TY - JOUR
T1 - Freight trip generation in metropolitan areas
T2 - an international perspective
AU - Amaral, Julia
AU - Holguín-Veras, José
AU - Roorda, Matthew J.
AU - Reda, Abel Kebede
AU - Gardrat, Mathieu
AU - de Oliveria, Leise Kelli
AU - Goodrich, Elias S.
AU - Calderón, Oriana
AU - Gonzalez-Calderon, Carlos
AU - Le, Tho V.
AU - Gonzalez-Feliu, Jesus
AU - Ahmed, Usman
AU - Sanchez-Diaz, Ivan
AU - Sahu, Prasanta K.
AU - Sakai, Takanori
AU - Ismael, Abdelrahman
AU - Ramirez-Rios, Diana
AU - Capersen, Elise
AU - Moura, José Luis
AU - Dell'Olio, Luigi
AU - Delgado-Lindeman, Maira
AU - Ruesch, Martin
AU - Todesco, Paolo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2026/2
Y1 - 2026/2
N2 - Freight transportation is essential for urban life and economic growth, yet cities continue to face persistent challenges in managing its impacts. Estimating Freight Trip Generation (FTG)—the number of freight trips attracted or produced by establishments—provides a foundation for urban freight transportation planning, helping cities estimate freight-related travel demand and evaluate targeted initiatives. This paper presents the first international comparison of FTG patterns across metropolitan areas worldwide, addressing the lack of comparative FTG research and examining the transferability of FTG models across contexts. The study enables benchmarking of freight activity and identification of structural drivers such as urban form and economic composition. Establishment-level analyses show that establishment size and industry sector are consistent drivers of FTG, while aggregate results reveal that freight activity concentrates in urban cores and is dominated by the Accommodation and Food Services, Retail Trade, Wholesale Trade, and Manufacturing sectors. In addition, the paper introduces a conceptual framework highlighting the multifaceted drivers of FTG and provides practical recommendations for harmonized data collection practices, which are essential for advancing FTG research and strengthening the empirical basis for urban freight transportation planning.
AB - Freight transportation is essential for urban life and economic growth, yet cities continue to face persistent challenges in managing its impacts. Estimating Freight Trip Generation (FTG)—the number of freight trips attracted or produced by establishments—provides a foundation for urban freight transportation planning, helping cities estimate freight-related travel demand and evaluate targeted initiatives. This paper presents the first international comparison of FTG patterns across metropolitan areas worldwide, addressing the lack of comparative FTG research and examining the transferability of FTG models across contexts. The study enables benchmarking of freight activity and identification of structural drivers such as urban form and economic composition. Establishment-level analyses show that establishment size and industry sector are consistent drivers of FTG, while aggregate results reveal that freight activity concentrates in urban cores and is dominated by the Accommodation and Food Services, Retail Trade, Wholesale Trade, and Manufacturing sectors. In addition, the paper introduces a conceptual framework highlighting the multifaceted drivers of FTG and provides practical recommendations for harmonized data collection practices, which are essential for advancing FTG research and strengthening the empirical basis for urban freight transportation planning.
KW - Freight Modelling
KW - Freight Transportation
KW - Freight Trip Generation
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105026174866
U2 - 10.1016/j.tra.2025.104847
DO - 10.1016/j.tra.2025.104847
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105026174866
SN - 0965-8564
VL - 204
JO - Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
JF - Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
M1 - 104847
ER -