JULY 8, 2021 — The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) is pleased to announce the addition of new member Lacuna Technologies. Founded in 2018 and based in Palo Alto, California, Lacuna builds and manages open-sourced digital tools that allow cities and municipalities to create, communicate, and enforce dynamic transportation policies. Lacuna’s solutions are designed to provide cities with a full and reliable picture of how their roads and airways are changing, so they can create evidence-based policies to address congestion, pollution, access and safety issues, and more, paving the way for commercial operators to integrate their modern technologies into cities equitably in a way that works for everyone long-term.
“Lacuna is thrilled to support UFL’s world-class academic work in the area of freight management,” said Stephen Zoepf, Head of Policy for Lacuna. “We’re looking forward to partnering with UFL and its remarkable members to collaborate on innovative ideas about how to bring people and goods together more effectively and efficiently. UFL continues to improve the industry’s understanding of what’s possible through data-based knowledge and rigorous analysis — we’re looking forward to partnering to learn more and generate even more insights into behavior at the curb.”
Lacuna is currently working with UFL on two projects, both funded by the U.S. Department of Energy:
- Developing an algorithm for producing parking space occupancy from sensor data and leading the occupancy API that is being fed to the application for Technology Integration to Gain Commercial Efficiency for the Urban Goods Delivery System, Meet Future Demand for City Passenger and Delivery Load/Unload Spaces, and Reduce Energy Consumption.
- Leading the external-facing capabilities, including data pipeline architecture, controller wrapper, and a proof of concept cloud architecture, as well as data stewardship and the communications interface for Data-Driven Simulation Tool for Dynamic Curb Planning and Management
“Having Lacuna Technologies as a member of the Urban Freight Lab brings a new and futuristic perspective, while enabling them to better understand the perspective of freight operators and integrate it into their solutions,” said Andisheh Ranjbari, UFL Manager. “As cities prepare to work with new operators and dynamic uses, having tools that can help them digitally manage and regulate the public right-of-way is crucial.”
Lacuna Technologies joins some of the largest players in transportation and logistics—carriers and shippers PepsiCo, UPS, and Amazon; infrastructure and operations technology provider REEF; Automotus, and Grid Smarter Cities; real estate corporation Terreno Realty; and vehicle and vehicle part manufacturers Coaster Cycles, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Michelin. The UFL is focused on finding solutions to urban goods delivery problems through collaboration between the public and private sectors, in the strategic research areas of the Final 50 Feet, Sustainable Freight, Curbspace Management, Zero Emissions Freight, and Modeling Freight Activity.
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About the Urban Freight Lab (UFL): The Urban Freight Lab is a structured partnership of academic researchers, public sector agencies, and private sector firms — shippers, retailers, tech providers, property owners, and manufacturers — working collaboratively to identify complex urban freight management problems and design solutions to make industry more efficient and cities more livable and sustainable.