Last Mile Logistics companies are operating in an ever-changing world, especially due to new environmental regulations that are being placed on the most congested areas of city centres. To comply with the new Government environmental regulations Councils began to create Low Emission Zones in City Centres with the aim of reducing the number of the highest polluting vehicles on the roads. These Zones can be problematic for distribution companies due to the high dependency of fossil fuel vehicles which are typically used for both consumer and business deliveries. In this case Oxford Street was recognised as one of the most polluted streets in the world and Westminster Council decided to introduce the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. The ULEZ is a 24 hour charging zone that covers a large area of the Borough of Westminster. The highest polluting vehicles were not permitted to enter the Zone without paying £12.50 per day.
Q-Park created an Urban Mobility Hub in their Park Lane car park which is situated right on the border of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. The mobility housed many different partners who offered a variety of mobility services including DPD who are one of the UK’s largest delivery companies. DPD entered into an agreement with Q-Park to take a sizeable area within the mobility hub to create a Last Mile Logistics Hub. The plan was to use the logistics hub to receive goods from the main distribution facility from the existing fleet in order to be close to the end delivery point without entering the low emission zone. The contents would then be distributed using various smaller but fully electric vehicles who then continued the parcels journey onwards to its final destination using their greener vehicles. Some parcels were also delivered on foot if the distance was walkable. Their Hub was fully DPD branded and included facilities for their staff to use such as Electric Vehicle charging and a convenience area situated in the mobility hub.
Q-Park also worked closely with another delivery business, ByBox in a smaller but just as effective scheme. Storage lockers were installed in the Park Lane Mobility Hub for ByBox staff to access to collect parcels that were dropped off there. Their staff would collect these parcels and then deliver them on foot or using Electric Vehicles into the Ultra Low Emission Zone.
Access into the Park Lane Mobility Hub for both tenants is facilitated by using Q-Park’s state of the art new PaSS (Parking as a Smart Service) Automatic Number Plate Recognition System. The delivery vans would simply drive up to the entry barrier and this would raise for them automatically and the same would occur on exit. This allows for convenient and seamless access to their own facilities without the risk of losing physical tickets.
Q-Park have created a scheme which is transferable to every city in the UK where they operate. The Mobility Hub allows logistics businesses to operate to the same standard that they currently do whilst also complying with the new Government regulations created to cut pollution and congestion in city centres. In this case DPD and ByBox have been so happy with the way they can operate their business from the Mobility Hub that they are looking to expand into other Q-Park facilities.
To find out more about Q-Park's Sustainable Mobility Hubs click here
