Issues and Problems of Moving Goods in Urban Areas

Abstract

There is a multitude of issues and problems involving the movement of goods in urban areas. These deserve careful attention of urban‐transportation planners and engineers. Nevertheless many of these problems continue without much debate because their real costs are not well perceived, and because the actors/parties involved are not vocal. A critical need at this time is to raise the awareness of all actors/parties involved with urban goods movement (UGM). This paper presents an overview of the characteristics of urban goods movement and its major problems and issues. The major topics addressed are: movement of trucks along urban roads and through intersections; loading and unloading of trucks in central business district (CBD) and non‐CBS areas; and truck terminals and stops. The paper does not attempt to present planning tools and strategies for solving UGM problems, although citations of selected sources of information have been made, and these sources have useful guidelines for planning and analysis. This paper would be useful to the planners and traffic engineers who have not had experience in dealing wtih UGM problems and issues, and the writers hope that it would encourage them to become involved with UGM planning.