GRETA – Greening Regional Freight Transport in Functional Urban Areas

About project

The share of e-commerce in total trade is constantly increasing, and with it the need to transport goods. This puts a strain on our cities, causing increased emissions, congestion and noise. The GRETA project focuses on decarbonising the last mile of freight transport, by piloting the use of zero-emission vehicles such as cargo bikes. The project partners are reorganising urban spaces to make them more efficient for freight delivery. They are also working to develop new curbside zone management strategies in the city that will reduce the number of delivery vehicles on the road. GRETA is a solution for a more sustainable future. By reducing emissions and transport congestion, we can make our cities cleaner, quieter and friendlier.

How will GRETA achieve its objective?

Analysis of freight transport needs in urban functional areas

The GRETA project analyses the needs and challenges of goods supply in urban functional areas. This is done by reviewing previous projects, updating results and data and conducting new research. The aim of the project is to improve the knowledge and competence of partners and target stakeholder groups in sustainable freight transport and logistics.

Piloting sustainable urban freight transport solutions

The GRETA project will implement pilot solutions for sustainable urban freight transport in five urban functional areas. This is done by testing new technologies, practices and policies. The aim is to develop and implement solutions that can be used by other cities. The pilot activities focus on the use of zero-emission vehicles, optimisation of delivery routes, the use of shared spaces and the development of new strategies for managing the city’s curbside zone.

Supporting a shift to clean urban transport

The GRETA project supports the policy transformation towards clean urban transport by stimulating a wider use of the GRETA project results using sectoral innovations and action plans and taking into account synergies with ongoing projects and the use of macro-regional strategies and the development of the GRETA project transfer platform. The project aims to create a more favourable environment for the implementation of sustainable freight transport solutions in urban functional areas.

Pilot actions

The GRETA project is testing sustainable freight transport solutions in five urban functional areas: Maribor (SI), Reggio Emilia and Verona (IT), Poznan (PL) and Budapest (HU). The solutions will be located within the functional areas, use zero-emission vehicles and cargo bikes, and reorganise urban space through the use of urban curbside zone management.

Project partners:

• Institute for Transport and Logistics Foundation, Italy (project leader)
• City of Reggio Emilia, Italy
• University of Maribor, Slovenia
• Municipality of Maribor, Slovenia
• Łukasiewicz – Poznań Institute of Technology (Poland)
• City of Poznań, Poland
• ZAILOG SCARL, Italy
• BKK Centre for Budapest Transport, Hungary
• Central European Initiative – Executive Secretariat, Italy
• European Network of Logistics Competence Centres, Belgium
• Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau, Germany

Official project website: https://www.interreg-central.eu/projects/greta/