Time Constraints: The Cost of Sustainability

Abstract

Time constraints imposed on the accessibility of delivery vehicles to the inner city centre are a commonplace policy in European cities, linked to sustainable mobility strategies and seeking to reduce congestion, parking problems and pollution in the most sensible area of the city. However, these time constraints also impose an extra cost on carriers, who are often forced to modify their routes or use more vehicles, thus reducing the efficiency of the system. We present and apply a VRP-based methodology to estimate these costs, which should be brought into the overall cost-benefit analysis of urban time constraint policies.