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

  • Vehicle manufacturers and local authorities seek satnav solutions
    December 5, 2013
    The increasing capability of satellite navigation is helping vehicle manufacturers and local authorities as well as individual drivers and fleets. In comparison to the physical ITS infrastructure in towns and cities and on motorways and highways, satellite navigation (satnav) systems have come a long way in a short time. Many (if not the majority) individual drivers and fleets use or have access to a satnav and now the vehicle manufacturers and even local authorities are beginning to utilise satnav derived
    Read More
  • Bangkok combats pollution with city toll 
    October 1, 2020
    Road pricing is part of Thailand’s Clean Mobility Programme
    Read More
  • Waymo opens AV dataset to researchers
    September 3, 2019
    Waymo is making its Waymo Open Dataset for autonomous vehicles (AVs) available to the research community for free. Waymo is hoping the data will help researchers make advances in 2D and 3D perception and progress in areas such as domain adaptation and behaviour prediction. The company says each segment of driving data captures 20 seconds of continuous driving, allowing researchers to develop models to track and predict the behaviour of other road users. This dataset covers dense and suburban environmen
    Read More
  • CO₂ mitigation measures for transport ‘will not achieve climate ambitions’
    January 31, 2017
    Current and foreseeable policies to mitigate carbon-dioxide (CO₂) emissions from global transport activity will not suffice to achieve the international community’s climate ambitions, according to a new study published by the International Transport Forum (ITF). Continued strong growth in demand for mobility means that even in the most optimistic scenario, transport CO₂ emissions in 2050 will still be at 2015 levels of around 7.5 giga-tonnes, according to projections published in the ITF Transport Outlook 2
    Read More

Highlighted Content