Practical information
Description
Timeline
Stakeholders
Strengths and offer
Urban logistics
Positive impacts
Needs
Logistical challenges
Practical information
What?
Nijmegen is a pioneering Dutch city in urban logistics. The case combines a Zero Emission Zone for logistics with an urban freight hub operated by Binnenstadservice. The principle is to receive goods outside the city centre, consolidate them, then redistribute them to shops and other city-centre recipients using smaller, zero-emission vehicles.
Who?
The City of Nijmegen, Binnenstadservice Nijmegen, city-centre shopkeepers, carriers and zero-emission delivery operators. The Binnenstadservice model was born in Nijmegen, driven by Birgit Hendriks and Max Prudon.
Where?
Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
When?
Binnenstadservice was launched in Nijmegen in 2008.
The logistics Zero Emission Zone entered into force on 1 January 2025.
Contact
nijmegen@binnenstadservice.nl
Resources
Binnenstadservice website; ZEZ regulation; De Gelderlander article on Birgit Hendriks; case studies on Binnenstadservice.
Description
The Nijmegen model is based on a simple idea: avoiding each carrier entering the city centre separately to deliver small volumes. Goods destined for the centre are first dropped off at a hub located on the edge of the city or outside the hypercentre, then grouped and redistributed more efficiently to shopkeepers and other recipients.
Binnenstadservice therefore acts as a consolidation point. It reduces the number of direct deliveries into the city centre, limits the entry of heavy trucks for small parcels or a few boxes, and enables a cleaner last mile that is better adapted to the dense urban fabric.
Since the logistics Zero Emission Zone came into force, this type of hub has become even more strategic. It is no longer only a practical service: it is also an infrastructure that makes the regulatory transition more workable for shopkeepers and carriers who have not yet electrified their entire fleet.
Timeline
2008
Launch of Binnenstadservice in Nijmegen.
2018
The project is almost ten years old and already serves as a reference for other cities.
1 January 2025
Entry into force of the logistics Zero Emission Zone in Nijmegen.
Today
The Binnenstadservice model also exists in Rotterdam and Maastricht.
Stakeholders
The City of Nijmegen, which sets the regulatory framework, notably the Zero Emission Zone, and connects mobility policy with urban logistics.
Binnenstadservice Nijmegen, as the operator of the hub, consolidation and redistribution towards the city centre.
City-centre shopkeepers, who receive their goods through a more mutualised system.
Carriers, who can drop goods at the hub instead of entering the centre directly.
Zero-emission delivery operators, who handle final redistribution with adapted vehicles.
Birgit Hendriks and Max Prudon, associated with the creation of the Binnenstadservice model in Nijmegen.
Strengths and offer
Consolidation hub for goods destined for the city centre.
Zero-emission or low-emission redistribution using smaller vehicles better adapted to the urban centre.
Single entry point for certain flows destined for shopkeepers.
Reduction of heavy traffic in the city centre.
Mutualisation of flows and reduction of redundant trips.
Strong compatibility with zero-emission policies.
Concrete solution for shopkeepers and carriers that have not yet electrified their whole fleet.
A model robust enough to be reproduced in several Dutch cities.
Evolution from a simple physical cross-dock into a more complete system also integrating information flows and complementary services for shopkeepers.
Urban logistics
How does it work?
Goods destined for the city centre are first received at the hub, located outside the hypercentre. They are grouped, sorted and prepared for finer redistribution. Instead of several trucks or vans entering the centre separately to deliver small volumes, flows are consolidated and then delivered with smaller vehicles, now compatible with zero-emission requirements.
Why is it interesting?
Because the Nijmegen case shows that the transition towards cleaner urban logistics does not rely only on banning polluting vehicles. It also requires infrastructure that allows economic actors to adapt. The Zero Emission Zone creates a constraint, while the hub offers an operational solution to mutualise the last mile, reduce redundant trips and make the city centre accessible without saturating it.
Which obstacles does it respond to?
City-centre congestion, multiplication of trucks and vans, fragmented deliveries, lack of space for loading, unloading or storage in the hypercentre, the cost of transition for small shopkeepers and carriers, and the need for a credible system to make the Zero Emission Zone economically workable.
Identified nodes / obstacles
Transport; temporary storage; costs; regulation; time; mutualisation of the last mile; shopkeeper adoption; carrier adoption; articulation between public interest, commercial model and environmental requirements.
Positive impacts
Environment — cleaner air and reduced emissions in the city centre thanks to the combination of the Zero Emission Zone, flow consolidation and redistribution by adapted vehicles.
Space — fewer heavy trucks in central streets, less noise, fewer loading and unloading conflicts, and potential reduction in congestion.
Neighbourhood — a calmer city centre, better organised deliveries and improved coexistence between commercial activities, residents, visitors and logistics.
Social relations — indirect social effect: fewer conflicts of use between residents, shopkeepers, carriers and users of public space.