Measuring the effects of an urban freight policy package defined via a collaborative governance model E. Marcucci a, c , V. Gatta a, * , M. Marciani b , P. Cossu b a Department of Political Science, Roma Tre University, Via Gabriello Chiabrera 199, 00145 Rome, Italy b FIT Consulting srl, Via Lavinio 15, Rome 00183, Italy c Molde University College, Britvegen 2, 6410 Molde, Norway article info Article history: Received 29 January 2016 Received in revised form 14 October 2016 Accepted 9 November 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Governance model Collaborative logistics City logistics Stakeholders engagement JEl classification: R41 R48 abstract In recent years the European Commission has increasingly focused its attention on the development of sustainable city logistics by promulgating legislation and formal directives. Despite the efforts made, reducing freight-related congestion and polluting emissions without penalising social and economic activities within cities is still a challenging issue. City logistics measures frequently fail mainly due to a lack of support and commitment from stakeholders. A participatory approach in freight transport planning represents a reasonable and valuable option. This paper describes the innovative governance model developed in the city of Turin in Italy that was based on a proactive and effective stakeholders' cooperation for achieving a resilient urban development. The added value of the paper also relates to the real-life assessment of the impacts the non-mandatory policy-mix implemented, based on a collaborative governance model, have on the environment and service delivery thus providing a realistic measure of the viability and effectiveness of the solution proposed. Its voluntary adoption, in fact, produces an increase in commercial vehicles’ speed and a substantial reduction in CO 2 emissions while also allowing logistic service providers to perform more deliveries. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The European Union (EU) is characterised by relevant conur- bations playing a central role for its economic development. The transport sector is responsible for around a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions (European Commission, 2015) and urban freight ac- counts for 25% of urban transport-related CO 2 emissions while 30%e50% of other transport-related pollutants (ALICE/ERTRAC, 2015). In recent years the EU has increasingly focused its atten- tion on the development of sustainable city logistics (CL) by promulgating legislation and formal directives. In 2011, the White Paper on Transport set the target of achieving essentially CO 2 -free CL by 2030 (European Commission, 2011). Subsequently, a staff- working document provided a helpful framework for urban mobility planning with a focus on urban logistics underlining the need for local policy makers’ involvement (European Commission, 2013). Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are promoted by the EU and represent a new tool for city planning aimed at satis- fying the mobility needs of people and businesses while improving life quality (Wefering, Rupprecht, Bührmann, & B€ ohler-Baedeker, 2014). EU directives and/or soft policies (e.g. non-binding exchange programmes) can hardly have a direct impact at a local level since they cannot account for relevant aspects characterising the transfer processes like, for instance, contexts, interests and opportunities of actors and institutions (Becker, 2015). Despite the efforts made, reducing freight-related congestion and polluting emissions without penalising social and economic activities within cities is still a challenging issue. City liveability and freight distribution efficiency cannot always be appropriately pursued via pure market competition. In fact, this is hard to put in place in a working environment characterised by many market failures suggesting the need for public intervention (Holguín-Veras, Wang, Browne, Hodge, & Wojtowicz, 2014). Urban freight policies are relatively inefficient (Dablanc, 2007). Local au- thorities, commonly, focus on regulatory and market-based * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: edoardo.marcucci@uniroma3.it (E. Marcucci), valerio.gatta@ uniroma3.it (V. Gatta), marciani@fitconsulting.it (M. Marciani), cossu@ fitconsulting.it (P. Cossu). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Transportation Economics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/retrec https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2017.09.001 0739-8859/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Research in Transportation Economics xxx (2017) 1e7 Please cite this article in press as: Marcucci, E., et al., Measuring the effects of an urban freight policy package defined via a collaborative governance model, Research in Transportation Economics (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2017.09.001