Cross River Partnership launch Micro Logistics Hub Trial in Wandsworth

Cross River Partnership (CRP) have launched a six-month micro logistics hub trial in the Southside Shopping Centre Car Park in the  London Borough of Wandsworth. This will run for six months, until February 2024.

Funded by Defra in partnership with Wandsworth Council, the trial is supporting low-emission last-mile deliveries across Wandsworth, Richmond upon Thames and Merton.

Micro logistics hubs are small, secure spaces that couriers and operators can use to receive, sort, and send deliveries in central locations, ideally by cargo bike or walking porters. The hub acts as a crucial step for consolidating deliveries, bulk-buying, and a place to sort deliveries, which can reduce the number of polluting vehicle trips and therefore congestion and vehicle emissions.

Parcels and packages will arrive at the hub inside a larger electric vehicle before being sorted into delivery routes and then delivered to local homes and businesses by e-cargo bikes .

This trial benefits from the lessons leant from a similar scheme in Pimlico, leading  to the expectation that it will deliver significant benefits in reduced levels of pollutants.

After four months of operations, the e-cargo bikes operating from the Pimlico hub travelled 9,377 km, which led to a total emissions reduction of 1,613kg of CO2, 6,388g of NOx, and 105g of PM2.5 when compared to petrol and diesel van deliveries.

Researchers at the University of Westminster used GPS data to compare routes taken by cargo bikes in London with routes that vans would have to take to deliver the same parcels. Results show that services provided by cargo bikes in London are 1.61 times faster than that performed by van, and over a year avoids the emission of over 14,500kg of CO2 and over 20kg of NOx.

CRP will transparently share key insights from this new micro logistics hub trial in Wandsworth every month and summarise their findings in a comprehensive report after the trial finishes.

Judi Gasser, Wandsworth’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said: ‘We are determined to clean up Wandsworth’s air and reduce carbon emissions, so we are delighted to be part of this trial.

‘We know that deliveries contribute to air pollution and we already work with local businesses to help them find cleaner solutions. Our new Air Quality Action Plan sets ambitious targets to clean up the air, improve people’s health and tackle climate change. The Micro Logistics Hub will enable more businesses to switch to low emission last-mile deliveries and help us meet these targets.’