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Report
Published: 2025
Summary:
We have seen major changes in the last few years as cities and companies in the United States transition to more environmentally sustainable urban delivery. But progress still remains piecemeal and slow. In both policy and practice on city streets, Europe and parts of Asia are far ahead of the U.S. in advancing electrification, shifting away from traditional trucks to smaller forms like e-bikes, and managing city space to induce or support zero emission delivery (ZED).
Paper
Published: 2025
Authors: Travis FriedDr. Sarah Dennis-BauerDr. Anne GoodchildOliver Olmedo, Carla Tejada, Otgondulam Bolbaatar, Julian D. Marshall, Lizándro García
Journal/Book: Journal of the American Planning Association
Summary:
As warehousing and distribution centers (W&D) rapidly expand, nearby communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized, face growing health risks from increased freight traffic. This research examines how local and state zoning decisions across the U.S. influence the placement and regulation of W&D facilities, and whether those actions consider environmental justice (EJ) principles.
Report
Published: 2025
Authors: Kelly RulaYu-Chen ChuDr. Giacomo Dalla ChiaraDr. Anne GoodchildArsalan Esmaili, Ben Rosenblatt, Harper Mills (Boston Transportation Department), Matthew Warfield (Boston Transportation Department)
Summary:
Boston Delivers was an 18-month pilot project (running September 2023 through February 2025) led by the Boston Transportation Department in partnership with Net Zero Logistics and funded by MassCEC through the ACT4All program. The project tested the use of electric cargo bikes for neighborhood deliveries, aiming to reduce congestion, improve air quality, and support local businesses by replacing car and van trips with more sustainable, right-sized vehicles.
Article
Published: 2025
Journal/Book: Transportation
Summary:
Most of a delivery driver’s time is spent outside the vehicle, walking the last 50 feet to reach the delivery customers while the vehicle is stationary. However, little is known about the walking component of delivery routes, while most models and algorithms used for scheduling and planning urban freight vehicles focus solely on the driving component. This study fills this research gap by providing an empirical analysis of the role of walking in last-mile deliveries.
Paper
Published: 2025
Journal/Book: Elsevier Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Summary:
While e-commerce continues to grow as a proportion of retail sales, consumers still largely rely on vehicle travel to shop. At the same time, the “15-minute city” concept is gaining traction, suggesting that the livability and sustainability of urban areas will improve if essential goods and services are all located in close proximity to residential areas.
Technical Report
Published: 2023
Authors: Dr. Anne GoodchildDr. Ed McCormackDr. Andisheh RanjbariRishi Verma, David Hurwitz; Yujun Liu; Hisham Jashami
Summary:
As e-commerce and urban deliveries spike, there is an increasing demand for curbside loading/unloading space. However, commercial vehicle drivers face numerous challenges while navigating dense urban road networks.
Paper
Published: 2025
Authors: Arsalan Esmaili, Sina Rejali (Queensland University of Technology), Kayvan Aghabayk (University of Tehran), Amin Mohammadi (University of Tabriz), Chris De Gruyter (RMIT University)
Journal/Book: Transport Policy
Summary:
This study explores what influences people’s willingness to use Autonomous Delivery Vehicles (ADVs), incorporating factors like social influence, environmental concern, enjoyment, and perceived security risks to better understand public perception.
Technical Report
Published: 2024
Summary:
In 2023, Portland was awarded a U.S. Department of Transportation SMART grant to pilot a Zero-Emission Delivery Zone (ZEDZ). Funding for this Stage One SMART grant will allow PBOT to trial changing three to five truck loading zones into “Zero-Emission Delivery” loading zones in downtown Portland.
Blog
Published: 2024
Journal/Book: Goods Movement 2030, an Urban Freight Blog
Summary:
Imagine the frustration of searching for a misplaced item, like your house keys or wallet, before leaving for a night out. Now, picture a FedEx or Amazon delivery driver halfway through a tight morning route, struggling to locate a parcel due by 9 a.m. while parked right outside the customer’s address. These misloads — where shipments are accidentally loaded onto the wrong delivery route or vehicle — not only cause stress and lost time for the delivery driver but also...
Paper
Published: 2023
Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Zhengtao Qin, Ruixu Pan, Chengcheng Yu, Tong Xiao, Chao Yang, Quan Yuan (Tongji University)
Summary:
The rapid growth in e-commerce activities and the constant specialization of industries have aroused an unparalleled demand for trucking in urban areas, leading to growing concern over its interference to the transportation system.
Paper
Published: 2024
Authors: Travis FriedDr. Anne Goodchild, Ivan Sanchez Diaz (Chalmers University), Michael Browne (Gothenburg University)
Journal/Book: International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management
Summary:
This study introduces a first-of-a-kind modeling framework to evaluate the equity impacts of last-mile ecommerce delivery in U.S. cities. Analyzing data across 41 metropolitan areas, the research finds that populations of color experience significantly higher exposure to delivery traffic—about 35% more than white populations—despite ordering fewer packages. The framework helps planners assess baseline equity performance and test urban freight strategies.
Paper
Published: 2024
Journal/Book: Sustainability
Summary:
Commercial electric vehicles (EVs) have increasingly gained interest from urban freight companies in the past decade due to the introduction of economic and policy drivers. Although these factors promote urban freight electrification, some barriers hinder the transition to fully electric fleets, such as the significant monetary investment required to replace the current internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV) and the lack of readily available electric freight vehicles.
Article
Published: 2024
Journal/Book: Journal of the American Planning Association
Summary:
Problem, research strategy, and findings The transportation sector is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. To articulate how cities may combat rising emissions, municipalities throughout the country have produced climate action and sustainability plans that outline strategies to reduce their carbon footprints from transportation.
Chapter
Published: 2023
Authors: Dr. Giacomo Dalla Chiara, André Alho, Takanori Sakai
Journal/Book: Handbook on Transport and Land Use: A Holistic Approach in an Age of Rapid Technological Change
Summary:
Urban freight denotes vehicle and commodity flows in an urban environment. These flows depend on a complex set of relationships among various stakeholders. In the last decades, urban freight has experienced an incredible pace of evolution, which has occurred due to various technological factors. One example is the ubiquity of internet access and the advance in information technology, leading to e-commerce adoption.
Presentation
Published: 2021
Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Ronald Pelot, Floris Goerlandt, Stephanie Chang, David Bristow, Cheng Lin, Lina Zhou
Journal/Book: Canadian Transport Research Forum Conference (CTRF) 56th Annual Conference - Ensuring Resilience in Transportation Systems: Anticipating and Responding to Pandemic, Climate, Demographic and Economic Changes
Summary:
Following an earthquake, coastal and island communities may need to rely primarily on maritime transport for regular and critical supplies during the emergency response phase. However, such a disaster may also disrupt the needed transport activities in several ways, including damage to critical infrastructure (CI) such as ports and roads.