UCCs can improve air quality in towns and cities, says TSC

Urban consolidation centres (UCCs) can help UK local authorities meet air quality obligations through the reduction of goods vehicle miles in urban areas, says the Transport Systems Catapult (TSC). These centres could also help improve congestion, the research and technology organisation adds. UCCs are logistics facilities where goods are dropped off and combined onto commercial vehicles for delivery to their final destination. TSC applied its economic assessment tool to estimate the cost and benefi
July 17, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Urban consolidation centres (UCCs) can help UK local authorities meet air quality obligations through the reduction of goods vehicle miles in urban areas, says the 7800 Transport Systems Catapult (TSC). These centres could also help improve congestion, the research and technology organisation adds.


UCCs are logistics facilities where goods are dropped off and combined onto commercial vehicles for delivery to their final destination.

TSC applied its economic assessment tool to estimate the cost and benefits of moving towards a logistics consolidation model at the University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust.

The case study showed deliveries could be reduced from 867 a week to 25 by using the UCC operated by Meachers Global Logistics.

Uptake of UCCs has been low in the UK due to the associated costs of establishing and running an extra step in the logistics supply chain.

Andrew Traill, the TSC’s principal technologist for freight and logistics, says more 'outside the box' thinking such as this need to be reconsidered by towns and cities facing increasing congestion and the need to reduce emissions.

“Ultimately, this model can lead to cleaner towns and cities and more efficient deliveries, whilst producing a much-needed relief to road systems which are struggling with traffic volumes,” Traill adds.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IBT goes roundabout in Bradenton, Florida
    May 10, 2019
    Yet another roundabout is being built in the US. The public remains sceptical but agencies and contractors are on board, writes David Arminas Global construction company IBT, based in Miami, has won a contract to install a traffic circle – or roundabout - on State Road 64 near Bradenton, Florida. The deal is part of a road improvement project with the Florida Department of Transportation (DoT). The 13-month project started in November. Worth only $5 million, it is not a big infrastructure contract. But
    Read More
  • “We don’t want to catch you!”
    May 23, 2022
    Effective enforcement and compliance programs catch very few offenders. IRD explains why…
    Read More
  • How can US transportation be ‘re-envisioned’?
    October 17, 2019
    In her address to this year’s ITS America Annual Meeting, congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, called for a ‘re-envisioning’ of transportation. Her speech is below – and ITS International asks a number of US experts what they would like to see ‘re-envisioned’…

    I would like to welcome  ITS America to the nation’s capital.

    Read More
  • Autonomous grocery delivery trials in Greenwich
    June 28, 2017
    The TRL-led GATEway Project, together with Ocado Technology (a division of Ocado, the online-only supermarket) is running the UK’s first trials of an autonomous vehicle around the Berkeley Homes, Royal Arsenal Riverside development in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London.
    Read More

Highlighted Content