Research Projects

Summary:
In Phase 2 of the West Seattle Bridge Case Study, the research team will shift the focus from business establishments to consumers. In particular, we will explore consumer behavior, defined as how people choose to buy goods and services and where they buy them, to better understand residential demand and accessibility of goods for WS residents.  

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:
This project seeks to examine how microfreight hubs can increase equity to services, benefit historically marginalized communities, and be joined to share micromobility options, social service agencies and minority businesses in North Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Urban Freight Lab will assist Frontier MPO and the City of Fort Smith in this work create a cohesive strategy to develop a sound planning process, to grow collaborative relationships, to produce a sustainable business model, and to implement a microfreight hub pilot project that leverages community resources.

Summary:
(This project is being conducted under the Urban Freight Lab's (UFL) Technical Assistance Program, where UFL contributes to the project by providing 1:1 match funds in terms of staff and/or research assistants to complete project tasks.) This project focuses on conducting targeted freight industry market research to identify strategies that can support charting a pathway to zero-emission freight strategies for New York City by 2050 and identify the associated roadblocks and barriers to entry. 

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:
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:
Through synthesis of existing literature and interviews conducted with private and public stakeholders, this project aims to provide an overview of the barriers to achieving sustainable urban freight. The research will highlight key strategies that can enable sustainable last mile delivery in the urban environment and, importantly, outline the specific roadblocks to carrying out those strategies. This will help companies and public entities form sustainability plans and understand where collaboration between the two sectors in needed.

Summary:
Seattle DOT has engaged the Urban Freight Lab to conduct research to explore strategies to alleviate congestion impacts and minimize the disruption of goods and service delivery to West Seattle during the closure of the West Seattle High Bridge, which connects the West Seattle peninsula to the rest of the city.

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:
The mission of the Seattle Flu Study (SFS) is to prototype city-scale capabilities for epidemic preparedness and response. One of the aims of this study is to understand methods to implement rapid interventions outside of clinical settings and within 48-72 hours of the onset of symptoms, to enable the immediate diagnosis, treatment, or isolation of flu-positive individuals. 

Summary:
This research aims to develop innovative methods for managing curb lane function and curb access. The rapid rise of autonomous vehicles (AV), on-demand transportation, and e-commerce goods deliveries, as well as increased cycling rates and transit use, is increasing demand for curb space resulting in competition between modes, failed goods deliveries, roadway and curbside congestion, and illegal parking.

Summary:
The Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center (SCTL) is conducting collaborative research with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) to explore and share innovative approaches for moving, storing, and redistributing surplus food. Transportation, storage, and logistics have been key operational barriers to increasing rescued food. SPU commissioned SCTL to create a shared data-driven understanding of the logistics of food rescue in Seattle. The purpose of this project is to reduce waste and increase access and food quality for customers of food banks and meal programs. Research will be conducted with both businesses that donate food and the organizations that receive it.

Summary:
The Urban Freight Lab primarily focused on optimizing UW Department of Laboratory Medicine's 12 routes per day, moving lab specimens and conducting departmental business. The work will optimize the minimize both the expected lead time (from the time the specimens are ready for pick up to the time they are delivered to the lab for testing) and the extent to which couriers work outside of their maximum shift durations.

Summary:
The City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has engaged the Urban Freight Lab to conduct research on the impacts of a Freight- and Transit-only lane (FAT lane) that was in place in January 2019, during the closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct (a major thoroughfare) in Seattle and reduction of capacity in an already congested road network. The research findings will be used to understand the FAT Lane's performance towards achieving city goals and to guide development of future FAT Lane projects.

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).