Examining the Impacts of Logistics Sprawl on Freight Transportation in Indian Cities: Implications for Planning and Sustainable Development

Abstract

The relocation of logistics facilities toward the periphery of urban areas—that is, logistics sprawl—is a major challenge for policymakers due to the impacts on the economic geography of suburban areas and associated changes in truck traffic pattern. The logistics sprawl considerably affects the vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) since logistics facilities are the origin or destination nodes for urban freight transport. The effect of logistics sprawl, coupled with industry category, employment size, fleet ownership, and cohort on the VKT, is an unaddressed research area that requires significant research attention. To quantify the effects of logistics sprawl on the VKT, this paper utilizes establishment-based freight survey (EBFS) data to perform a cross-sectional analysis of urban and suburban logistics facilities. The distinct variations in the effects of logistics sprawl across multiple industry types are investigated using the EBFS data. The combined model indicated that the VKT generally increases as an establishment is located away from a city center. Compared with the establishments’ VKT in Sprawl 1, the VKT for establishments in Sprawl 2, 3, and 4 increases by 6.39, 4.12, and 6.06 km, respectively. Classified industry model results demonstrated that the sprawl effect on the VKT is industry specific. Establishments dealing with food products demonstrated a positive relation between the average VKT and the distance of an establishment from a city center. However, the sprawl effect was not consistent for establishments dealing with wood products, plastic and rubber products, mineral products, and metal and metal-related products. Moreover, the developed cohort model indicated an average VKT increase by 29.42 and 46.43 km for establishments that started operations in the postindustrialization and postliberalization periods, respectively, compared with the establishments being operational from the postindependence period. This investigation’s tangible outcome is to present the influencing factors of the VKT, which will be beneficial for policymakers to develop industry-specific guidelines on land use, employment restructuring, and subsidies on owning different types of commercial vehicles.