Chennai: City logistics plans for sustainable freight transport in the offing

CHENNAI: The freight movement in the city will become sustainable and green as the City Logistics Plan (CLP) for the Chennai Metropolitan Area, which is being prepared by the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), will lay a roadmap for reducing trips as well as cutting emissions.

Once completed, the CLP will propose regulatory restrictions and the establishment of green zones and corridors apart from promoting e-vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from freight movement by 25 to 30 per cent.

Moreover, the plan will reduce the movement of light commercial vehicles (LCV) by 4,000 to 6,000 vehicle kilometers and decongest Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) and East Coast Road (ECR). Also, air parcels by Metro would reduce from 120 to 150 minutes of LCVs on urban roads by reducing travel time by 50 per cent.

The plan will also propose to streamline logistics movements in the Chennai Metropolitan Area through tracking, and tracing and by providing a logistics e-marketplace to encourage empty truck utilisation. Promoting rail parcel and evacuation strategies will reduce the movement of 500 to 700 freight vehicles in the core city per day.

The CLP will lay norms for the inclusion and consideration of freight infrastructure into the future land use plan to promote inclusive and sustainable city logistics in the city.

Meanwhile, the first meeting of the City Logistics Coordination Committee (CLCC), constituted under the Tamil Nadu State Logistics Policy, was held on May 6. The CUMTA member secretary I Jeyakumar and officials from various departments took part in the meeting.

“During the meeting, over 30 strategic interventions proposed under the CLP were discussed. These include measures aimed at managing and optimising the movement of over 300 million tonnes of cargo handled annually within the CMA. The solutions were focused on easing the truck entry and exit from ports, establishing new terminals for freight handling, the modal shift from road to rail and introduction of specialised services, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions by freight vehicles, and decongestion of city roads through efficient freight vehicle routing and digital interventions,” a CUMTA release said.

The committee has been established to provide strategic oversight and coordination for city-level logistics planning and implementation within the Chennai Metropolitan Area spread across 5,904 sq km. The CLP is being prepared in line with the vision of Tamil Nadu Logistics Policy and Integrated Logistics Plan 2023, Comprehensive Mobility Plan, and Third Master Plan Vision.