible from a financial, resource use and environmental point of Moving away from inefficient and polluting transport view, while meeting any convenience requirements. modes is one possible way of reducing these societal burdens. Exploring 'first mile' and 'last mile' mobility The report finds that better F/L/O mile connectivity in options, which may be used to complete a journey by cities can significantly improve environment and health public transport, for example, can help make this shift outcomes. However, realising this potential requires an happen by increasing the attractiveness and efficiency in-depth understanding of the different options, their of sustainable modes of transport. 'Only mile' options strengths and weaknesses, and how they affect the for travelling very short distances can also help. We mobility system as a whole. gather these first/last/only mile modes under the label F/L/O mile options. This is hardly ever simple because the environment and health effects of F/L/O mile options are determined This report provides a comprehensive overview of by how they are used and what they replace. A simple all main F/L/O mile options for passenger and freight example would be a short trip by electric kick scooter. transport. It describes their urban mobility and policy If it replaces a motorcycle or a car trip, the environment contexts and presents the current state of scientific and health effects are positive. If it replaces a trip knowledge on their environment and health effects. by