Demonstration City: Quito
Inform
Tools and different types of knowledge products on low-carbon urban logistics, cycle logistics, light electric vehicles (LEV), charging infrastructure, batteries and e-buses were incorporated in the SOLUTIONSplus online toolbox and shared with the city, addressing the knowledge gaps identified in the course of the project.
Inspire
A total of four modules were conducted in the Regional Training Programs of 2021 and 2022, addressing the gaps identified in the Technical Needs Assessment carried out in 2020. i.e., 1) low-carbon urban logistics, 2) LEV regulations, 3) charging infrastructure, and 4) e-buses. Quito not only benefited from the content presented, but was able to share initiatives that public and private actors are pushing forward in the city (e.g.: Zero Emissions Zone and locally manufactured e-bus).
Between July 18th and August 3rd, 2022, a SOLUTIONSplus delegation (WI, FIER and UEMI) joined the local team and held a series of meetings and workshops, where topics such as e-buses, charging infrastructure, MaaS, LEV and urban logistics were discussed with members of national and local entities, as well as with private stakeholders.
Additionally, Quito benefited from its participation in other SOLUTIONSplus CB instances, such as virtual and on-site P2P exchanges, site visits, expert advisory boards and international conferences related to e-bike sharing systems, low-carbon urban logistics, last-mile connectivity, e-buses, e-BRT and trolleybuses.
Initiate
In Quito, the start-ups ECargoBikeUIO (10 e-cargo bikes), Sidertech (10 e-quadricycles) and Grupo Miral (4 e-vans) received seed funding for the local design and assembly of different types of LEV, mainly for logistics, but also for passenger transport. Sidertech will receive 10 Valeo drivetrains in a kit to be easily integrated in the e-quadricycles. In addition, PEM Motion, one of the companies selected in the 1st Innovators Call supported ECargoBikeUIO and Sidertech in vehicle design and battery sizing. Further support on vehicle design for Sidertech and Miviltech is expected under the 2nd EU Innovators Call. Finally, SOLUTIONSplus supported the city with the elaboration of a pre-feasibility study for the electrification of 1 BRT corridor.
Implement
Component 1: Multimodal e-mobility hub in the Historic Center of Quito (HCQ)
On August 18th, 2022,, the LEV prototypes, locally manufactured with the seed funding provided by SOLUTIONSplus, were launched with the local authorities of Quito in the National Polytechnic School (EPN). The activity allowed potential users to test the vehicles and provide suggestions to the design to suit their needs for the design.
The manufacturing process of 10 e-cargo bikes was finalised building on the suggestions provided in the launch by the 20 companies that expressed their interest in testing the different types of SOLUTIONSplus vehicles in their operations. Moreover, the local team counted on the support of two local universities, the National Polytechnic School (EPN) and the San Francisco University (USFQ), for the vehicle technical evaluation and the pilot design, as well as the inputs provided by the ZLC. In this context, the first pilot phase of the multimodal e-mobility hub in the HCQ started on November 7th, 2022 and ended on January 6th, 2023. During this period, the pilot worked with 4 operating schemes and 7 users, i.e., 2 food distributors, 1 restaurant, 2 couriers and 2 recycling associations, which were selected on the basis of the ex-ante data collection process carried out in 2021 and the subsequent planning and preparation phase. A private parking lot was rented as a collaborative cross-docking platform, that was used by 3 of the users. In order to extract sound data from the pilot, several tools, such as GPS tracking, surveys and interviews were applied. In the 2 months of the pilot, the e-cargo bikes travelled a total of 1,071 km, carried 16 tons of cargo, made 229 deliveries, collected recyclables from 134 points and achieved an estimated reduction in emissions of 491.74 kg CO2e. The significant efficiency gains experienced in all operating schemes reveal a high scale-up and replication potential.
The phases 2 and 3 of this pilot component, i.e., the 10 e-quadricycles and the 4 e-vans, are planned to start in mid-2023.
Component 2: Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app
The MaaS app was developed during 2020 and 2021 by Pluservice in permanent exchange with the Mobility Secretariat, the Municipal PTO and the Subway operator in order to ensure that the app is aligned to the local needs of the PT system. In October 2022, with the approval of the Municipal PTO, the pilot design and implementation started. A group of 37 students of the National Polytechnic School (EPN) used the app to plan their journeys, top up their e-wallets, and buy and validate PT tickets between November 21st and December 16th (4 weeks) in the University Station of the BRT System.
A total of 216 tickets were issued and 164 tickets validated via app (75% of the issued tickets) for a value of USD 57.40. 88% of the students stated that they will use the App 3 times/week to everyday if the application was publicly available. Moreover, 80% of students agreed that the application should include other PT options and sustainable modes.
Preliminary Results
Impact
The SOLUTIONSplus team supported the Municipality of Quito in the review and adjustment of the Draft Ordinance of Micromobility, in which SOLUTIONSplus recommended broadening the scope to include not only personal micro-vehicles, but the full spectrum of LEV. The Municipality adopted the changes, and the draft is about to go to first debate in the City Council. Moreover, the team has been in permanent contact with funding and international cooperation agencies working in the country, such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, AfD, GIZ, etc., in order to identify potential synergies and funding for the scale-up of the project. In this context, the GEF7 e-mobility project in Ecuador (USD 1,3M) will build on the knowledge and experience generated by SOLUTIONSplus and the ACCESS project (€2,4M) funded by IKI will add a digital layer to the components implemented under SOLUTIONSplus to consolidate their scale-up and replication.
Interview of our Demonstration City: Quito
It is very important to test innovations in mobility, because it helps us to develop scale-up projects in order to design bottom-up policies.
Therefore, innovation projects on a pilot scheme allow us to understand the stakeholders’s behaviour toward a specific project.
Thus, it helps us to make data based decision making by using information developed on the pilot project.
As I was saying it is relevant to start from micro to macro.
I mean, to understand the components that make up a whole in order to use comprehensive data that lead us to an adequate decision-making process.
Performing pilots and demonstration actions in an urban living lab setting is important, because it is useful to get an idea of how a project works according to a city context, because it is useful to get an idea of how a project works according to a city context.
This means that it helps to make a baseline and forecast possible outcomes of an specific measure applied in the city
Urban living labs need to include all the important stakeholders that can be public actors at different levels: national and subnational.
Other involved institutions and the citizens in general.
Academia has an important role as well by working with the academia we can assure accurate information and obtaining consolidated data that improve the project’s results.
Generally, we use public calls.
Through this, we request the participation of all the entities involved for a certain topic.
Then, we receive intention letters to participate in the lab from the interested stakeholders in order to formalize cooperation
The driver of these activities are international organizations that use a type of financing to support cities with pilots, demonstration actions, and consultancies.
They are the ones who motivate the public sector and the public entities make the call for this type of laboratories.
The funding for this type of activities comes from the same international organizations that drive the process.
These organizations seek intent from the different stakeholders to finance the development of urban labs and pilot projects
The key factor for success is a proper governance which means that these projects will only work through adequate management of the information generated in the project and this should be supported by a governance plan in order to implement the projects
SOLUTIONSplus supporting low-carbon last mile logistics in Montevideo and Quito
Introduction
Montevideo and Quito are the two cities in Latin America in which the SOLUTIONSplus project is being implemented. In both cities, one of the components of the pilots has been the introduction of Light Electric Vehicles (LEV) in urban logistics to be able to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, especially for last mile trips. Besides the provision of seed funding for the local design and assembly of innovative LEV concepts, the SOLUTIONSplus project has been supporting the local actors by providing capacity building, technical support related to business model development, innovation management, advisory services and in some cases even European vehicle components, as part of its Start-up Incubator and matchmaking program. In this context, the second module of the SOLUTIONSplus Regional Training for Latin America 2021, that took place in September and October 2021, focused on low-carbon urban logistics and regulations for LEV. Moreover, Valeo, one of the SOL+ consortium members will provide drivetrains to two of the start-ups selected for funding, Sidertech in Quito and GreenStar in Montevideo. Finally, in the context of the SOLUTIONSplus European Innovators Call, PEM Motion was selected to provide support to four Latin American start-ups, two in each city, in the design and engineering of the vehicles.
Quito
Considering the national regulatory framework of Ecuador and in compliance with the international commitments to which the Municipality of Quito adhered in the past years, such as the C40 Clean Air Cities Declaration, the C40 Clean and Healthy Streets Declaration and the Mobilize Your City Global Initiative, in 2020 the Municipality of Quito issued its Climate Action Plan for Quito (PACQ by its Spanish acronym). In the PACQ, Quito commits to reduce GHG emissions by 30% in comparison to 2015 by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. One of the measures to achieve these goals is the consolidation of a Zero Emissions Historic Center. In this context, SOLUTIONSplus supports the local assembly and design of LEVs and their proper integration in the area with the aim of improving the last mile connectivity and logistics of the Historic Center of Quito (HCQ).
In August 2020 a local innovators call was launched by the SOLUTIONSplus project through UNHABITAT, in order to grant seed funding for 2 start-ups selected for the local design and assembly of e-cargo bikes and e-quadricycles. Participants had to apply providing a preliminary design and supporting information to evidence previous experience.
For the assembly of the e-quadricycles, the start-up selected is SIDERTECH. The company started producing metal components for motorcycles and later moved to the development of e-bikes. With that experience they will develop an electric four-wheel vehicle for the SOLUTIONSplus project. More specifically, they will assemble a total of 10 units that may slightly vary in terms of accessories or design features. These vehicles will integrate VALEO’s e Access serial powertrains and controllers.
The images below depict the prototype developed by SIDERTECH and its socialization in different events
For the e-cargo bikes, a consortium called E Cargo Bike UIO was selected. The consortium gathers a cargo bike manufacturer, a bike courier start-up, and a consulting They presented an integral approach that combined the design and assembly of the e-cargo bikes with a training center for maintenance and data collection of results of use. The total number of light electric vehicles being produced in the context of the SOLUTIONSplus project by this consortium is 10. Below, reference pictures of the preliminary designs and number of units of each type of e-bike are presented:
The Municipality of Quito recently launched a new call for proposals to design and assemble 4 additional LEVs, 2 e-delivery vans for and 2 e-buggies for last-mile logistics and connectivity, correspondingly.
Besides the local vehicle design and assembly component, the project in Quito includes support to the Municipality for the consolidation of the Zero Emission Historic Centre, one of the policies defined in their Climate Action Plan (PACQ, 2020).
The Historic Center of Quito (HCQ) comprises an urban area of 376 hectares, with a population of approximately 40,000 inhabitants. Declared by UNESCO as the first World Heritage Site in 1978, it is considered one of the most important historical sites of Latin America. Even though the HCQ has been losing residents for the past 3 decades, during daytime it still attracts important influxes of locals and foreigners because of its commercial and touristic importance. According to the Municipal economic activities database, there are approximately 2,000 businesses in the area, from which more than 80% are wholesale and retail trade activities and 14% accommodation and food service activities (LUAE, 2019).
The first contribution to the Zero Emission Zone was a conceptual proposal for an intermodal corridor for the Historic Center developed by the Design Studio of the Technical University of Berlin, a member of the SOLUTIONSplus project. The proposed corridor integrates the 3 markets of the area and the main public transport stations in order to enable low-carbon last mile movements.
The image below portrays the corridor proposed:
Also, the SOLUTIONSplus project conducted an establishment-based freight survey between July and September 2021, in which a total of 241 businesses were surveyed to understand the logistics processes in the area. This information helped to define operation models for the pilots and design a Logistics Plan with support from Zaragoza Logistic Center. The area of study is depicted in the following map, where the intermodal corridor is also traced in order to evidence the integration of both proposals. The map also shows the public and private parking buildings in the area, as the project is currently exploring the possibility of establishing the distribution hub, a collaborative cross-docking platform for the allocation of goods, and the charging of the LEFVs.
Piloto de Logística de última milla en el centro Histórico de Quito
SOLUTIONSplus: Soluciones Integradas de Movilidad Eléctrica Urbana es un proyecto financiado por el Programa de Investigación e Innovación Horizonte 2020 de la Unión Europea, que se ejecuta desde enero de 2020 hasta diciembre de 2023. SOLUTIONSplus tiene como objetivo la implementación de pilotos de movilidad eléctrica en 10 ciudades alrededor del mundo, una de las cuales es Quito.
El componente principal del piloto en Quito es la creación de un nodo multimodal de movilidad eléctrica en el Centro Histórico de Quito (CHQ), que contribuya a la consolidación del “Centro Histórico Cero Emisiones”, una de las políticas que se incluyen en el Plan De Acción Climática para Quito (PACQ). Para el efecto, SOLUTIONSplus implementa un piloto en 3 fases para evaluar la conveniencia de incorporar Vehículos Eléctricos Ligeros (VEL), fabricados localmente, que permitan mejorar logística y conectividad de última milla, así como reducir la contaminación atmosférica y las emisiones de GEI. El piloto trabaja con restaurantes, locales comerciales, empresas de paquetería, asociaciones de recicladores y empresas distribuidoras de alimentos y bebidas en el Centro Histórico.
Fase 1: Bicicletas eléctricas de carga
Del 7 de noviembre al 16 de diciembre de 2022 circulan en la zona 10 bicicletas eléctricas de carga, fabricadas por eCargoBikeUIO. Se cuenta con 3 modelos diferentes con capacidad de carga es de entre 70 y 100 kg. Los principales productos que se transportan con estos vehículos al momento son: abastos, comida preparada, material reciclado y paquetería.
Fase 2: Cuadriciclos eléctricos
En la segunda fase del piloto, que tendrá lugar el segundo semestre del 2023, se probarán 10 cuadriciclos eléctricos fabricados por Sidertech, mismos que tendrán una capacidad de carga de hasta 300kg.
Fase 3: Mini furgonetas eléctricas
Finalmente, en la fase final, que tendrá lugar el segundo semestre de 2023, se probarán 2 mini furgonetas eléctrica para pasajeros y 2 para carga fabricados por Grupo Miral. Estos vehículos tendrán una capacidad de carga de hasta 1000 kg de carga.
Si tienes interés en formar parte de las siguientes fases del piloto u obtener más información sobre los vehículos, al final de la siguiente encuesta nos puedes dejar tus datos y nos pondremos en contacto.
Las entidades implementadoras del proyecto en Quito son la Iniciativa de Movilidad Eléctrica Urbana (UEMI) y el Instituto Wuppertal para el Clima, el Ambiente y la Energía (WI), quienes coordinan con actores públicos y privados locales, entre los que se incluyen diversas entidades del Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito (MDMQ), la Empresa Pública Metropolitana de Transporte de Pasajeros Quito (EPMTPQ), fabricantes locales de vehículos y universidades como la Escuela Politécnica Nacional (EPN) y la Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ).
Interview of our Demonstration City: Quito
It is very important to test innovations in mobility, because it helps us to develop scale-up projects
In order to design bottom-up policies.
Therefore, innovation projects on a pilot scheme allow us to understand the stakeholders’s behavior toward a specific project.
Thus, it helps us to make data based decision making by using information developed on the pilot project
As I was saying it is relevant to start from micro to macro
I mean, to understand the components that make up a whole in order to use comprehensive data that lead us to an adequate decision-making process.
Performing pilots and demonstration actions in an urban living lab setting is important, because it is useful to get an idea of how a project works according to a city context, because it is useful to get an idea of how a project works according to a city context.
This means that it helps to make a baseline and forecast possible outcomes of an specific measure applied in the city
Urban living labs need to include all the important stakeholders that can be public actors at different levels: national and subnational.
Other involved institutions and the citizens in general
Academia has an important role as well by working with the academia we can assure accurate information and obtaining consolidated data that improve the project’s results
Generally, we use public calls
Through this, we request the participation of all the entities involved for a certain topic
Then, we receive intention letters to participate in the lab from the interested stakeholders in order to formalize cooperation
The driver of these activities are international organizations that use a type of financing to support cities with pilots, demonstration actions, and consultancies.
They are the ones who motivate the public sector and the public entities make the call for this type of laboratories
The funding for this type of activities comes from the same international organizations that drive the process
These organizations seek intent from the different stakeholders to finance the development of urban labs and pilot projects
The key factor for success is a proper governance which means that these projects will only work through adequate management of the information generated in the project and this should be supported by a governance plan in order to implement the projects