Edoardo Marcucci - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Edoardo Marcucci

Research in Transportation Economics, 2019

Many cities of different size and in different areas of the world have successfully tested the in... more Many cities of different size and in different areas of the world have successfully tested the introduction of offhour deliveries (OHD) on a voluntary basis, reporting positive effects, both on freight distribution efficiency and sustainability. However, those initiatives have not been implemented so far at a large scale. This paper investigates OHD potential in Rome, focusing on one of the most important barriers to its adoption, i.e. stakeholder acceptability. The study investigates stakeholders' preferences for different OHD configurations using both a qualitative approach, based on in-depth interviews, and a quantitative analysis, based on an interactive multiactor multi-criteria analysis. Results show that stakeholders prefer a solution where OHD are jointly implemented together with one or more urban consolidation centres. This preliminary analysis paves the way for further technical/economic evaluations needed for OHD implementation in Rome. Stakeholders' involvement is of outmost importance to understand their heterogeneous preferences and increase their awareness of urban freight transport problems, with the overall aim to foster behaviour change.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 1999

The theoretical evolution of academic beliefs and practical policymakers' perceptions of road pri... more The theoretical evolution of academic beliefs and practical policymakers' perceptions of road pricing (from now on rp) as an instrument of efficient and equitable allocation of resources are described and analyzed. The aim of the paper is to reconstruct the logical evolution of the theory behind rp in order to understand why there has been scarce policy impact in spite of a long theoretical tradition. In so doing I try to bring to the fore the fundamental issues that will have to be tackled by future research in order to generate consensus around this policy instrument. The paper is structured in four parts. In the first part the fundamental issues of a typical rp model are considered. Among the most important aspects one recalls: first-best/second-best environment, short/long term analysis, homogeneous/heterogeneous time evaluation, perfect/imperfect information, efficiency/equity analysis, use/non-use of resources generated, private/public transportation provision. In the second part the characterizing parameters have been interpreted in the light of the Smeed Report of 1964 that can be considered representative of the "old belief". In the third part the "present awareness" is expressed by the book Internalising the Social Costs of Transport of 1993 dealing with the problem of internalising the external costs of road transport. In the fourth part some reflections on the most promising research areas for rp implementation and acceptance are put forward. Specific research will have to be conducted concerning social acceptability and feasibility, simultaneous cost internalisation, behavioral assumptions and information and pricing interconnections.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 1999

Road pricing as a citizen-candidate game Lindsey, R. Recent developments and current policy issue... more Road pricing as a citizen-candidate game Lindsey, R. Recent developments and current policy issues in the US and Canada

Urban areas are vital centers of economic activity and innovation generating large economies of d... more Urban areas are vital centers of economic activity and innovation generating large economies of density and proximity. Yet, procuring and distributing goods in an urban context is fraught with difficulties because of infrastructure congestion, external costs, conflicting objectives among stakeholders, and asymmetric information. In order to improve the performance of the urban goods transport system many policies have been proposed, including goods vehicle time windows, vehicle-type restrictions, loading\unloading policies, fiscal policies, the promotion urban transhipment and consolidation centres. Unfortunately, not much is known concerning how these policies affect the existing distribution practices. It is quite likely that the impact is differentiated by type of product and distribution channel. The aim of this paper is to explore this issue. Drawing on the existing literature and on the empirical evidence from some Italian cities, the paper identifies and discusses the relatio...

SCIENZE REGIONALI

The paper illustrates a method to detect and estimate interaction effects in household decision-m... more The paper illustrates a method to detect and estimate interaction effects in household decision-making and tests the representative member hypothesis by studying how preferences of single members influence family choices. We performed a stated choice experiment concerning hypothetical choices among alternative residential locations. We found that the rankings of the attributes for the family and for each member were the same. The estimated coefficients for each member were statistically different from family ones, which demonstrates the fallacy of the representative member hypothesis. We estimated single members' relative power at the attribute level and extended a model developed in the literature to three-member groups.

SCIENZE REGIONALI

In the transport sector, as in other research fields, Stated Preferences (SP) methods are usually... more In the transport sector, as in other research fields, Stated Preferences (SP) methods are usually applied in the areas of preference evaluation, demand analysis and, despite certain conflicting opinions, forecasting. What are SP methods? Without attempting to be too precise, one might describe them as a set of techniques that use individual respondents' statements concerning their preferences (elicited via choice, rating, and ranking exercises) to estimate choice probabilities for different alternatives included in a given set. The ...

SCIENZE REGIONALI

City logistics require an understanding of a number of issues that are seldom accounted for in cu... more City logistics require an understanding of a number of issues that are seldom accounted for in current research. Policies may produce unsatisfactory results because behavioural and contextual aspects are not considered. Relevant data is crucial for forecasting the reactions of agents to policy changes. Despite recent methodological advances the development of appropriate survey instruments is still lacking to test policy acceptability. This paper expands and innovates the methodological literature by describing a stated ranking experiment to study freight agent interactive behaviour.

Nelle città europee il settore dei trasporti è l'unico il cui impatto continua a crescere, anzich... more Nelle città europee il settore dei trasporti è l'unico il cui impatto continua a crescere, anziché diminuire. Nel tentativo di rendere le città più vivibili, molte amministrazioni locali, tra cui quella romana, hanno imposto finestre temporali (FT) per l'accesso dei veicoli adibiti al trasporto merci nei centri storici. Tuttavia, in concomitanza con gli orari di apertura delle FT si vengono a creare orari di massima concentrazione del traffico con gravi effetti su ambiente, economia e società. Inoltre, spesso le imposizioni orarie vengono determinate dalle amministrazioni in assenza di un reale confronto con chi ne subisce gli effetti, alimentando il malcontento e il ricorso all'abusivismo che, di fatto, rendono inefficaci le politiche adottate. In alternativa, è possibile stimolare un passaggio volontario alle consegne fuori dai picchi orari (CFP) mediante il coinvolgimento e la sensibilizzazione degli attori direttamente o indirettamente interessati dagli effetti delle misure. Il paper valuta l'accettabilità di soluzioni di CFP nella città di Roma, adottando un approccio congiunto di raccolta dati basato su focus group, interviste in profondità e questionari somministrati ai commercianti. Lo studio evidenzia gli interventi politici necessari per facilitare l'adozione di tali pratiche.

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, 2000

The paper provides an evaluation of the external costs of noise generated by the different transp... more The paper provides an evaluation of the external costs of noise generated by the different transportation means in Umbria. Results are provided of an investigation that was conducted as part of the tasks assigned to the Technical Transport Plan of Umbria. The paper focuses on the specific characterizing aspects of the external cost of noise. The different methods of evaluating the external costs imposed by noise are described and the pros and cons comparatively evaluated. Data was produced on acoustic emissions for single vehicles, traffic flows, and abatement costs. An innovative cost allocation methodology is presented. Noise external unitary costs for Umbria are compared to the European Union ones.

This paper shows that, when modelling freight demand, taking into consideration attribute cutoffs... more This paper shows that, when modelling freight demand, taking into consideration attribute cutoffs is important and has relevant repercussions on the estimates of se coefficients. In this paper we focus on mode choice models for freight transport deman region in Italy. Specific reference is paid to furniture and metallurgic productive sec relevance for the region and their potential vocation for intermodal transport. Preferen done using choice based conjoint analysis. The study shows that there is a structural diffe two sectors and that they have heterogeneous preferences.

Although discrete choice models are intrinsically nonlinear, the majority of the empirical studie... more Although discrete choice models are intrinsically nonlinear, the majority of the empirical studies specify the utility function of the alternatives as linear in the observed attributes. This approach, however, is inconsistent with standard microeconomic theory. We made use of 7 nonlinear utility specifications and of a mixture of the random parameter and the error component models to verify if nonlinear approaches should be preferred to linear ones. On the bases of the results of our analysis we concluded that the linear specification of discrete choice models could produce biased estimates and that the model specification choice should be carefully tested on a case by case basis. 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Aziendali, Matematiche e Statistiche, P.le Europa, 1, 34127, Trieste, email: lucia.rotaris@econ.univ.trieste.it 2 Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Aziendali, Matematiche e Statistiche, P.le Europa, 1, 34127, Trieste, email: danielis@units.it 3 Dipartimento di Scienz...

The introduction of cordon charges in large European cities such as London and the pressing budge... more The introduction of cordon charges in large European cities such as London and the pressing budget constraints for infrastructure construction and maintenance (e.g., in Germany) have spurred a renewed interest in the issue of transport pricing. Recent special issues or collection of papers can be found in Schade and Schlag (2003), in Santos (2004), in Transport Policy vol. 15, issue 5 (2005) and vol. 13, issue 2 (2006) or in de Palma, Lindsey and Proost (forthcoming), inter alia. This special issue contains a selection papers presented at the 2 Kuhmo conference in July 2005, which was held in Kuhmo, Finland. What is the contribution of this issue to the on-going debate on road pricing? The papers can be subdivided into two categories: a) theoretical papers and b) policy and applied research papers. A striking characteristic of the literature on road pricing is that the degree of consensus among economist on its beneficial social effects seems to be inversely proportional to its acce...

Sustainability

Poor logistics efficiency, due to low load factors caused by high demand fragmentation, will have... more Poor logistics efficiency, due to low load factors caused by high demand fragmentation, will have relevant negative consequences for cities in terms of pollution, congestion and overall city liveability. Policy-makers should equip themselves with appropriate tools to perform reliable, comprehensive and timely analyses of urban logistics scenarios, also considering upcoming (i) technological changes, (ii) business model evolutions and (iii) spatial-temporal changes these innovations will produce. This paper discusses the Digital Twin (DT) concept, illustrating the role it might play and clarifying how to properly conceive it with respect to urban freight transport policy-making and planning. The main message is that without a sound theory and knowledge with respect to the relationships linking contextual reality and choice/behaviour, it is not possible to make sense of what happens in the real world. Therefore, the joint use of behavioural and simulation models should characterise a ...

ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The paper provides an evaluation of the Ecopass road pricing scheme for the years 2008, 2009 and ... more The paper provides an evaluation of the Ecopass road pricing scheme for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The term Ecopass conveys the stated political objective of the scheme: a PASS to improve the quality of the urban environment (ECO). The scheme has actually improved the air quality in Milan, although the recommended PM10 threshold is still exceeded for a larger number of days than that recommended by EU directives. This paper estimates the costs and benefits of the scheme three years after its implementation using the same methodology applied in Rotaris et al. (2010) for the year 2008. The results indicate that the benefits still exceed the costs, and by an increasing amount, but at an annual decreasing rate of improvement. The Ecopass scheme has proved beneficial, but it seems to have exhausted its potential: little further gains in air quality could be obtained via a fiscal incentive to improve the abatement technology of the vehicles. The new administration, elected in June 201...

Logistics

Surges in e-commerce sales represent a huge challenge for urban freight transport. Parcel lockers... more Surges in e-commerce sales represent a huge challenge for urban freight transport. Parcel lockers constitute a valid solution for addressing the challenges home deliveries imply. In fact, eliminating courier–consumer contact (also relevant for health-related issues, as made evident by the COVID-19 pandemic) and delivering in fewer predefined places might help coping mechanisms for missed deliveries substantially. Furthermore, this option enables consolidated shipping and reduced delivery trip costs. This paper analyses and compares consumer preferences for alternative collection strategies. It investigates home delivery vs. parcel locker use and forecasts their future market shares. This is performed based on both customer socio-economic variables and the attributes characterising these alternative logistic fulfilment strategies. The case study considered tests upon a stated preference survey deployed in the city of Rome. The investigation specifically targeted young people (i.e., p...

Sustainability

This paper aims at understanding and evaluating the environmental and economic impacts of a crowd... more This paper aims at understanding and evaluating the environmental and economic impacts of a crowdshipping platform in urban areas. The investigation refers to the city of Rome and considers an environmental-friendly crowdshipping based on the use of the mass transit network of the city, where customers/crowdshippers pick-up/drop-off goods in automated parcel lockers located either inside the transit stations or in their surroundings. Crowdshippers are passengers that would use the transit network anyhow for other activities (e.g., home-to-work), thus avoiding additional trips. The study requires firstly, estimating the willingness to buy a crowdshipping service like the one proposed here, in order to quantify the potential demand. The estimation is realized adopting an extensive stated preference survey and discrete choice modeling. Then, several scenarios with different features of the service are proposed and evaluated up to 2025 in terms of both externalities (local and global po...

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2017

This paper proposes a novel approach to support participatory decision-making processes in the co... more This paper proposes a novel approach to support participatory decision-making processes in the context of urban freight transport through the integration of discrete choice modeling and agent-based modeling. The methodology is based on an innovative multilayer network and opinion dynamics models and applied to the case study of Rome's limited traffic zone. Simulation results produce a ranking of plausible policies that maximize consensus building while minimizing utility losses due to the negotiation process. These results can be used to support real participatory decision-making processes on freight-related policies accounting both for stakeholders' heterogeneous preferences and their interaction effects.

Research in Transportation Economics, 2019

Many cities of different size and in different areas of the world have successfully tested the in... more Many cities of different size and in different areas of the world have successfully tested the introduction of offhour deliveries (OHD) on a voluntary basis, reporting positive effects, both on freight distribution efficiency and sustainability. However, those initiatives have not been implemented so far at a large scale. This paper investigates OHD potential in Rome, focusing on one of the most important barriers to its adoption, i.e. stakeholder acceptability. The study investigates stakeholders' preferences for different OHD configurations using both a qualitative approach, based on in-depth interviews, and a quantitative analysis, based on an interactive multiactor multi-criteria analysis. Results show that stakeholders prefer a solution where OHD are jointly implemented together with one or more urban consolidation centres. This preliminary analysis paves the way for further technical/economic evaluations needed for OHD implementation in Rome. Stakeholders' involvement is of outmost importance to understand their heterogeneous preferences and increase their awareness of urban freight transport problems, with the overall aim to foster behaviour change.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 1999

The theoretical evolution of academic beliefs and practical policymakers' perceptions of road pri... more The theoretical evolution of academic beliefs and practical policymakers' perceptions of road pricing (from now on rp) as an instrument of efficient and equitable allocation of resources are described and analyzed. The aim of the paper is to reconstruct the logical evolution of the theory behind rp in order to understand why there has been scarce policy impact in spite of a long theoretical tradition. In so doing I try to bring to the fore the fundamental issues that will have to be tackled by future research in order to generate consensus around this policy instrument. The paper is structured in four parts. In the first part the fundamental issues of a typical rp model are considered. Among the most important aspects one recalls: first-best/second-best environment, short/long term analysis, homogeneous/heterogeneous time evaluation, perfect/imperfect information, efficiency/equity analysis, use/non-use of resources generated, private/public transportation provision. In the second part the characterizing parameters have been interpreted in the light of the Smeed Report of 1964 that can be considered representative of the "old belief". In the third part the "present awareness" is expressed by the book Internalising the Social Costs of Transport of 1993 dealing with the problem of internalising the external costs of road transport. In the fourth part some reflections on the most promising research areas for rp implementation and acceptance are put forward. Specific research will have to be conducted concerning social acceptability and feasibility, simultaneous cost internalisation, behavioral assumptions and information and pricing interconnections.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 1999

Road pricing as a citizen-candidate game Lindsey, R. Recent developments and current policy issue... more Road pricing as a citizen-candidate game Lindsey, R. Recent developments and current policy issues in the US and Canada

Urban areas are vital centers of economic activity and innovation generating large economies of d... more Urban areas are vital centers of economic activity and innovation generating large economies of density and proximity. Yet, procuring and distributing goods in an urban context is fraught with difficulties because of infrastructure congestion, external costs, conflicting objectives among stakeholders, and asymmetric information. In order to improve the performance of the urban goods transport system many policies have been proposed, including goods vehicle time windows, vehicle-type restrictions, loading\unloading policies, fiscal policies, the promotion urban transhipment and consolidation centres. Unfortunately, not much is known concerning how these policies affect the existing distribution practices. It is quite likely that the impact is differentiated by type of product and distribution channel. The aim of this paper is to explore this issue. Drawing on the existing literature and on the empirical evidence from some Italian cities, the paper identifies and discusses the relatio...

SCIENZE REGIONALI

The paper illustrates a method to detect and estimate interaction effects in household decision-m... more The paper illustrates a method to detect and estimate interaction effects in household decision-making and tests the representative member hypothesis by studying how preferences of single members influence family choices. We performed a stated choice experiment concerning hypothetical choices among alternative residential locations. We found that the rankings of the attributes for the family and for each member were the same. The estimated coefficients for each member were statistically different from family ones, which demonstrates the fallacy of the representative member hypothesis. We estimated single members' relative power at the attribute level and extended a model developed in the literature to three-member groups.

SCIENZE REGIONALI

In the transport sector, as in other research fields, Stated Preferences (SP) methods are usually... more In the transport sector, as in other research fields, Stated Preferences (SP) methods are usually applied in the areas of preference evaluation, demand analysis and, despite certain conflicting opinions, forecasting. What are SP methods? Without attempting to be too precise, one might describe them as a set of techniques that use individual respondents' statements concerning their preferences (elicited via choice, rating, and ranking exercises) to estimate choice probabilities for different alternatives included in a given set. The ...

SCIENZE REGIONALI

City logistics require an understanding of a number of issues that are seldom accounted for in cu... more City logistics require an understanding of a number of issues that are seldom accounted for in current research. Policies may produce unsatisfactory results because behavioural and contextual aspects are not considered. Relevant data is crucial for forecasting the reactions of agents to policy changes. Despite recent methodological advances the development of appropriate survey instruments is still lacking to test policy acceptability. This paper expands and innovates the methodological literature by describing a stated ranking experiment to study freight agent interactive behaviour.

Nelle città europee il settore dei trasporti è l'unico il cui impatto continua a crescere, anzich... more Nelle città europee il settore dei trasporti è l'unico il cui impatto continua a crescere, anziché diminuire. Nel tentativo di rendere le città più vivibili, molte amministrazioni locali, tra cui quella romana, hanno imposto finestre temporali (FT) per l'accesso dei veicoli adibiti al trasporto merci nei centri storici. Tuttavia, in concomitanza con gli orari di apertura delle FT si vengono a creare orari di massima concentrazione del traffico con gravi effetti su ambiente, economia e società. Inoltre, spesso le imposizioni orarie vengono determinate dalle amministrazioni in assenza di un reale confronto con chi ne subisce gli effetti, alimentando il malcontento e il ricorso all'abusivismo che, di fatto, rendono inefficaci le politiche adottate. In alternativa, è possibile stimolare un passaggio volontario alle consegne fuori dai picchi orari (CFP) mediante il coinvolgimento e la sensibilizzazione degli attori direttamente o indirettamente interessati dagli effetti delle misure. Il paper valuta l'accettabilità di soluzioni di CFP nella città di Roma, adottando un approccio congiunto di raccolta dati basato su focus group, interviste in profondità e questionari somministrati ai commercianti. Lo studio evidenzia gli interventi politici necessari per facilitare l'adozione di tali pratiche.

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, 2000

The paper provides an evaluation of the external costs of noise generated by the different transp... more The paper provides an evaluation of the external costs of noise generated by the different transportation means in Umbria. Results are provided of an investigation that was conducted as part of the tasks assigned to the Technical Transport Plan of Umbria. The paper focuses on the specific characterizing aspects of the external cost of noise. The different methods of evaluating the external costs imposed by noise are described and the pros and cons comparatively evaluated. Data was produced on acoustic emissions for single vehicles, traffic flows, and abatement costs. An innovative cost allocation methodology is presented. Noise external unitary costs for Umbria are compared to the European Union ones.

This paper shows that, when modelling freight demand, taking into consideration attribute cutoffs... more This paper shows that, when modelling freight demand, taking into consideration attribute cutoffs is important and has relevant repercussions on the estimates of se coefficients. In this paper we focus on mode choice models for freight transport deman region in Italy. Specific reference is paid to furniture and metallurgic productive sec relevance for the region and their potential vocation for intermodal transport. Preferen done using choice based conjoint analysis. The study shows that there is a structural diffe two sectors and that they have heterogeneous preferences.

Although discrete choice models are intrinsically nonlinear, the majority of the empirical studie... more Although discrete choice models are intrinsically nonlinear, the majority of the empirical studies specify the utility function of the alternatives as linear in the observed attributes. This approach, however, is inconsistent with standard microeconomic theory. We made use of 7 nonlinear utility specifications and of a mixture of the random parameter and the error component models to verify if nonlinear approaches should be preferred to linear ones. On the bases of the results of our analysis we concluded that the linear specification of discrete choice models could produce biased estimates and that the model specification choice should be carefully tested on a case by case basis. 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Aziendali, Matematiche e Statistiche, P.le Europa, 1, 34127, Trieste, email: lucia.rotaris@econ.univ.trieste.it 2 Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Aziendali, Matematiche e Statistiche, P.le Europa, 1, 34127, Trieste, email: danielis@units.it 3 Dipartimento di Scienz...

The introduction of cordon charges in large European cities such as London and the pressing budge... more The introduction of cordon charges in large European cities such as London and the pressing budget constraints for infrastructure construction and maintenance (e.g., in Germany) have spurred a renewed interest in the issue of transport pricing. Recent special issues or collection of papers can be found in Schade and Schlag (2003), in Santos (2004), in Transport Policy vol. 15, issue 5 (2005) and vol. 13, issue 2 (2006) or in de Palma, Lindsey and Proost (forthcoming), inter alia. This special issue contains a selection papers presented at the 2 Kuhmo conference in July 2005, which was held in Kuhmo, Finland. What is the contribution of this issue to the on-going debate on road pricing? The papers can be subdivided into two categories: a) theoretical papers and b) policy and applied research papers. A striking characteristic of the literature on road pricing is that the degree of consensus among economist on its beneficial social effects seems to be inversely proportional to its acce...

Sustainability

Poor logistics efficiency, due to low load factors caused by high demand fragmentation, will have... more Poor logistics efficiency, due to low load factors caused by high demand fragmentation, will have relevant negative consequences for cities in terms of pollution, congestion and overall city liveability. Policy-makers should equip themselves with appropriate tools to perform reliable, comprehensive and timely analyses of urban logistics scenarios, also considering upcoming (i) technological changes, (ii) business model evolutions and (iii) spatial-temporal changes these innovations will produce. This paper discusses the Digital Twin (DT) concept, illustrating the role it might play and clarifying how to properly conceive it with respect to urban freight transport policy-making and planning. The main message is that without a sound theory and knowledge with respect to the relationships linking contextual reality and choice/behaviour, it is not possible to make sense of what happens in the real world. Therefore, the joint use of behavioural and simulation models should characterise a ...

ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The paper provides an evaluation of the Ecopass road pricing scheme for the years 2008, 2009 and ... more The paper provides an evaluation of the Ecopass road pricing scheme for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. The term Ecopass conveys the stated political objective of the scheme: a PASS to improve the quality of the urban environment (ECO). The scheme has actually improved the air quality in Milan, although the recommended PM10 threshold is still exceeded for a larger number of days than that recommended by EU directives. This paper estimates the costs and benefits of the scheme three years after its implementation using the same methodology applied in Rotaris et al. (2010) for the year 2008. The results indicate that the benefits still exceed the costs, and by an increasing amount, but at an annual decreasing rate of improvement. The Ecopass scheme has proved beneficial, but it seems to have exhausted its potential: little further gains in air quality could be obtained via a fiscal incentive to improve the abatement technology of the vehicles. The new administration, elected in June 201...

Logistics

Surges in e-commerce sales represent a huge challenge for urban freight transport. Parcel lockers... more Surges in e-commerce sales represent a huge challenge for urban freight transport. Parcel lockers constitute a valid solution for addressing the challenges home deliveries imply. In fact, eliminating courier–consumer contact (also relevant for health-related issues, as made evident by the COVID-19 pandemic) and delivering in fewer predefined places might help coping mechanisms for missed deliveries substantially. Furthermore, this option enables consolidated shipping and reduced delivery trip costs. This paper analyses and compares consumer preferences for alternative collection strategies. It investigates home delivery vs. parcel locker use and forecasts their future market shares. This is performed based on both customer socio-economic variables and the attributes characterising these alternative logistic fulfilment strategies. The case study considered tests upon a stated preference survey deployed in the city of Rome. The investigation specifically targeted young people (i.e., p...

Sustainability

This paper aims at understanding and evaluating the environmental and economic impacts of a crowd... more This paper aims at understanding and evaluating the environmental and economic impacts of a crowdshipping platform in urban areas. The investigation refers to the city of Rome and considers an environmental-friendly crowdshipping based on the use of the mass transit network of the city, where customers/crowdshippers pick-up/drop-off goods in automated parcel lockers located either inside the transit stations or in their surroundings. Crowdshippers are passengers that would use the transit network anyhow for other activities (e.g., home-to-work), thus avoiding additional trips. The study requires firstly, estimating the willingness to buy a crowdshipping service like the one proposed here, in order to quantify the potential demand. The estimation is realized adopting an extensive stated preference survey and discrete choice modeling. Then, several scenarios with different features of the service are proposed and evaluated up to 2025 in terms of both externalities (local and global po...

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2017

This paper proposes a novel approach to support participatory decision-making processes in the co... more This paper proposes a novel approach to support participatory decision-making processes in the context of urban freight transport through the integration of discrete choice modeling and agent-based modeling. The methodology is based on an innovative multilayer network and opinion dynamics models and applied to the case study of Rome's limited traffic zone. Simulation results produce a ranking of plausible policies that maximize consensus building while minimizing utility losses due to the negotiation process. These results can be used to support real participatory decision-making processes on freight-related policies accounting both for stakeholders' heterogeneous preferences and their interaction effects.