Late to the party, but great interview! I wonder how truck size factors in here, if at all. Large trucks exacerbate the double-parking problem but also require fewer trips; small trucks like those common elsewhere in the world take up less space but have less space, but would seem to fit well into a microhub format.
I can't speak for Sandra, who knows best, but it seems to me that in a world of many next-day deliveries, large trucks are often largely empty; they aren't the right tool for the job, but companies still use them due to lengthy fleet turnovers, sizing capacity for edge cases, and so forth. If that's right, the future is one of larger fleets of smaller trucks, which would be an improvement on the margin
Yes, they're going LOTS of places... but probably not cities. For a variety of reasons, they are far better suited to suburbs and small towns than to dense urban cores. I will be writing more about this later this year
This reminds me of the value of rear lanes, which of course were ubiquitous in the "old days" of downtowns. Like most transportation issues, you are seeking physical and/or temporal separation of uses in order to operate most efficiently. Competing for limited curb space is extremely challenging. Reinvigorating the laneway might be a strong angle of attack.
Late to the party, but great interview! I wonder how truck size factors in here, if at all. Large trucks exacerbate the double-parking problem but also require fewer trips; small trucks like those common elsewhere in the world take up less space but have less space, but would seem to fit well into a microhub format.
I can't speak for Sandra, who knows best, but it seems to me that in a world of many next-day deliveries, large trucks are often largely empty; they aren't the right tool for the job, but companies still use them due to lengthy fleet turnovers, sizing capacity for edge cases, and so forth. If that's right, the future is one of larger fleets of smaller trucks, which would be an improvement on the margin
Delivery drones were mentioned here briefly. Are they a generic solution for this? Are they going anywhere at the moment?
Yes, they're going LOTS of places... but probably not cities. For a variety of reasons, they are far better suited to suburbs and small towns than to dense urban cores. I will be writing more about this later this year
This reminds me of the value of rear lanes, which of course were ubiquitous in the "old days" of downtowns. Like most transportation issues, you are seeking physical and/or temporal separation of uses in order to operate most efficiently. Competing for limited curb space is extremely challenging. Reinvigorating the laneway might be a strong angle of attack.
Agreed!
What an enlightening interview! Thanks for sharing it.