2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Spotlight on Urban Logistics Challenges

By Gilles Paché

Sports mega-events lasting several weeks pose major logistical challenges, given the massive flow of people they generate, as demonstrated by the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. Innovative solutions implemented for the occasion, in terms of transport and the use of digital tools, helped to optimise supplies and reduce disruptions. From this viewpoint, the Paris experience could serve as a model for future improvements in urban logistics.

The staging of sporting mega-events over several weeks traditionally poses major logistical challenges, not only in terms of managing the flow of spectators from all over the world, but also in terms of organising multiple procurement systems for food and equipment for spectators, athletes, support staff and residents. Numerous academic studies have focused on this subject in the past ^[1], in contexts as diverse as the FIFA World Cups, CAF African Cups of Nations, Rugby World Cups and the Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Paris in July-August 2024 are no exception to the rule, and a few figures enable to assess the logistical challenges encountered: over 10 million visitors attending 550 events staged at 35 competition venues, including 25 in the Paris region; 14 security perimeters around sports venues and the Olympic Village; over 8 million product pick-ups or deliveries to be managed each week.

A Critical Dimension Quickly Identified

Among the main concerns of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee and local and national political authorities, managing the massive flow of visitors in a context of severe restrictions on mobility was quickly identified as a critical issue for the ‘world’s biggest logistics event in peacetime’ ^[2]. Demand for consumer goods was bound to rise sharply, forcing us to manage a much higher volume of deliveries than normal. To cope with this, it was decided to introduce severe restrictions on mobility ^[3], which in turn required meticulous planning of delivery routes to be carried out outside peak hours to minimise disruption. Several months before the start of the competition, retailers were also encouraged to stockpile goods to reduce the need for procurement during the event, while hauliers were advised to make deliveries very early in the morning or late at night to avoid peak times.

Paris is one of the most congested cities in Europe, and according to the website Traffic Index, it was the most congested city in the world between 27 April and 27 May 2024, ahead of London and New York ^[4]. Drastic measures were needed to ensure that the Olympic and Paralympic Games did not turn into a nightmare, with delays to the running of the events, for example, and this included arousing the discontent of residents, shopkeepers and restaurateurs. A system of priority ‘Olympic lanes’, reserved for accredited persons only, was set up to ensure that traffic flowed smoothly on the radial routes leading to the Olympic venues (competition sites, Olympic village, media village, airport, etc.). Some of these ‘Olympic lanes’ should be permanent by 2025. Of course, they will have a direct impact on normal traffic, forcing users to radically change their logistical routines. In short, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris have led to many aspects of urban logistics being rethought to meet the demands of the event. By the end of the 2010s, it was clear that the impact of the competition would be significant, as the number of congested areas in Paris had increased because of major construction projects, which inevitably slowed down traffic and disrupted the flow of goods into the city centre daily. Innovative solutions were therefore needed to get around the new areas of congestion, foreshadowing the situation to be expected by July-August 2024 ^[5]. Among the innovative solutions, the development of multimodal transport combining inland waterway logistics with cycling logistics quickly emerged as an avenue to be explored. Other solutions can be identified, in terms of operations, information and regulations, whose implementation beyond the short competition period could offer opportunities for improving traffic in the long term.

Operations Outlook

By taking a dip in the Seine on 17 July 2024, as she had promised, the Mayor of Paris no doubt wanted to make a splash in front of the media ^[6]. But this swim also had the advantage of reminding us that the waterway network offers an interesting alternative to road transport, as we have known since the end of the 2000s ^[7]. Since July 2021, the Ferrero group has been shipping its Nutella spread from its Rouen factory to large retail warehouses via the Seine. The benefits are many: reduced pollutant emissions, less road traffic and an overall improvement in the quality of urban life. The city of Paris already has a well-developed waterway network, which was implemented quickly and efficiently to support logistics needs during the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Combined with cycling logistics, as mentioned, the choice was clearly made for an environmental positioning in line with the glamorous image of Paris.

However, the operational perspective does not stop at transport vehicles alone. At the same time, a temporary increase in the number of delivery areas has made it possible to respond effectively to the increased consumption of goods associated with the massive influx of visitors. The number of delivery areas in Paris has risen from 9,400 to 10,300 to improve traffic flow and minimise potential delays in last-mile deliveries, which are known to have a negative impact on customer loyalty ^[8]. The expansion in the number of delivery areas has made it possible to design more efficient routes, reducing the time needed to reach final destinations. In addition, these delivery areas are equipped with optical sensors to reduce abusive parking practices. With the reduction in the use of private cars, which Paris City Council has been seeking for at least a decade ^[9], by following London’s virtuous model, empty car parks have long been converted to meet logistics needs.

Information Outlook

One of the most original features of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games is undoubtedly the effort made to use information technology to optimise urban logistics. Since April 2024, a digital platform called ‘JOPtimiz’ has offered direct, free access to four tools that integrate the exceptional traffic regulations activated in July-August 2024 to facilitate the delivering of products ^[10]. These four tools are:

• ‘Visualiz’ is an interactive map that enables companies to plan their deliveries more effectively.
• ‘Itinériz’ calculates the best route to the destination, considering any traffic restrictions in force.
• ‘CirQliz’ generates a QR Code, available in digital or print format, to facilitate checks by the police.
• ‘Numériz’ is a digital disc designed to manage stops at the delivery areas mentioned above.

PTV Logistics, one of the world’s leading publishers of planning, calculation and optimisation software for the freight transport sector, has put a demonstrator online on its website to facilitate deliveries to Paris and its suburbs during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Available free of charge on the PTV Developer platform, the demonstrator calculates and dynamically proposes the best delivery routes, taking account of traffic restrictions. Finally, the digital platform https://anticiperlesjeux.gouv.fr has been launched by the French Ministry of Transport to make it easier for transport operators to get around, with an interactive map showing, day by day, hour by hour, the security and traffic perimeters around the venues, as well as the location of lanes reserved for Olympic and Paralympic vehicles. These tools are clearly part of a ‘smart urban logistics’ approach, which has been the subject of considerable literature over the last few years ^[11].

Regulations Outlook

As in many other European countries, urban logistics in France is subject to strict regulations aimed at improving the quality of life of residents while optimising the flow of goods ^[12]. Low-emission zones are a key aspect, limiting access to city centres for the most polluting vehicles to reduce air pollution. Delivery times are also regulated to minimise noise pollution and improve traffic flow. In addition, legislation encourages the use of clean vehicles, such as electric or natural gas-powered trucks, through subsidies and tax breaks. What is more, incentives promote the use of cargo bikes and delivery drivers on foot for short distances, contributing to the implementation of more sustainable and efficient logistics.

It was against this backdrop that the Olympic and Paralympic Games were held in Paris. Given the massive influx of athletes and members of the public, a working group dedicated to everyday urban logistics was set up, led by the Metropole du Grand Paris (a public inter-municipal cooperation body comprising 131 municipalities, including Paris, covering an area of 814 km²). It has been decided to authoritatively differentiate different logistical perimeters, with access prohibited (red), limited (blue) or free (pink) depending on their proximity to Olympic sites. In the red zone, which is the most sensitive from a logistical viewpoint, motorised access has been banned unless an exemption has been granted. Some deliveries were authorised, but only after prior registration on the digital platform https://anticiperlesjeux.gouv.fr. The objective of reducing disruption while ensuring the security of all logistical operations during the competition was thus achieved.

Experience effects in sight?

It would be wrong to claim that the organisation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris has not disrupted the lives of residents, particularly by affecting the mobility and punctuality of employees. Just look at the conditions for awarding the ‘Games Pass’ for access to secure areas (a QR code like the one used at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic). In addition to providing digitised proof of identity and a recent passport photograph, proof of the need to use a vehicle had to be provided, and even proof of car parking to show that the vehicle could be parked. Restrictions on mobility were therefore a reality, on a much larger scale than that sometimes put in place by Italian cities as part of limited-traffic zones (or ‘zone a traffico limitato’), such as in Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan or Rome ^[13].

It is far too early to draw definitive conclusions on the implications of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in terms of the outlook for urban logistics. Important decisions have been taken by the political authorities in terms of operations, information and regulations. It will be important to consider the lessons that can be learned from these, particularly in terms of improving the sustainability of logistical operations associated with last-mile management. It is already possible to identify opportunities for adopting alternative, environmentally friendly modes of transport. Cycling logistics combined with waterway transport, for example, appears to be an effective solution for avoiding traffic jams and decarbonising deliveries ^[14]. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the logistical solutions adopted for a four- or five-week sports mega-event can be extended to daily deliveries, every day of the year.

About the Author

Gilles Paché is Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at Aix-Marseille University, and Director of Research at the CERGAM Lab, in Aix-en-Provence, France. He has more than 650 publications in the forms of journal papers, books, edited books, edited proceedings, edited special issues, book chapters, conference papers and reports, including the recent two books ‘Variations sur la consommation et la distribution: individus, expériences, systèmes’ (2022), and ‘Heterodox logistics’ (2023).

References

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