Chapter 18: Modeling Behavioral Aspects of Urban Freight Movements

The chapter presents the main behavioral aspects of urban goods movements and the approach to modeling them. The movements in question are generated by the restocking and purchasing decisions of retailers and end-consumers in the urban context.

The literature on recent shopping trends, such as e-commerce, is analyzed within the consolidated framework of a topological–behavioral model.

In analyzing push-and-pull movements in the delivery phase generated by the end-consumer and retailer, it is shown that the delivery phase can have other decision makers than those in the transaction phase.

A general model system to structure and interconnect all the choices, with relative decisions, is presented in the form of a wide-meshed grid in which researchers and practitioners may introduce specific models presented elsewhere, or calibrated ad hoc in a real urban context. The system considers the four main vehicle movements: push and pull, generated by end-consumers, and retailers. It also considers a commodity model where the quantity choice model is discussed with its relative implications in the main decisional level for each decision maker.