ABSTRACT
The past preoccupation with modelling commercial vehicle movements within the traditional transport study framework has provided little information on either the purpose of urban goods movement or on the conditions under which goods move. An understanding of the urban goods process depends on an appreciation of the role conflicts between a large numbers of actors involved in making a large number of decisions. The chapter understands the urban goods movement process before outlining a planning approach and examining policy options and their likelihood of attainment. Interest in examining linkages is centred on the network of connections for moving goods between the shipper and ultimate consumer. Any analysis of the urban goods movement process must try to quantify these linkages in terms of the thinness and thickness of the strands. In examining general freight it is helpful to follow R.H.T. Smith and A.M. Hay and recognise two distinctive components of the urban goods movement process: consolidation and distribution.
