- Q: What is your current research topic?
↓
-
There are three main themes.
1. Urban Freight Traffic Simulation
We are creating a simulator that recreates a city on a computer and reproduces the movement of goods and vehicles within it. For example, transportation times and delivery volumes differ between the city center and the suburbs. We develop a model that realistically reproduces such environmental differences and use it in the simulator. Using such a simulator, we can analyze various policies related to urban freight.
2. Research on logistics and land use
With the spread of e-commerce, logistics is becoming increasingly on-demand, and in addition to traditional logistics facilities (warehouses) for storing inventory, huge logistics facilities for various logistics tasks such as transshipment, handling, and packaging are increasing in all cities. This is a global phenomenon, but in some cases, unregulated development is taking place in suburban areas, which may lead to problems such as worsening traffic congestion, increasing delivery costs, and exhaust gas emissions due to the increased delivery distance. We are analyzing these changes in logistics land use and the associated social and environmental impacts.
3. E-commerce and terminal delivery
The spread of e-commerce has led to a sharp increase in home delivery demand, but in most cases, urban planning does not anticipate such cases, resulting in situations where delivery trucks run around residential areas and stop in places where there are no parking spaces for unloading. For example, in one American city, parking violations are only fined, not suspended, so delivery companies consider the fine to be part of the delivery cost and double-park as a matter of course. In another city, containers are set up in parking lots and used as bases for terminal delivery. In Japan, in high-density business areas, home delivery is often done by handcart from the terminal office. With this background in mind, we are developing models to analyze e-commerce demand and analyzing international examples of terminal delivery. We are also working to use the aforementioned simulator to investigate the effectiveness and challenges of terminal delivery methods using delivery robots and electric vehicles.
The above three are not independent, but are closely related within the theme of urban logistics. Although it is a relatively new field, many issues have arisen with its rapid growth, and we are conducting research from the perspective of public interest and the public good. - Q: What motivated you to start your research?
↓
-
Before I started researching logistics, I was mainly involved in transportation planning in international aid in Southeast Asia. There, I witnessed the impact of logistics on urban formation and the economy, and the challenges related to logistics, and found it intriguing. After that, I joined the PhD program in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois to begin full-scale research in the field of urban logistics, and after obtaining my PhD, I became a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's research institute in Singapore.
- Q: What is interesting, rewarding, and challenging about your research?
↓
- It is hard work to accumulate research to solve difficult problems, but the fact that these problems are important both socially and internationally makes the work rewarding and interesting.
- Q: What kind of social impact can you expect from your research?
Please tell me about short-term (1-2 years from now) and long-term (up to 10 years from now) plans.
↓
-
In the short term, one example is applying the knowledge gained from research to familiar policy discussion forums. Local governments in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the national government are currently working on a project to conduct a logistics survey and make policy recommendations at the Tokyo Metropolitan Planning Council, and I am participating in the related committee and providing advice. When advising on how to design and conduct a survey on urban logistics and how to analyze the collected data, the knowledge gained from my own past research and the research currently being conducted by my students is extremely useful.
In the long term, by providing society with new knowledge on urban freight through the international publication of papers and handbooks, we hope to contribute to better urban planning. Through recommendations on expert committees of international organizations, we are also involved in the creation of influential guidelines for various countries. We believe that we can contribute to the creation of better cities through various routes.
- Q: To which SDGs can your research contribute?
↓
- "Goal 9: Build infrastructure, promote industry and innovation," "Goal 11: Ensure sustainable cities and communities," and by reducing exhaust gases, "Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change."
- Q: What is the significance of conducting research at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology?
↓
- Although ships are not very involved in urban logistics, the university has many researchers with specialized knowledge in the fields of logistics and data science, and there are many excellent and motivated students. In that sense, I feel that it is a very good environment.
- Q: What are your priorities and policies when conducting research?
↓
- Our goal is to produce knowledge that will be useful to the world. As technology advances, it will become increasingly important to consider how to develop policies and plans for logistics in cities.
- Associate Professor Takanori Sakai's OA paper is here
↓
-
Title of the paper: Locations of logistics facilities for e-commerce: a case of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area
Authors and co-authors: Takanori Sakai, Kohei Santo, Shinya Tanaka, Tetsuro Hyodo
Published in: Research in Transportation Business & Management
Publication date: November 2024
DOI: 10.1016/j.rtbm.2024.101174
