Resumo Novas formas de operação na distribuição de carga urbana podem levar a melhorias na eficiência das entregas de última milha, além de reduzir seu custo e seus impactos socioambientais. Entretanto, a viabilidade financeira dessas novas formas de operação pode ainda ser questionável por causa dos altos investimentos necessários e do elevado custo de mão de obra, especialmente em países em desenvolvimento. Portanto, este trabalho tem o objetivo de avaliar como essas novas modalidades podem ser adotadas no contexto de países em desenvolvimento, mais especificamente no Brasil, identificando os principais desafios, os benefícios e o impacto dessas práticas para as cidades, as quais, muitas vezes, já sofrem com outros problemas de infraestrutura de transportes.

In the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an urban mobility plan was implemented between 2011 and 2016 due to 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. This study aimed to evaluate the environmental benefits achieved by this urban mobility plan by comparing two periods: 2013 (before the megaevents) and 2017 (after the megaevents). Energy consumption and emissions from buses were estimated, and regulated pollutants (O3, CO, PM10, and PM2.5) were monitored. According to the calculations, NOx was the most emitted pollutant (60%). A 25% reduction levels for all pollutants was observed in 2017 compared to 2013. The reorganization of traffic shortened the bus routes, resulting in less fuel consumption (8%) and emissions. The annual mean concentrations of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, and CO) also decreased, thereby improving air quality. However, the levels of O3 increased, possibly owing to the reduction of NOx levels.

As society has experiences new modes of mobility in recent years, cities have planned to increase their energy efficiency as a way of reducing environmental impacts and promoting economic development. However, governments face difficulties in establishing mechanisms to determine the best actions in the management of urban mobility regarding energy efficiency and to elaborate a ranking of cities based on energy efficiency in order to better allocate resources. This is due to the complex nature of obtaining a wide range of activity and energy data from a single municipality, especially in data-scarce regions. This paper develops and applies a model for estimating the energy efficiency of urban mobility that is applicable to different contexts and backgrounds. The main contribution of the article is the use of a multitier approach to compare and adjust outputs, considering different transport configurations and data sets. The results indicate that variations in vehicle occupancy and individual motorized transport rates have a significant impact on energy efficiency, which reached 0.70 passenger-kilometers/MJ in Sorocaba, Brazil. However, as the use of electric vehicles increases in this city, this scenario is expected to change. Additionally, the method has been proven to be an important mechanism for benchmarking purposes and for the decision-making process for transport investments.

Background: Recent studies evidence a lack of accurate methods to estimate energy efficiency in urban areas. This is due to the complex nature of obtaining wide range of activity and energy data from a single municipality, especially from developing countries, where data is usually scarce. Under these circumstances, this paper develops a method for estimating the energy efficiency in urban passenger mobility, considering three different levels of detail. The innovative factor is the use of a multi-tier approach to compare and adjust outputs. The method was applied in Sorocaba, Brazil, estimating a baseline of energy efficiency in this city. Results: Results show that energy efficiency varied from 0.67 passenger per kilometer/Mega Joule in 2013 to 0.70 passenger per kilometer /Mega Joule in 2017, which are consistent with the Brazilian passenger transport energy efficiency. Conclusions: The method proved to be an important mechanism for benchmarking purposes and for the decision-making process on transport investments. Moreover, it can be applied in cities from countries with different cultural and economic contexts.

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