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I decisori politici e gli operatori del settore si stanno impegnando in nuovi progetti volti a minimizzare l’impatto ambientale del trasporto merci dell’ultimo miglio. A questo scopo potrebbe risultare funzionale l’evoluzione verso la modalità di spesa online (e-grocery) laddove, grazie a un servizio pianificato di consegna delle merci, riuscisse a ridurre il numero di viaggi e/o di veicoli circolanti e, di conseguenza, le esternalità negative legate al settore del trasporto merci urbano. Il “lockdown di primavera”, imposto tra marzo e maggio del 2020 per contrastare il diffondersi della pandemia da SARS-Covid19, ha avuto un impatto importante su qualità e quantità degli spostamenti, che sono calati drasticamente per via delle restrizioni governative agli spostamenti vigenti sui vari territori nazionali. In questo lavoro si intende dunque esplorare se e in che misura le famiglie italiane abbiano modificato, durante il periodo di lockdown, le proprie abitudini nell’effettuare la spesa, eventualmente preferendo la modalità online. Inoltre si cerca di capire anche se tale modifica del comportamento potrebbe prolungarsi al termine del periodo di restrizioni. A questo scopo TRElab ha somministrato online un questionario su scala nazionale a più di 600 rispondenti. I risultati dello studio mostrano non solo che il lockdown ha contribuito, spesso per mancanza di alternative, a spingere le famiglie italiane verso nuove modalità di acquisto e ricezione della spesa, con un conseguente incremento del flusso di richieste per il comparto dell’e-grocery, ma evidenziano una propensione all’utilizzo del canale di vendita virtuale per la spesa anche in un prossimo futuro

The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) has been identified as the privileged tool for addressing economic, social, and environmental issues in transport policy at the urban scale from a long-term strategic perspective. Indeed, urban policymakers intend adopting measures to cope with the negative externalities generated by transport. The focus is on reducing traffic flows (number and length) of motorized-trips and minimize their related impact. Among these measures, together with electric vehicles promotion, active travel (AT) – including walking and cycling – represents an interesting strategy. This is especially true as local public transport (LPT) is progressively less attractive, also due to overcrowding and lower service quality, since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. AT, moreover, creates the preconditions for a healthier life. Within this context, it is interesting to investigate to what extent SUMPs promote AT as a solution for achieving sustainable mobility (SM) at the urban scale. The paper analyses, by looking at SUMPs adopted in major Italian cities, the AT measures undertaken. The Italian case is of particular interest since its motorization rate is second only to Luxembourg in the whole European Union. Specifically, the paper exploits a multiple case-study comparative approach allowing to identify the correlation between main SUMP characteristics and AT-related initiatives. The main findings of the paper show that infrastructural AT projects play the lion role thus casting a shadow on the likely effectiveness of AT promotion. In fact, a comprehensive package approach (e.g. citizens engagement, land-use planning, gamification, data collection, etc.) for AT promotion is still lacking.

Despite the huge growth in online purchases, e-grocery (i.e. ordering grocery online) was still limited in scope in Italy so far. More recently, its growth has been substantial and 2020 witnessed a huge increase due to COVID-19-related mobility restrictions. In principle, e-grocery could reduce the number of shopping trips, yet an exponential increase in shipping and deliveries could have a negative impact on the environment. In order to explore the willingness to e-grocery, and delivery preferences (self-delivery, home delivered grocery or collected in a specific place) - and estimate their market shares - a stated preference survey was carried in Rome and Milan. Respondents were asked about their grocery shopping habits and to choose among different shopping and delivery options. Discrete choice modelling allows investigating preference heterogeneity and estimating willingness to pay measures. Main results indicate that respondents, characterised by distinct socio-economic, attitudinal, and geographical elements, react differently to attribute variations for alternative grocery shopping channels. Scenario simulations can help in defining successful business-strategies and possible solutions to external costs. Under this respect, results suggest that the best strategy to increase e-grocery shares in the two cities should be non-monetary, but rather aimed at expanding the product range available online.