Bilbao wins National Award for Best Project of the Year

Asier Abaunza, deputy councillor for traffic and circulation, received the award from Julio Garcia Ramon, president of ITS Spain, which organised the prize. The Spanish city was praised for its contribution to the concrete roll-out of the FREILOT project, through a dedicated pilot on Bilbao's streets.

FREILOT aims to increase the energy efficiency of goods transport in urban areas through a holistic treatment of traffic management, fleet management, the delivery vehicle and the driver, and demonstrate in four linked pilot projects that up to 25% reduction of fuel consumption in urban areas is feasible.

Conceived to streamline urban freight distribution, improve energy efficiency and respect the environment, the Bilbao pilot consists of an automatic delivery space booking system for delivery vehicles; a simple internet based interface for the user with a complex technical and logistical framework needed behind the scenes. Since March, it has been open to all carriers operating in Bilbao, specifically in the four zones reserved for the project in the city: Licenciado Poza, Santutxu, General Concha y Pérez Galdós. 

The participation of Bilbao in the FREILOT pilot project is part of the new Urban Freight Distribution Optimisation Plan, which the Municipality of Bilbao and the Euskadi Mobility and Logistics Cluster have developed with the support and cooperation of all urban freight stakeholders of the city.

FREILOT is coordinated by ERTICO, while Polis is also one of the partners. For more information about the project, visit www.freilot.eu.