From 21-23 January the kick-off meeting of the SMARTFREIGHT project took place at the premises of project coordinator SINTEF in the Norwegian city of Trondheim. The idea for this successful proposal submitted under the first ICT for transport call of the Seventh Framework Programme was launched and elaborated within the Polis' Working Group on Mobility and Traffic Efficiency and aimed to tackle the need experienced by cities to manage urban freight transport in a more efficient and sustainable way.

The SMARTFREIGHT project wants to make urban freight transport more efficient, environmentally friendly and safe through the smarter use of distribution networks and better delivery and back-load systems. The main aim is to specify, implement and evaluate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions that integrate urban traffic management systems with the management of freight and logistics in urban areas. New traffic management measures will be developed towards individual freight vehicles through open ICT services, on-board equipment and integrated wireless communication infrastructure. The interoperability between traffic management and freight distribution systems will be improved, and freight distribution operations within a city will be coordinated by means of open ICT services, on-board equipment, wireless communication infrastructure and CALM MAIL implementation in on-board and on-cargo units.

The SMARTFREIGHT technology will be tested in Trondheim and, in addition, results will be simulated for Winchester, Bologna and Dublin.