3. Steering and decision-making tools

3.1 Overview of tools for measuring and managing urban flows

Numerous operational tools exist to improve flow management at company level (route management tools, in particular transport plans, through optimal allocation of route points, etc.). However, freight transport modelling for public and private operators is underdeveloped and remains at the level of theoretical research, without, with a few exceptions, leading to operational decision-making tools on the scale of an urban area.

Since the 1970s, numerous attempts have been made to simulate the flow of goods in cities. In addition to a number of failures, the diversity of the approaches taken reveals the complexity of such an approach