In the Media

Learn how Amazon innovated both vehicle and infrastructure design, and are working with Rivian to get 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030. The Future Forward docuseries features people and businesses pioneering innovation on the front line of climate change across industries — from transportation and construction to agriculture and water — including our director, Anne Goodchild.

By Carl FranzenE-bikes aren’t just fast, fun, and eco-friendly ways to get around: These light motorized vehicles also unlock new possibilities for personal transportation, allowing riders to carry more weight, more easily, than they could with a traditional pedal bike.

The federal government awarded Seattle’s Department of Transportation (SDOT) $2 million in funds from the Strength, Mobility, and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant to work with the Urban Freight Lab and Open Mobility Foundation to improve curbside access.

We’ll work closely with our partners at the UW Urban Freight Lab and the Open Mobility Foundation to establish new commercial vehicle permit policies and pilot a digital permit. We aim to reduce congestion, improve access to the curb, and promote more sustainable forms of delivery. 

Parcels were delivered to the end customer via cargo bike as part of the Seattle Neighborhood Delivery Hub. The Hub ran for four months in 2021.The Hub used customised electric-assist cargo bikes that could carry propulsion-assisted electric pallets. (We’ll cover route optimisation in a future issue.)

One of the delivery technologies included in the Hub was a parcel locker bank.

The Seattle Neighborhood Delivery Hub served as a testbed for innovative sustainable urban logistics strategies in 2021. Located in Seattle's dense Uptown neighbourhood, it allowed providers to test and evaluate new technologies, vehicles, and delivery models — all in service of quickly getting to market new more fuel- and resource-efficient solutions, reducing emissions and congestion, and making our cities more liveable and sustainable.

Anne Goodchild, a logistics expert at the University of Washington, says the question isn’t just whether ordering from Amazon results in lower emissions than driving to the mall; also important is whether the ease of online shopping gets people to buy more than they would otherwise, and what people do with the time they save and how much greenhouse gas that creates. “We’re not going to solve the climate problem through online shopping,” she says.

As supply chain complexity increases and business disruptions grow more pronounced, supply chain education programs at the undergraduate and graduate level are responding to bolster the skill sets of upcoming and current supply chain practitioners.

“It’s the best possible time for companies to regroup and improve the efficiencies of their operations,” said Amelia Regan, who now directs the University of Washington Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics graduate degree program.

Fun fact: Rain or shine, morning or evening, faculty member Anne Goodchild frequently runs the trails of Puget Sound.

For the unfamiliar, the Urban Freight Lab (UFL) is a Seattle-based working group dedicated to developing novel strategies and solutions for the challenges of goods movement in cities. As both thought leaders and project doers, UFL is on the front lines of issues like last-mile delivery and how it plays a tremendous role in creating a public right-of-way that’s safe (or not), efficient (or not), and equitable (or not).

By AIANY Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, AIANY Planning and Urban Design, and AIANY Committee on the Environment

In a new study, researchers from the Urban Freight Lab analyzed a cargo cycle pilot test in Seattle and collected detailed data on the types of infrastructure used for driving and parking. GPS data were augmented by installing a video camera on the cargo cycle and recording the types of infrastructure used (distinguishing between the travel lane, bicycle lane, and sidewalk), the time spent on each type, and the activity performed.

Anne Goodchild, a University of Washington professor who studies the climate emissions of transportation, offers some guidance for planet-conscious shopping.