A public transport based crowdshipping concept: Results of a field test in Denmark

Increasing e-commerce and accompanying last mile delivery traffic challenges cities worldwide in terms of congestion, emissions, and road safety. This paper presents the main results of a full-scale field test of a public transport based crowdshipping concept aiming to address these challenges, by utilizing passenger flow to reduce the amount of delivery vehicles entering central city districts. The aim of this work was to assess adoption potential as well as the practical and conceptual aspects that may affect this.

The test took place in Denmark's capital region and northern Jutland over a two-month period, in which 28 automated parcel lockers (APLs) were placed at public transport stations/stops. Passengers were rewarded for bringing along empty test parcels on their trips, from APL to APL via an app developed for the purpose. Along with the app data, pre- and post-survey data was captured.

The practical viability of the concept was validated from a user perspective, with a high degree of post-measure acceptance. Regression results show that ease of interacting with the service affected acceptance of the tested concept, but not the intention to participate in a future realized concept. Perceived behavioural control was the most important predictor of intention, acceptance and behaviour during the trial. Our results highlight the relevancy of contextualizing and supplementing intention as a practice-based measure for adoption propensity.