Air quality is a major concern for cities and towns. Here in Barcelona, thousands of delivery trucks and motorcycles far past their prime crisscross the streets, arming stores and catering venues with goods. In 2020, Barcelona introduced its Low Emission Zone to reduce the adverse effects of vehicle emissions on the health of Barcelona residents. It is a move in the right direction but more has to happen to ensure air quality.

Introducing VanOnGo

Founded in August 2019, we had the privilege of meeting the company’s founders at the EU-Startups Summit in Barcelona April 2023 by kind invitation from organizer Thomas Ohr. Since part of what we do involves international freight and local distribution with resulting carbon footprint and emissions, learning what VanOnGo is about peaked our interest.

In an article released last Monday, the company addresses some of the issues we have been considering over here regarding local distribution. We, however, want to go even further. To give you an example, FHRONE is located at Bassa Rodona, Sitges, just across from Hotel Subur and Sitges Sports Bar. Constant delivery truck- and motorcycle traffic forces us to close our windows from 08:00 – 18:00 because of excessive pollution and noise, something that should be a thing of the past given the advances in electric alternatives. It raises two questions:

  1. Why do major brands (e.g. Coca-Cola, Heineken, Schweppe’s, Estrella, UPS and FedEx) still use outdated, noisy and highly polluting delivery trucks?
  2. Why do emerging personal delivery firms such as Resto-In, Just Eat, Deliverum, Glovo and Uber Eats build their business on outdated, noisy and highly polluting motorcycles instead of electric alternatives?

VanOnGo addresses the former scenario (the latter case is a different business case altogether as it requires pick-up from supermarkets or restaurants, but added here as a contributing factor to poor air quality and excessive noise) but can have even greater impact through participation from local communities and major brands which is where we see a major opportunity for everyone concerned.

‘Vehicle Selection and Load Efficiency is a critical aspect of modern logistics management. The advanced logistics software employs a comprehensive analysis of various parameters, including package dimensions, weight, and delivery schedules, to precisely determine the most suitable vehicles for each specific delivery.’

Now add one additional variable – vehicle type – and the opportunity to reduce air and noise pollution becomes apparent.

A united drive toward improved air quality

The Barcelona Low Emission Zone is a step in the right direction but barely puts a dent in air- and noise pollution, especially not in smaller communities like Sitges. The drive has to come from the brands and their customers, who together can completely transform present situation. There are 4 steps involved in making this happen (and we use Sitges as an example of how it could be executed as a test case):

  1. Delivery trucks traveling from port of entry (Port de Barcelona, Barcelona Airport) stop at a designated location (e.g. near Avinguda del Carní Pla which is a commercial center) where goods are offloaded to electric vehicles for distribution within Sitges. This immediately cuts down air and noise pollution within the city center.
  2. A zero-emission zone is defined within the city center framed by the streets Avinguda d’e ‘Artur Carbonell to the north, Avinguda Sofia to the west and Carrer the Rafael Llopart to the east. Residents are exempt although various incentives can be deployed to encourage switching from fossil to electricity.
  3. Charging stations are placed near commercial clusters and are free to use during the initial test period (1 – 2 years). This requires an agreement between local authorities and energy companies and is a considerable investment aimed at future gains – greater air quality and less noise pollution raises property prices; conversions to EVs increase electricity company revenues.
  4. Participating brands become part of a major transformation aimed at reducing CO2 emissions with verifiable results. An investment and commitment is required to finance the infrastructural changes necessary (offloading center, charging stations), but doing so will appeal to the target generation which is very concerned about the climate issue. This is leadership at its best.

To wrap this up, the local police uses electric motorcycles which neither pollute nor create noise. It sets an example major and emerging brands should follow.