Performance evaluation of swedish urban freight transport with an actor’s perspective

Abstract: Problem definition Freight transports are necessary to supply urban areas with goods. The complexity of urban freight transports is affected by growing cities that increases the demand for goods and the competition of city space, globalization which is altering the extent and complexity of supply chains, and technology innovations which have introduced new data collection methods. Policy makers of Swedish urban freight transport have to address the increased complexity, as well as account for increased demand for environmental sustainability. Purpose To analyse urban freight transport with the purpose to investigate how performance indicators can be used to attain long-lasting effects on policy measures that aligns with strategies for sustainable urban freight transport. Methodology This thesis aims to be descriptive and explanatory. First the thesis will investigate the context of urban freight transport, then the thesis will attempt to establish the linkages between the measures to satisfy the objectives of urban freight transport and performance measurement. The research approach of this thesis primarily is inductive, since the thesis aims to describe the context of data collection and performance measurement in urban freight transport. Additionally an abductive reasoning have been applied, with a set of observations from workshops, interviews and theoretical frameworks. Conclusion It was recognized that liveability, environmental sustainability, and mobility factors are emphasised by logistics experts in their visions for Swedish urban freight transport. The key stakeholders were identified to have distinctive success factors, the most important ones being reliability, accessibility, and environmental sustainability. Also, the most influential conflicts of Swedish urban freight transport are between: (1) Reliability and Environmental sustainability factors, and (2) Safety and Accessibility factors.