Abstract
<jats:p>The traditional truck-based urban logistics drives the highest unit costs and externalities in urban logistics, including elevated CO₂ emissions, air pollution, road accidents, traffic congestion, road damage, and adverse social effects on delivery workers and communities. In Italy, the unique urban morphology of historic city centers, coupled with stringent Limited Traffic Zones (ZTL), make the impacts particularly severe. This paper proposes a hybrid system that exploits the existing electric regional rail network to transport freight to urban areas with fewer externalities. The system utilizes autonomous, electric wagons, such as the type built by Parallel Systems, a start-up in Los Angeles, that couple with passenger trains for suburban-to-urban transit and decouple to travel independently over dedicated short-distance connectors to urban cross-docking terminals. The study aims to improve delivery efficiency while reducing the environmental impact. A preliminary analysis for the city of Rome shows the possibility of implementing the system, and the findings indicate that Autonomous Electric Wagons (AEW) have the potential to provide a scalable and environmentally sustainable alternative for urban logistics.</jats:p>