This article focuses on the role of Urban Freight Transport (UFT) projects in improving the life quality of city inhabitants. The main focus of the deliberations is the aspect of UFT projects’ durability. The authors take an original approach to the definition of UFT project durability and also provide the results of a research study carried out in 2018. This made it possible to furnish an answer to the research questions that boiled down to the analysis of the current status of the relevant academic literature, to attempt to define the total durability of a UFT project, and to indicate the critical gaps in perception among the key stakeholders of the projects. In this study, particular attention is paid to the terminological synthesis and the conclusion resulting from adopting induction and deduction as the methods of solving research study problems. A novelty is the approach adopted in the project evaluation emphasising the mentioned durability aspect as one of the major success factors. This is particularly important for implementation of a Freight Quality Partnership as a solution enabling development of sustainable systems of urban logistics. The solution was treated as a specific implementation project for which the issue of key importance is the identification of success factors in the context of satisfying the needs of diverse groups of UFT stakeholders. It should be stressed that durability of projects in the area of UFT is critically important, even though there is a significant conceptual gap in that regard. The research study involved the originally developed concept of the Pyramid of Stakeholders Survey. By means of this concept, FQP durability was analysed on the example of the experience gained in the course of the solution functioning in Szczecin.

In this article, the authors assumed that the “iGeneration” is the leading driving force for the SMART orientation of modern cities. Dynamic and multidirectional technical and technological processes introduce a new level of changes in urban space, adapting it to the present and future requirements of its inhabitants in a sustainable manner. An important infrastructure element of the urban space is the crosswalk, being an inseparable element of everyday life in the city. As part of a clear emphasis on the issue of vulnerable road users’ protection, the aim of the article is to examine the perception of users regarding crosswalks in Poland, based on the example of Szczecin. The main aim of the article is to identify the dimensions of crosswalk perception. The specific objectives include the determination of the state of knowledge about the essence and typology of crosswalks and the identification of good practices in their designation. Literature analysis, questionnaire research, and a case study were used. In the adopted research methodology, the use of the questionnaire made it possible to identify key intersections (Five Stars), each different in their form, and to learn about the perception dimensions of this element of urban space. In the context of the Smart City concept implementation, the perception of crosswalks by young city residents, i.e., the “iGeneration”, was examined. The obtained results allowed to perform a systematic analysis that focuses on individual behavioral aspects and subjectivism of the assessment of crosswalks in comparison with the commonly dominant architectural, engineering, and legal perspectives. The research allowed to assess the topology of intersections as well as the indication of safety improvement recommendation lists, taking into account intergenerational optics.

Despite the commonly observed trend towards mechanization and automation of operational processes, the potential benefits of wooden pallets as an essential element of the infrastructure of logistic processes are often overlooked in considerations related to sustainable development. Aspects that are mentioned more often include the very idea of the economy itself (circular economy), characteristics of logistics (green), features of the supply chain itself (sustainable) or expectations towards transport (ecological). The authors believe that the idea of total cost of ownership (TCO) in relation to wooden pallets can be a key component of holistic thinking in terms of sustainable development. In a situation where in relation to logistics, reasonable expectations for developing sustainable supply chains are made, paying attention to such a common logistic facility, namely a cargo pallet, which is given so little attention in research, is, in the opinion of the authors, absolutely justified. Therefore, the article presents an original approach to the problem of aggregation of all costs that cargo pallets generate in their operational life cycle, using the total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis methodology. The main goal of the article, however, is to show that the total cost of ownership of a pallet (not only owning it) can become an effective tool used to significantly reduce the costs of logistic activity of enterprises (as well as whole supply chains) and support the idea of sustainable development in practice. Using the primary data from questionnaire research, the focus was on considerations that were of identification character (cognitive and explanatory considerations), which are typical for basic research that aims to explain given phenomena. Thus, the presented cognitive process covers two main areas, namely: the general theory of sustainable development and the specificity of wooden pallets as carriers used in goods trading in terms of their total costs of ownership.

The main idea of this article is to identify the benefits of the full vehicle substitution process for a fully sustainable Urban Freight Transport (UFT) in economic, social, and environmental terms, based on the application of the experimental method. The scientific assumption was made that Electric Delivery Vehicles (EFV) can be complementary in the first stage, and only in the next stage, substitutable to the traditional diesel-powered fleet servicing transport (courier) tasks within the delivery limits in the Szczecin Agglomeration. To assess the level of substitutability, observational instruments were used, while ensuring an active modification of the studied phenomenon (introduction to the operation of selected routes of electric vehicles). The focus was on three key elements, the environment, rules, and regularities. The article presents the architecture of such experiments regarding 22 selected routes, which allowed for the calculation of selected performance indicators for ex-ante evaluation in planning delivery scenarios. The results were verified using a simulation-based approach in the Szczecin Metropolitan Area. As a result, it made it possible to find answers to the research questions posed, in particular: is it possible to fully replace combustion-engine vans with electric ones, and what integrated benefits can be identified, and their systematics has been illustrated in the proposed proprietary model “Electromobility Octagon Profit”. Future research could extend the theoretical knowledge by further exploring the development processes for the use of electric vehicles in the urban freight transport system and by adding insights from other contexts, stakeholders, and theoretical areas.