Sandra Rothbard

Member Coordinator (Interim)

Urban goods delivery systems and land use
Sustainable freight transportation systems
Stakeholder engagement and local health, safety, and economic impacts
Resilient last-mile delivery

Sandra Rothbard is an advocate for safe, sustainable, resilient, and efficient deliveries. She is the Founder and Principal of Freight Matters, LLC, an urban planning consulting firm focused on sustainable and resilient city logistics. Sandra has worked with government agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private sector on developing freight plans and managing projects related to truck routing, curb management, multimodal and zero-emissions delivery, stakeholder engagement and more. Before launching Freight Matters, Sandra served as the first Director of Supply Chain Logistics at NYC’s Emergency Management agency and as Project Manager in the Office of Freight Mobility at NYC Department of Transportation.

Land Use and Planning

Sandra has developed plans for and presented extensively on issues around waste facilities, consolidation centers and micro-fulfillment centers as an expert who researches trends and new warehouse technologies. As a consultant for Sidewalk Labs, she helped design a logistics hub for the Sidewalk Tomorrow project that could dynamically adjust for multiple uses such as packages, waste and storage. She served a lead on the design for the Blue Highway and micro distribution infrastructure for the Brooklyn Marine Terminal Redevelopment project. Sandra assists in general freight and transportation plans including the 2055 Metropolitan Transportation Plan for Augusta, Georgia, and a preliminary sustainability plan for the South Fulton CID in Georgia. Sandra has co-authored reports on a variety of freight topics including global climate impacts of freight and on freight, stakeholder engagement, zero-emission zones, and more.

Local Advising

For cities and regions that lack freight teams, Sandra helps build local expertise and develops freight plans and policies. This includes a better understanding of the state of logistics in local communities including e-commerce delivery but also service vehicles, waste collection, commercial food delivery and reverse logistics which often have the greatest impact on environmental and safety concerns, but which are often ignored in planning efforts. These include guidelines on integrating freight into all areas of transportation planning. In addition, Sandra works with cities to provide guidance on truck routing, identifying potential road conflicts and design requirements to support trucks as well as logistics facilities.

Curb Management

Delivery Windows: Sandra conducted research and pilots for these loading/unloading zones while working for NYCDOT. In this capacity Sandra studied street uses and identified locations utilizing time lapse cameras and monitored improved traffic speeds after implementation.

Rules and regulations at the curb significantly affect goods movement, particularly when freight is not considered. Sandra served as logistics advisor for the FlexCurb project in Europe. This technology helps cities visualize their curb regulations via a detailed digital platform. In addition, an app is under development to help delivery drivers identify available loading and unloading locations and highlights where cities need to dedicate more space for deliveries and charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles.

Sandra managed the SURF (Sustainable URban Freight) program led by POLIS and funded by the Environmental Defense Fund. This program was based on a document co–authored by C40 in 2020 on how cities can prepare for zero-emission zones by starting with freight. The project supported three European cities as they conducted pilot projects for the logistics community to transition to zero-emission deliveries by 2030. These focused on loading zones, multi-modal deliveries, and stakeholder engagement. Coupled with these pilots was a free e-course to give cities, practitioners, operators and other stakeholders the information needed to develop, implement and operate zero-emission zones for freight.

Sandra advises the Sustainable Last-Mile Deliveries in Dense Urban Metros project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. This pilot is testing the use of cargo bikes and passenger ferries to shuttle goods in NYC as a replacement for trucks. This project will in turn provide lessons learned for the Blue Highways program.

Outreach

Sandra brings significant experience developing stakeholder engagement strategies for city logistics and urban planning more broadly. She has experience mapping critical stakeholders, designing surveys and workshops, leading public events as well as documenting lessons learned in reports and leading after-action reviews. Sandra has a unique perspective in this area having experience from three different vantage points:

As an employee of NYC agencies, working with and presenting to the public
As a consultant, working with and presenting to the public and industry on behalf of the public and private sectors
As a private citizen – testifying during public hearings as well as serving as the secretary of the Land Use Committee for Brooklyn Community Board 2 for three terms.

Sandra authored a report to help municipalities develop urban freight partnerships for the Environmental Defense Fund. The report is complemented by a how-to guide with easy to use templates to help cities begin or continue their stakeholder engagement.

Resilient, Healthy, and Safe Communities

To reduce the number of road conflicts during peak hours, NYCDOT runs an Off-Hour Deliveries program for last-mile deliveries to commercial properties. During her time at DOT, Sandra served as project manager for this program and worked with researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to identify tools and systems to reduce overnight noise. This included changes in vehicle design (back up alarms), worker behavior (use of radios and noise dampening mats onto which deliveries will be placed – instead of directly onto sideway or roadway), receiving business infrastructure (doors, roll gates, and security systems) and more.

Sandra helped develop the Truck’s Eye View educational event which encourages visitors to sit in the driver’s seat of a large truck and learn about vehicle blind spots. This safety program helps teach other road users that trucks have significant obstructed vision areas.

While leading the Supply Chain Logistics division at the NYC Emergency Management Agency, Sandra led the logistics operations and coordination with the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation for the Critical Infrastructure Flood Protection Project (now called the Interim Flood Protection Measures Program). This included leveraging the City’s sand bank, piloting and planning the deployment of physical barriers around facilities such as wastewater treatment plants, commercial food markets, and other critical buildings. This resilience project has since grown significantly in scale. In addition, Sandra was selected for the Regional Resiliency Assessment Program managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop an interactive map to direct the movement of emergency supplies and equipment before, during, and after an emergency event.

Recent Publications:

Master of Urban Planning, NYU (2010)
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Anthropology, and Community Building and Social Change, Emory University (2006)

Adjunct Professor, Urban Transportation Planning, Georgia Tech (2024). Urban Transportation Planning GT CP4310. Precursor to the newly created undergraduate degree in Urban Planning and Spatial Analytics.

Member of the American Institute of Certified Planners
Member, Freight Transportation Planning and Logistics Committee member, Transportation Research Board
Board member, Urban Assembly School for Global Commerce

Report

Seattle SMART: Digitizing the Last Mile of Urban Goods to Improve Curb Access and Utilization

Download PDF (4.76 MB)

URL: https://doi.org/10.6069/TZAS-KG37

Publication Date: 2025

Summary:

In Spring 2023, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) was awarded a Stage-1 grant under the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program by the US DOT. The University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab (UFL) partnered with SDOT to develop the methodological approach and analysis for the SMART project, titled “Last-mile freight curb access: digitizing the last-mile of urban goods to improve curb access and utilization,” and determine key research discoveries that contribute to the existing body of work and support development for a SMART Stage-2 grant. This technical report describes the research study, data collected, and findings from analysis of those data.

This project tested a Vehicle-to-Curb (V2C) technology that investigated the digitization of the existing CVLZ permit and to potentially enable pricing strategies. While parking pricing policies have been successful to manage passenger vehicle demand and their parking behaviors, the response of commercial vehicles to parking pricing is not sufficiently understood, and little information is available to predict their behavioral response.

The overarching goals of this project were to:

pilot test the effectiveness of a V2C technology to enable the digitization of the existing Seattle CVLZ permit system and
to qualitatively understand the role parking pricing and permitting programs play in affecting drivers’ ability to find and utilize authorized parking within the context of north downtown Seattle.

Key insights were gained through multiple research strategies: on-the-ground parking behavior data collection, carrier interviews, and a carrier survey. These insights allowed SDOT to develop a successful Stage-2 grant submission and will inform future parking and permit policy decisions.

Authors: Urban Freight LabDr. Giacomo Dalla ChiaraThomas MaxnerArsalan EsmailiGabor WehrmuellerKelly RulaDr. Anne Goodchild

Recommended Citation:
Dalla Chiara, G., Maxner, T., Esmaili, A., Wehrmueller, G., Rula, K., Goodchild, A. (2025). Seattle Smart: Digitizing the Last Mile of Urban Goods to Improve Curb Access and Utilization. Urban Freight Lab, University of Washington. https://doi.org/10.6069/TZAS-KG37

Miami-Dade County SMART Curbs Program

Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) received funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) grant program to improve curbside management, bike lane safety, and zero-emission urban freight through technology, sustainability, and community input.

As research partner, the Urban Freight Lab’s role includes shaping the pilot design, ensuring grant compliance, advising on technology integration, informing policy development, and leading shared learning across cities.

Selected from 392 applications nationwide, this project is part of a broader multi-city effort to build safer, more equitable and more sustainable freight systems by leveraging innovative technology and data.

Background

The Miami-Dade County SMART Curbs Program aims to transform streets across Miami-Dade County, Florida, with safer, cleaner, and more connected delivery solutions. Led by Miami-Dade DTPW and funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) grant program, this project combines advanced technologies, sustainable logistics, and public engagement to reduce emissions, improve bike lane safety, and support zero-emissions deliveries.

As part of a national multi-city collaboration, the program addresses complex challenges such as e-delivery and micro-freight monitoring, secure curb access and parking, and shared data tools to support better freight planning, policy development, and the modernization of last-mile delivery infrastructure.

Goals

The SMART Curbs Program goals are:

Create Safer Streets: Minimize roadway risks and reduce congestion with better curbside management and the adoption of zero-emission vehicles
Protect the Climate: Support Miami-Dade County’s climate goals by reducing emissions, promoting clean air, and encouraging sustainable delivery practices
Boost the Local Economy: Increase delivery efficiency, create jobs in last-mile logistics, and support the management of MicroFreight hubs
Engage the Community: Ensure input from all residents to guide planning and implementation.

The program includes SMART Loading Zones throughout Downtown Miami and Brickell. These zones are dedicated spaces designed to:

Streamline freight deliveries
Reduce curbside congestion
Improve urban safety
Advance zero-emission transportation goals

By addressing high-traffic areas with innovative solutions, SMART Loading Zones will create a more organized and efficient curbside experience for residents, businesses, and delivery drivers.

Urban Freight Lab Scope of Work

Task 1 – Project Management and QA/QC

Task 2 – Grant compliance and project management capacity support

The Subcontractor will work with Cityfi to aid the Client in certain elements of grant reporting and compliance. These include support of DTPW in development of the required Evaluation and Measurement Plan, compilation of the findings of said plan, problem statement definition and research framing.

Task 3 — Best Practices and State of the Industry Research

The Subcontractor will provide technical advice and best practice research, in particular, on the urban freight industry and operations. Research will include collaboration with DTPW project manager to assess pilot design in line with freight industry and local community needs.

Task 4 — Conceptual Design Support

The Subcontractor will support Cityfi, the Client, and public engagement and technology partners to allow DTPW to craft a conceptual design for demonstration deployment. Design will include multiple demonstration sites, assessment of anticipated users, integration of multiple technology partners, and public interface of technologies.

Task 5 — Technology Partner Integration Support

Multiple technologies and public agencies are involved in the micro-freight and smart curb zone demonstration. These entities must work together for a successful integrated demonstration. This will likely include new product development to enable the necessary integration and deliver outcomes desired by the County.

Task 6 — Policy and Regulatory Support

As with any new technology, form factor or service model, there is a high likelihood that new or revised policies, procedures or even regulations will be necessary to facilitate their demonstration and ultimate deployment. The Subcontractor will support Cityfi and DTPW with necessary policy assessments.

Task 7 — Collaborative Learnings and Exchange

DTPW was selected for a grant award as a member of a multi-city collaborative. It is the expectation of USDOT that DTPW will engage in shared learnings and exchange with other members of the collaborative to accelerate innovation and improvement across the nine participating cities.

Task 8 — Phase I Summary and Phase II Grant Support

At the conclusion of Phase I, DTPW must submit an array of materials to USDOT to compete for Phase II funding for expansion and scaling. The Subcontractor will support Cityfi in preparing an evaluation and summary report of the Phase I demonstration documenting indicators, accomplishments and outcomes as necessary to inform Phase II application.

Technical Report

Interview Results: Carrier Perspectives on Delivery Operations and Zero-Emission Zones in Downtown Portland

Download PDF (0.28 MB)

Publication Date: 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. The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) was approached by PBOT to assist in their SMART grant implementation by providing subject matter expertise on the topics of urban freight, curb management, and freight decarbonization. The UFL team created a questionnaire and interview guide to inquire about current carrier operations, current and future fleet composition, and loading activities of carriers operating in the City of Portland.

The selected organizations were identified as carriers or organizations that make deliveries into the proposed Zero-Emission Delivery Zone (ZEDZ) in downtown Portland. The UFL reached out to over 20 different organizations spanning different business sectors and company sizes, from large national parcel carriers to regional wholesale distributors to small delivery companies. Ultimately, only four organizations responded to requests for interviews. Between June and August 2024, the UFL conducted these interviews. Table 1 provides an overview of the companies interviewed and their main business activities. Company and organization names are omitted from this report to anonymize the respondents.

The goal of the interviews was to understand the parking behaviors and fleets of individual companies. In particular, the interviewers focused on understanding the current delivery operations in the Portland area, the related parking and routing behaviors of their delivery drivers, fleet composition, and the challenges they face in performing deliveries in the study area.

Each interview was 1-hour long and was guided on a questionnaire reported in the appendix. The questionnaire was developed into three sections:

Organization – Describe their main business activities, logistics network and fleet composition.
Routing, parking, and payment behaviors – Description of typical drivers’ operations in the City of Portland and specifically downtown, including routing and parking behaviors, as well as use of paid parking and citations.
Future scenarios – Companies were asked about zero-emission vehicles and implications of the ZEDZ on operations.

This report contains the main results of the interviews, including a description of the logistics network infrastructure, delivery operations, and curb use behaviors. The final section provides the key lessons learned.

Zero-Emission Delivery Zone: City of Portland SMART Grant

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) was awarded a nearly $2 million Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in Fall 2023 to pilot the country’s first regulated Zero-Emission Delivery Zone in downtown Portland and test digital infrastructure tools. This project will test an innovative set of incentives and regulations to better understand what technology and strategies municipalities can use to support and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the freight sector.

While other cities in the United States have piloted voluntary Zero-Emission Delivery Zones (ZEDZs) to encourage the transition of commercial fleets to zero-emission modes, Portland will be the first U.S. city to pilot a regulated ZEDZ. The regulated ZEDZ will be active during a demonstration period of approximately six months beginning in late summer/early fall of 2024. During this temporary demonstration period, the parking rules for all truck loading zones within the project area will be changed to prioritize access for zero-emission vehicles only (see Figure 1). Loading zones within the ZEDZ will be monitored by parking sensors, both before and after the approximately six-month long demonstration period, so that project staff can better understand the impact of this regulation. These loading zones will be referred to as Zero-Emission Loading Zones.

This pilot project will also test a variety of partnerships and incentives to accelerate the movement of “clean goods,” or goods with fewer negative impacts to health and the environment. This could include diverting existing deliveries into the ZEDZ to local fleets of electric-assist cargo trikes and electric vehicles, vans and trucks, or supporting local delivery companies in transitioning their own fleets to zero-emission modes.

This project is enabled by a nearly $2 million USDOT SMART Stage 1 pilot and prototyping grant. Depending on outcomes from this pilot project, PBOT will have the opportunity to apply for a Stage 2 implementation grant for up to $15 million to refine or scale promising strategies identified in the initial pilot project. The two stages of the SMART grant program are unique in that they allow the City of Portland to test several strategies on a small scale before exploring any larger-scale implementation. All of this work is in service to Portland’s values around climate and transportation justice: a safer, cleaner, and more equitable system for delivering goods and services.

Draft map of project area showing proposed zero-emission load zones updated in March 2024. Loading zone site selection will be refined with stakeholder input in late Spring 2024.

Scope of Work

The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) was approached by PBOT to assist in their Phase 1 SMART grant implementation. The UFL will provide subject matter expertise on the topics of urban freight, curb management, and freight decarbonization. They will support PBOT in the form of interviews and/or surveys to summarize current carrier operations, current and future fleet composition, and loading activities.

Task 1. Project management and subject matter expertise support
- Deliverables: Attend meetings and provide subject matter expert consultation as needed.
Task 2. Document how some carriers and delivery operators would be impacted by a zero-emission delivery zone (ZEDZ) in Portland, including understanding current and planned fleet composition, interactions with the curb, and barriers and opportunities for the City to support.
- Deliverables: Interview questionnaire and summaries of answers (we will aggregate and anonymize results). Draft and final technical memo, with one PBOT review of the draft

Zero-Emission Zones: Turning Ideas into Action

C40 Cities, a consortium of cities worldwide with the collective goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, introduced an initiative in 2017 to create “Zero Emission Areas.” These areas, or zones, would be closed off to fossil fuel-burning vehicles and serve as a testbed for scaling up zero-emission regulation. Seattle, along with U.S. counterparts Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, CA, is a signatory to the Zero Emission Area Programme and as such, is obligated to create such an area by 2030.

Zero Emission Zones (ZEZ) can introduce obstacles to the urban freight and logistics industry. Though large delivery companies like Amazon, UPS, and FedEx are introducing electric vehicles (EVs), parcel and package delivery are not the only service included in the complex sector of urban freight. EVs are not yet widely available on the market and the high capital costs of introducing EVs into a company’s fleet can act as a barrier. However, there are strategies being tested and explored to reduce emissions including but not limited to zero emission curb zones, parcel lockers, e-cargo bikes, pricing strategies at the curb and at the point of sale (e.g. taxes and fees), consolidation centers, and other strategies. Additionally, many of these zones are being envisioned in areas with a focus on improving equity outcomes and across neighborhoods of different characteristics. However, no guidance exists for cities about how to approach the selection of these areas or tactics co-developed with the private sector.

Research Objectives

Develop a framework for evaluating geographic locations, existing policy tools, and key learning objectives or measures of success based on two different neighborhood typologies
Incorporate private sector stakeholders into the design process

Tasks

Task 1: Define the characteristics and goals of a zero-emission delivery zone
Task 2: Perform literature and policy scan on existing tools to push deliveries towards zero emission (industry and consumer-side)
Task 3: Identify 2 different neighborhood typologies in Seattle for analysis and define the study area boundaries
- One neighborhood should meet existing definitions of a Justice 40 or equity focus area community as defined by City of Seattle (e.g. Georgetown)
- One neighborhood should represent high-density demand for e-commerce and congestion (define?) (e.g. Capital Hill, South Lake Union)
Task 4: Collect publicly-available baseline data on neighborhood characteristics collect data (land use, types of businesses, demographics of residents)
Task 5: Develop potential scenarios, tactics, and metrics that reflect the unique characteristics of the chosen neighborhoods/typologies
- The team will leverage existing relationships to perform private sector outreach, based on interviews: understand their priorities, reactions to scenarios under development.
Task 6: Recommendations and framework
- How do you choose the site / site selection criteria and methodology
- Tactics based on neighborhood typology characteristics- using policies available right now or with limited policy effort
- Equity-Community metrics- How does the makeup of the zone/neighborhood impact tactics + metrics?
- Key metrics- What are you trying to test and how will you measure?
- Tools to accelerate the implementation of zero-emission deliveries.

Deliverable

Create a framework for zero emission zone design and case study of two different neighborhoods in Seattle.

Dataset

Developing Better Curb Management Strategies through Understanding Commercial Vehicle Driver Parking Behavior in a Simulated Environment

URL: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/HVAUT3

Publication: Harvard Dataverse

Publication Date: 2023

Summary:

Three different data types were obtained from Oregon State Driving and Bicycling Simulator Laboratory for purpose of this report and they are as follow:

Speed data consists of subject number, average speed, minimum speed, and all the independent variables. Speed data were collected based on the truck’s speed while driving through a certain scenario (out of 24). For each scenario, the average and minimum speed (mph) of 12 drivers were recorded along each segment (scenario) from the start of the road to 150 feet before the intersection (traffic signals).
Eye tracking data consists of subject number, total fixation duration (TFD) in milliseconds, area of interest (AOI), and all the independent variables. TFD data were collected while the truck driver maneuvers through a certain scenario (out of 24). For each scenario, the TFD for each AOI was recorded for 11 subjects along each segment (scenario) from the start of the road to 150 feet before the intersection (traffic signals). AOI represent the area of interest that a driver fixates for a certain of time to generate the total fixation duration.
Eye tracking data consists of subject number, GSR in peaks per minute, and all the independent variables. GSR data were collected while the truck driver maneuvers through a certain scenario (1 out of 24). For each scenario, the peaks per minute data was recorded for 11 subjects along each segment (scenario) from the start of the road to 150 feet before the intersection (traffic signals). Peaks per minute represents the emotional arousal (i.e., something is scary, threating, joyful, etc.) that a driver generates when reacting to a particular event. Fourteen participants were recruited, two of them had a simulator sickness so they were excluded from the data and the analysis. While there are no quality or consistency issues with this data set, it should be noted that the sample is on the smaller side and that should be considered when interpreting derived results. The average values were calculated to apply robust statistical analysis for such data (speed and lateral position). As the experiment consists of 2x2x2x3 factorial design, each participant had to driver through 24 scenarios; therefore, 288 scenario observations were obtained and recorded in the excel file.

Authors: Dr. Anne GoodchildDr. Ed McCormackDr. Andisheh Ranjbari, David Hurwitz

Recommended Citation:
Goodchild, Anne; McCormack, Ed; Ranjbari, Andisheh; Hurwitz, David, 2023, "Developing Better Curb Management Strategies through Understanding Commercial Vehicle Driver Parking Behavior in a Simulated Environment", Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/HVAUT3.

Paper

Simulation-Based Analysis of Different Curb Space Type Allocations on Curb Performance

Download PDF (3.49 MB)

URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/21680566.2023.2212324

Publication: Transportmetrica B: Transport Dynamics

Volume: 11 (1)

Pages: 1384-1405

Publication Date: 2023

Summary:

Curbspace is a limited resource in urban areas. Delivery, ridehailing and passenger vehicles must compete for spaces at the curb. Cities are increasingly adjusting curb rules and allocating curb spaces for uses other than short-term paid parking, yet they lack the tools or data needed to make informed decisions. In this research, we analyze and quantify the impacts of different curb use allocations on curb performance through simulation. Three metrics are developed to evaluate the performance of the curb, covering productivity and accessibility of passengers and goods, and CO2 emissions. The metrics are calculated for each scenario across a range of input parameters (traffic volume, parking rate, vehicle dwell time, and street design speed) and compared to a baseline scenario. This work can inform policy decisions by providing municipalities tools to analyze various curb management strategies and choose the ones that produce results more in line with their policy goals.

Authors: Thomas MaxnerDr. Andisheh RanjbariŞeyma Güneş, Chase Dowling (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Recommended Citation:
Thomas Maxner, Andisheh Ranjbari, Chase P. Dowling & Şeyma Güneş (2023) Simulation-based analysis of different curb space type allocations on curb performance, Transportmetrica B: Transport Dynamics, 11:1, 1384-1405, DOI: 10.1080/21680566.2023.2212324

Revenue-Related Strategies for New Mobility Options

The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) is partnering with ECONorthwest and Cityfi to develop a research product for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) on the topic of revenue strategies for new mobility options. The team will analyze the public sector’s potential role in using revenue-related strategies to encourage or discourage new mobility options in personal mobility and goods delivery.

Transportation services often operate in publicly owned and publicly managed spaces, make use of public rights-of-way, and produce mobility benefits for a broad array of users. The public sector is responsible for managing and pricing those rights-of-way and delivering services in an equitable way. Recovering the public costs of management and provisioning from private transportation services and their users is essential for maintaining public benefit. And sometimes the public sector needs to help private services to thrive.

The research methodology for this project is designed to be iterative: activities and research will build on previous research and activities. We will begin with the development of a revenue framework informed by a broad review of the literature, a policy scan, and workshop sessions with transportation and other public agency representatives that regulate and collect revenue from new mobility services. The framework will include revenue-related strategies based on:

- identifiable need
- nexus to cost responsibility
- policy outcome
- other factors such as access to technology and ease of administration.

We will then take a deeper dive into each personal mobility mode and goods delivery market segment to apply the framework. We will also provide examples to illustrate the opportunities and challenges of a variety of revenue strategies. We will also conduct additional workshops with public agency representatives, industry representatives, and other transportation stakeholders. Finally, we will create a spreadsheet-based Revenue Calculator that allows interested individuals to estimate how much revenue could be generated using different assumptions and strategies. The work will culminate with the development of a Toolkit that will be submitted to NCHRP and made available for wider distribution.

Objectives

The objective of this research is to develop a toolkit for transportation agencies that addresses how revenue-related strategies (e.g., taxes, fees, and subsidies) support policy objectives and shape the deployment of new mobility options. The toolkit will assist agencies to develop, evaluate, implement, and administer revenue-related strategies for new mobility options that transport people and goods.

The research will include:

New and evolving transportation options for people and goods that interact with the existing built environment and travel throughout an area
Incentives and disincentives that result from revenue-related strategies
Policy implications of revenue-related strategies for new mobility options including revenue potential, mobility, travel demand, safety, equity, environment, economic development, infrastructure design, operations, and maintenance
Mechanisms for revenue collection and distribution for different mobility options in different scenarios
The ease and difficulty of implementing and enforcing different revenue-related strategies for new mobility options
Potential roles and responsibilities of governmental organizations and private entities

Last-Mile Freight Curb Access: Digitizing the Last Mile of Urban Goods to Improve Curb Access and Use

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded a $2 million grant under its SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) grant program to support the development of the Last-Mile Freight Curb Access Program: Digitizing the Last Mile of Urban Goods to Improve Curb Access and Utilization, a collaboration between the Urban Freight Lab, Seattle Department of Transportation, and Open Mobility Foundation. This project will develop sensor-based technology solutions that address to transportation problems, enabling commercial vehicles to make faster, safer, and more efficient deliveries with reduced vehicle emissions.

The Last Mile Freight Curb Access Program focuses on providing commercial vehicle drivers with real-time information to park legally and expedite deliveries. Research from a 2019 Urban Freight Lab study showed that more than 40% of commercial vehicles in downtown Seattle park in unauthorized locations. Another study showed that equipping commercial vehicles with real-time parking availability and load zone information could reduce their “cruising” time by nearly 30%. The project aims to make information about curbside regulations digitized and more accessible to commercial drivers, and leverage this data to improve regulations.

Other cities including Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Miami-Dade County have also received SMART grants to implement similar technology-based solutions for improving curb access.

Background

Since 2010, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has been a national leader in data-driven curbside management by using parking occupancy data to set on-street parking rates. We proposed to extend our data-driven pricing and curb literacy to a new use: designated commercial vehicle load zones (CVLZ) and the commercial vehicle permit (CVP). Our plan is to establish new CVP policies in close collaboration with urban freight companies, adjacent businesses, and other critical stakeholders; implement a digital CVP built on the Curb Data Specification (CDS) that enables capture of curb utilization measurements and communicates demand management policies; and transform our legacy digital curb inventory to the national CDS standard.

Strategies

To address these challenges, SDOT proposes a SMART project that will use a combination of digital technologies coupled with targeted outreach. This approach will be implemented through three key strategies:

Engage with local businesses and urban freight companies to understand challenges and build a foundation of trust SDOT will engage with a variety of stakeholders including local neighborhood businesses, commercial vehicle users from large carriers, and commercial vehicle permit (CVP) holders from small and local businesses. The goal is to build trust and work collaboratively with our users to modernize and improve our existing CVP to create a system that works for urban freight companies, local businesses, and benefits the community at large.
Prototype a digital CVP and use findings to modernize and scale the system SDOT will conduct a vendor procurement to prototype and assess a wireless vehicle-to-curb infrastructure (V2I) communication system, built on top of the Curb Data Specification (CDS) standard as a new way to manage our CVP. Data collected through this prototype will be leveraged by the UFL to conduct research to develop standardized data collection efforts for commercial curb use and create new data-driven policy and permit recommendations.
Collaborate with a national cohort of cities implementing the Curb Data Specification SDOT will partner with the Open Mobility Foundation (OMF) and collaborate with a national cohort of OMF member cities to support the shared objectives in how CDS can help cities and companies pilot and scale dynamic curb use. SDOT will share lessons from Stage 1 prototyping with OMF cohort cities to strengthen all CDS-related SMART grant projects and better position proven technologies to be implemented at scale for a Stage 2 project. SDOT is uniquely positioned to deliver a successful Stage 1 project focusing on commercial vehicle curb access and utilization given our existing CVP and leadership in data driven curbside management. Specifically, this project will directly address the SMART goals of equity and access, partnerships, and integration and build the foundation for dramatic improvements in safety, reliability, and climate in Stage 2. Our goal is that the Stage 1 learnings will allow us to scale a digital CVP for citywide adoption in Stage 2, thus promoting interoperability of technology solutions to improve curb access for commercial curb users citywide. Our approach centers on stakeholder and community partnerships, data-driven assessment, and technical capacity-building. Potential outcomes for testing and implementation in Stage 2 include updated policies or curb allocations that might address inequities through deeper understanding of the variety of commercial users of the curb, reduced carbon emissions by creating or incenting CV zero emission zones, and decreased impacts to vulnerable road users through optimized curb allocation.

Objectives

The expected benefits of Stage 1 will be threefold:

1. Rigorously assess the piloted technology system to understand its scaling potential: The project will develop a technology assessment methodology that will look critically at accuracy and data use model development. This assessment will be transparent and developed in collaboration with OMF cohort cities to ensure solutions are scalable while meeting the core needs of Seattle’s digital CVP.
2. Create a CDS framework for standardizing data collection efforts of commercial curb space: SDOT will share lessons learned from Stage 1 prototyping and policy recommendations with OMF cohort cities to collectively strengthen all CDS-related SMART grant projects and better position proven technologies to be implemented at scale.
3. Create new data-driven commercial vehicle policy and permit recommendations to be enacted during Stage 2 of this grant

The recommendations will be informed by data models created by the UFL using utilization data from the project overlayed with characteristics of adjacent urban form and land use. These models will help SDOT identify areas for adjustments to existing curb allocation as well as establish a deeper understanding of the variety of commercial vehicle user behavior at the curb to meet climate goals. We anticipate these policies will benefit both curb users and local community members by reducing congestion and creating safer streets.