Kerbside access management for freight deliveries. Conflicts, tools and implementations

Doctoral thesis, 2025

The rapid growth of urban populations, advancements in transport technologies, and the rise of e-commerce have intensified competition for kerbside space. With demand increasing but space supply remaining fixed, access management has entailed user prioritisation and solutions to address conflicts over kerbside use by balancing supply and demand of space. In existing frameworks guiding decisions in access management, a marked bias towards specific groups of actors leads to overlooking the needs of others, with freight transport commonly excluded.

This thesis examines conflicts related to kerbside access faced by freight transport operators during last-mile deliveries, and it contributes to the development of data-driven interventions for balancing kerbside supply and demand. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research integrates qualitative and quantitative analyses utilising empirical data from London (UK) and Vic (Spain) and drawing insights from kerbside interventions worldwide.

This research advances understanding of loose couplings in kerbside access management and introduces a framework linking space-sharing conflicts to health, economic, social, and environmental implications. To address these conflicts, this research develops tools for managing kerbside space for freight transport, with an emphasis on the role of data analytics in access decisions and in estimating impacts related to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11–sustainable cities and communities. It also informs urban freight policies by identifying patterns which support the institutionalisation of kerbside interventions beyond pilot phases.

Finally, this thesis provides recommendations for integrating freight transport considerations into kerbside access management. It encourages future research on analytical models to distribute space and on priorities in kerbside access which take freight access needs into account.