Research Projects

Summary:
This project aims to develop a city-scale dynamic curb use simulation tool and an open-source curb management platform. The envisioned simulation and management capabilities will include dynamically and concurrently controlling price, number of spaces, allowed parking duration, time of use or reservation, and curb space use type (e.g., dynamic curb space rezoning based on supply and demand). Researchers will design, implement, and test a curbside resource usage platform for fleet vehicles communications at commercial vehicle load zones (CVLZs), passenger load zones (PLZs), and transit stops, and perform demonstrations with stakeholder agencies and provide pathways to practice for promising curb allocation policies.

Summary:
For this project, two research groups at the University of Washington (the Urban Freight Lab and Lilian Ratliff's research group) will collaborate to integrate different data streams currently being collected separately and in an uncoordinated way, including data from in-ground curb sensors at CVLZs and PLZs, paid parking transactions at paid parking spaces, and data obtained from timelapse camera recordings. The groups will create a holistic framework to analyze not only the curb behaviors of different users but also how different users interact in the competition for limited curb space. The collaboration will advance the state of environmental science by providing the most complete dataset and creating innovative tools to inform policymaking on curb parking pricing and curb allocation to reduce cruising for parking and unauthorized parking events, therefore tackling the climate crisis by reducing urban vehicle emissions and traffic congestion, and the state of data science by developing a new statistical framework and machine learning algorithms to analyze curb space use behaviors from users and develop recommendations for cities on how to better allocate curb space to different competing demands.

Summary:
The overarching goal of this project is to improve both cyclist safety and commercial parking utilization in urban environments. To support this goal, this project tested the impacts of different striping, signage, and infrastructure on cyclist behavior around commercial vehicle (truck) loading zones and will determine the implications for cyclist safety. While there is little research on the behavioral interaction between bicycle lanes and commercial vehicle loading zones (CVLZ) in the U.S., these interactions are important to understand, to preempt increasing conflicts between truckers and bicyclists. In this study, a bicycling simulator experiment examined bicycle and truck interactions completed by 48 participants. The bicycling simulator collected data regarding a participant's velocity and lateral position. Three independent variables reflecting common engineering approaches were included in this experiment: pavement marking, signage, and truck maneuvering.

Summary:
Food security, defined as access at all times to nutritious food, is a necessary condition for human beings to thrive and have an active and healthy life. In Seattle, about 13 percent of adults experienced food insecurity. Moreover, food security is not equitably distributed across the population. Food insecurity is more common in households with young children, with single parents, with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty threshold, in Black and Hispanic populations, and in principal metropolitan areas.

Summary:
This project will build upon a previous Urban Freight Lab study (funded by the U.S. Department of Energy) that was aimed at improving commercial vehicle delivery efficiency generating and providing real-time and future parking information to delivery drivers. In this subsequent study, researchers will build upon the knowledge developed and the existing network of parking occupancy sensors installed in a 10-block study area in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, to explore how historical parking occupancy data can be used by urban planners and policymakers to better allocate curb space to commercial vehicles. We will use data from the sensor network and explore the relationship between the built environment (location and characteristics of establishments and urban form) and the resulting occupancy patterns of commercial vehicle load zones and passenger load zones in the study area.

Summary:
While goods movement is critical to social and economic welfare, it is often overlooked in the planning and design of Complete Streets. This work will develop national guidelines for cities to best design and manage Complete Streets mitigating freight conflicts and integrating freight behaviors.

Summary:
The Ballard Cordon Data Collection for Trucks and Cars is an analysis research project to be conducted by the Urban Freight Lab for the City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Summary:
This project develops a national freight forecasting model for the FHWA. The model, the first of its kind at the national level, supports national freight policy making and planning. Urban Freight Lab researchers will identify the most useful and promising structures for a national model and are leading the evaluation of model components and their integration, and developing an approach to test the potential specifications for each model component and are contributing to the development of national sources of data for use in the model. The project will demonstrate the model in a software application.

Summary:
One of the disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic was the reduction of in-store shopping, and the consequent increase in online shopping and home deliveries. In response, Cascade Bicycle Club started the Pedaling Relief Project (PRP) in 2020 — a nonprofit home delivery service run by volunteers using bikes to pick up food at food banks and deliver to food bank customers, among other services. The Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center (SCTL) and graduate Transportation Logistics students are undertaking a research study to analyze the transport and logistics system of the PRP and provide recommendations for operations improvement.

Summary:
With the rise in demand for home deliveries and the boom of the e-bike market in the U.S., cargo cycles are becoming the alternative mode of transporting goods in urban areas. However, many U.S. cities are struggling to decide how to safely integrate this new mode of transportation into the pre-existing urban environment. In response, the Urban Freight Lab is authoring a white paper on how cities can prepare for and promote large-scale adoption of cargo cycle transportation. Sponsors include freight logistics providers, bicycle industry leaders, and agencies Bosch eBike Systems, Fleet Cycles, Gazelle USA, Michelin North America, Inc., Net Zero Logistics, the Seattle Department of Transportation, and Urban Arrow.

Summary:
This study explored locating common carrier lockers at or near three of Seattle's Link Light Rail stations. The Urban Freight Lab developed multi-factor criteria to evaluate placing common carrier locker systems on public property and applied it to evaluate potential sites at or near three of Seattle's Link Light Rail stations and the Transit-Oriented Development areas near them. Mobility hubs aim to consolidate multiple modes of transportation – bicycles, ride shares, trains, and buses – within well-designed, well-connected public spaces containing ample community amenities.

Summary:
The Urban Freight Lab's Common Microhub project provides an opportunity for members to test and evaluate urban logistics strategies on the ground in Seattle's Uptown neighborhood. As third-party logistics companies enter the last-mile space and more cities commit to environmental focus and zero emission vision, the interest around creating logistics places in urban proximity is growing. The outcomes of this research can guide the development of future microhub implementations in other cities.

Summary:
This study will use a driving simulator to design a simulation experiment to test the behavior of commercial vehicle drivers under various parking and delivery situations and to analyze their reactions. The ability to modify the simulator’s environment will allow the researchers to relatively easily test a range of scenarios that correspond to different delivery and parking situations, such as changing road characteristics (land use, number of travel lanes, nearby signals, traffic in adjacent lanes), curb allocations (paid parking, commercial vehicle loading zones, passenger load zones), and other road users (passenger cars, ridehailing vehicles, bikes). In addition to monitoring behavior and decision-making, the simulator can also monitor distraction (through eye tracking) and the stress level of drivers (through galvanic skin response) when making these decisions and interacting with other road users. Analyzing parking decisions and driver stress levels based on roadway and driver characteristics will provide insights on travel behaviors and the parking decision-making process of commercial vehicle drivers, and will help city planners improve street designs and curb management policies to accommodate safe and efficient operations in a shared urban roadway environment. This study is intended to fill knowledge gaps and serve as a valuable resource for policy makers, transportation engineers, and urban planners.

Summary:
The purpose of this research is to improve our understanding of the interactions between heavy vehicles and other users in an urban environment, in particular, in cases where commercial vehicle activity disrupts the activity of pedestrians and bicyclists. The research approach includes both the observation of current practice and evaluation of infrastructure and simulation of roadway user behavior. This information will support better roadway and load zone design guidelines, which will allow our urban street system to operate more efficiently, safely, and reliably for all users.

Summary:
This project will develop and test innovative, non-invasive container screening methods in the new Supply Chain Defense Lab (SCDLab). The SCDLab research partnership brings the UFL's deep logistics expertise, global supply chain companies such as SSA Marine and Expeditors International of Washington, and the UW Center for Conservation Biology Forensic and Detection Dog Programs to solve global supply chain security problems that are priorities for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).