CRAFTTRANS - Innovating for more efficient and sustainable transportation among Norwegian craftsmen

The focus for the project is investigation of new technological innovation that can improve urban transport. This includes, first, electric utility vehicles (EUVs). The second research area is mobile management applications (MMAs), i.e. smartphone-based applications that help companies and drivers to develop more efficient travel patterns. Volume of transport: According to an analysis conducted in the project, craftsmen transport constitutes 11% of all the vehicles passing through toll gates in Oslo on an average working day, 15% in Bergen and 5% in Trondheim. Survey of EUV users: A survey of managers in craft and service enterprises in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger indicates that there is currently a limited number of EV/EUVs users among these enterprises. Only 5% owning or having access to an EV/ EUV on a daily basis. Looking two years ahead, about one in four of today?s non-users say that it is likely, or very likely, their company will adopt EV/EUVs. In-depth study of EUV users: Qualitative interviews with EUV users in the C&S sector suggests significant variation among C&S industries in their motives for adopting EUVs. The smaller, traditional craft enterprises are driven mainly by economic benefits, particularly in relation to cheaper fuels and tax reduction. For enterprises in the service sector environmental benefits are more important. Economic benefits are important when decisions are being made to adopt EUVs, as are issues in relation to organizational identity and image, this most clearly spelt out by craft managers. Battery capacity is a major challenge, particularly for traditional craft businesses. In general, crafts enterprises have more ad hoc oriented travel patterns than service enterprises, which means that limited battery capacity can be problematic, particularly if the company caters for customers located over a wide geographic area. In-depth studies of MMA-users: Handyman (HM) is a central supplier of MMA for C&S workers. The major motive behind adoption of HM is in relation to potential increased efficiency of billing and registration of man-hours, i.e. by a reduction in the amount of paperwork for both manager and craftsman. Another important reason in most companies was that HM made the management and distribution of assignments/jobs from office to craftsmen easier. Most companies believed HM would reduce the amount of driving among craftsmen owing to new opportunities for direct re-assignment of work tasks. Still, trying to measure reduced travel resulting from use of HM was difficult. Travel pattern analysis: The Crafttrans analysed data logs of the transport activity of seven crafts & service companies in order to get a better understanding of daily travel patterns. In general, vehicles covering less than 51 km per day are readily replaced, and in most cases also those in the range 51?80 km. In the case of vehicles driven 80?120 km, there is potential for vans being replaced on the basis of driving style, temperature, cargo, etc., but at over 120 km replacement is not possible without a charging stop during the day. Therefore, with a limit of 80 km driving on the maximum day of travel, 41% of vehicles can be replaced but only 13% of the transport work. New technology increasing range of EUVs by 50%, or users charging-up during the day, could increase the number of vehicles replaceable to 64% and transport work by EUVs to 41% of C&S enterprises? total transport work, resulting in 41% reduction of emissions. Outlooks and measures: All in all, the situation is promising for further growth in use, although a faster transition will require initiatives and continued efforts along several dimensions. A number of preconditions need to be pursued to sustain and improve the transition process: There is need for new EUV models that cater better for the needs of craftsmen; the incentive system for purchase and use of EUVs needs to be continued and further developed, and the current restrictions on ICE vans in urban areas need to be strengthened. On a micro level, continued niche experimentation among C&S enterprises. Use of more diverse set of technologies involving not only alternative energy systems but also ICT-based mobile management applications should be further integrated to develop smarter and greener mobility solutions for these enterprises. Thus, systems for low energy mobility among professional users should be integrated with new ideas for smart urban mobility involving systems that can help manage mobility resources more efficiently.

Mobility generated by economic activity has primarily been analyzed in terms of goods transportation and, for person travel, commuting trips. However, a large and growing share of the labor force has work tasks that require physical movement from one plac e to another and/or temporary activity outside of a fixed workplace. In a transportation perspective, craftsmen is a particularly interesting group of mobile workers since their tasks require carrying tools, materials, and other equipment necessitating ca r transportation. Unlike white collar professionals, craftsmen hardly have alternatives to the car. Although this group can be assumed to generate a significant number of trips, it has to a great extent been neglected among transportation researchers and policy makers. The ambition of the CRAFTTRANS project is to generate new knowledge about everyday transportation within this large group of professionals, and to analyze the potential for a large scale transition towards a more sustainable and efficient mobility system within this industry. Based on a socio-technical theoretical framework, the conditions for a large transformation are discussed with a particular focus on the potential impact of mobility management systems (MMA) and new electric vans (EV) suited for craftsmen. The project consist of five integrated work packages that; review relevant literature(wp1); estimate volumes of craftsmen travels(wp2); survey managers attitudes and motives(wp3); conduct longitudinal case studies of craft enterpr ises implementing MMA and EV (wp4),and; conduct an integrated analysis of potential benefits related to these technologies, the conditions for a large scale transitions of craftsmen transportation, and policy measures necessary to enhance and stimulate th is development(wp5). The project will serve to expand existing knowledge and create a basis for enterprises and transport planners to move towards more efficient and sustainable blue-collar transport.