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Goods Movement 2030: What Have We Done and What is Next?

Publication: Goods Movement 2030: An Urban Freight Blog
Publication Date: 2023
Summary:

A year and a half ago, our members decided to dig into four topics for the Goods Movement 2030 project (Electrification, Digital Transformation, Planning Streets for People and Goods, and Microfreight). They all — public and private sector alike — saw these areas as transformative. And they identified six priorities around which we hope to see improved outcomes for 2030 (Reducing CO2 Emissions, Reducing Congestion, Reducing Roadway Fatalities, Increasing and Improving Protected Spaces for Vulnerable Users, Making Transparent the Cost of Delivery, and Improving Equity).

From myriad lively discussions, debates, and expert-led learning over the last 18 months, this much is clear: Each of the four topics we’ve explored together cries out for deep and broad collaboration between the public and private sectors if we’re going to move the needle on our consensus priorities.

And the good news? Our members have already shown that they’re willing and able to approach that needed collaboration with curious minds and radical transparency (not to mention their demonstrated commitment to innovating and having tough conversations.) All of this bodes well for both the present — and the future we’ve all been working to imagine and shape.

While all six priorities surfaced throughout this project, it’s decarbonization that came up in virtually every discussion on every topic. On equity, we had to grapple early on with what that even means in urban freight.

This blog presents a Cliffs Notes recap of big-picture project takeaways.

Recommended Citation:
“Goods Movement 2030: What Have We Done and What Is Next?” Goods Movement 2030 (blog). Urban Freight Lab, October 24, 2023. https://www.goodsmovement2030.com/post/goods-movement-2030-so-what-have-we-done-here-and-whats-next.
White Paper

Biking the Goods: How North American Cities Can Prepare for and Promote Large-Scale Adoption of E-Cargo Bikes

 
Download PDF  (1.79 MB)
Publication Date: 2023
Summary:

The distribution of goods and services in North American cities has conventionally relied on diesel-powered internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Recent developments in electromobility have provided an opportunity to reduce some of the negative externalities generated by urban logistics systems.

Cargo e-bikes — electric cycles specially designed for cargo transportation — represent an alternative environmentally friendly and safer mode for delivering goods and services in urban areas. However, lack of infrastructure, legal uncertainties, and a cultural and economic attachment to motorized vehicles has hindered their adoption. Cities play a crucial role in reducing these barriers and creating a leveled playing field where cargo e-bikes can be essential to urban logistics systems.

This paper aims to inform urban planners about what cargo e-bikes are, how they have been successfully deployed in North America to replace ICE vehicles, and identify actionable strategies cities can take to encourage their adoption while guaranteeing safety for all road users.

Gathering data and opinions from key public and private sector stakeholders and building on the expertise of the Urban Freight Lab, this paper identifies nine recommendations and 21 actions for urban planners across the following four main thematic areas:

  1. Infrastructure: cycling, parking infrastructure, and urban logistics hubs
  2. Policy and Regulation: e-bike law, safety regulation, and policies de-prioritizing vehicles
  3. Incentives: rebates and business subsidies
  4. Culture and Education: labor force training, educational programs, and community-driven adoption

Acknowledgements

The Urban Freight Lab acknowledges the following co-sponsors for financially supporting this research: Bosch eBike Systems, Fleet Cycles, Gazelle USA, Michelin North America, Inc., Net Zero Logistics, Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) Region 10, Seattle Department of Transportation, and Urban Arrow.

Technical contributions and guidance: Amazon, B-Line (Franklin Jones), Cascade Bicycle Club, Coaster Cycles, City of Boston, City of Portland, Downtown Seattle Business Association (Steve Walls), New York City Department of Transportation, People for Bikes (Ash Lovell), Portland Bureau of Transportation, University of Washington Mailing Services (Douglas Stevens), UPS,

Recommended Citation:
Dalla Chiara, G., Verma, R., Rula, K., Goodchild, A. (2023). Biking the Goods: How North American Cities Can Prepare for and Promote Large-Scale Adoption of Cargo e-Bikes. Urban Freight Lab, University of Washington.
Chapter

Overview on Stakeholder Engagement

Publication: Handbook on City Logistics and Urban Freight
Publication Date: 2023
Summary:

Until recently, urban transport authorities often overlooked freight, concentrating their attention on the movement of people. Even when motivated to tackle urban freight, many city authorities find it difficult to mobilize their own resources, and address the complex set of differing views of a large variety of stakeholders.

Historically, the role of city authorities, or local authorities within cities, has been confined largely to one of regulation as opposed to collaborative planning. Correspondingly, until recently there has been limited engagement of private companies in the local-authority transport-planning process.

Engaging stakeholders is very important as without their involvement it is very difficult to motivate changes in the urban freight and logistics system or design policies that might be mutually beneficial; successful implementation of effective urban logistics initiatives demands a solid understanding of both freight activity and the supply chains serving the urban area.

This chapter examines these issues and addresses how cities can more effectively engage with stakeholders. There is a strong need to identify obstacles, propose solutions and define implementation paths that consider the concerns of all stakeholders involved. This sounds rather straightforward but in practice there are many conflicts among and within public and private-interest groups and these often result in obstacles to success.

This chapter will address the range of complex issues involved and establish a framework for understanding the options related to stakeholder engagement to improve urban freight sustainability.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Michael Browne (University of Gothenburg)
Recommended Citation:
Michael Browne & Anne Goodchild, 2023. "Overview on stakeholder engagement," Chapter in: Edoardo Marcucci & Valerio Gatta & Michela Le Pira (ed.), Handbook on City Logistics and Urban Freight, chapter 15, pages 311-326, Edward Elgar Publishing.

Dr. Anne Goodchild

Dr. Anne Goodchild
Dr. Anne Goodchild
  • Founder, Urban Freight Lab
  • Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
annegood@uw.edu  |  206-543-3747  |  Wilson Ceramics Lab 103
  • Urban goods delivery systems and land use
  • Logistics hubs and ports
  • Sustainable freight transportation systems
  • Supply chain management and freight transportation

Dr. Anne Goodchild is interested in the intersection between supply chain management and freight transportation. As an example of this, recent research is evaluating the changing nature of shopping and implications for goods delivery on CO2 emissions, local pollutants, and vehicle miles travelled. Her interest in economic and environmental sustainability is also demonstrated by her work looking at CO2 emissions in strategic routing and schedule planning in urban pick-up and delivery systems. Dr. Goodchild’s work in understanding supply chains, as they relate to the transport system, is demonstrated by her research funded by the SHRP2 freight data and modeling program, NCFRP 20, the FHWA’s Behavioral based National Freight Demand Model, and surveys and analysis funded by both the Washington and Oregon Departments of Transportation.

  • Innovation in Education Award, Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Transportation Education Council (2021)
  • Outstanding Researcher Award, Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) (2021)
  • Outstanding Mentor Award, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2020)
  • Person of the Year, Transportation Club of Seattle (2017)
  • Allan and Inger Osberg Endowed Professorship (2012 – 2016)
  • Community of Innovators Junior Faculty Research Award, College of Engineering (2012)
  • 2nd Prize, College-Industry Council on MH Education Outstanding Material Handling and Logistics paper (2008)
  • Dissertation Prize Honorable Mention, INFORMS Transportation Science and Logistics (2006)
  • PRISMS Presentation Competition Finalist, Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (2003)
  • Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley (2005)
    (Dissertation: Crane Double Cycling in Container Ports: Algorithms, Evaluation, and Planning)
  • M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley (2003)
  • B.S., Mathematics, UC Davis (1995)

Dr. Anne Goodchild leads the University of Washington’s academic and research efforts in the area of supply chain, logistics, and freight transportation. She is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Founder of both the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics online Master’s degree program and the Urban Freight Lab (UFL).

Under Goodchild’s leadership, the UFL coined the increasingly used term “Final 50 Feet” and defined it as the last leg of the supply chain for urban deliveries—including finding parking, moving items from a delivery vehicle, navigating traffic, sidewalks, intersections, bike lanes, and building security, and ending with the recipient. In addition to being key to customer satisfaction, this final segment is both the most expensive (where an estimated 25-50% of total supply chain costs are incurred) and most time-consuming part of the delivery process—and ripe for improvement. One of the hurdles in the final 50 feet is that many different parties are involved—city departments of transportation, delivery carriers, property owners, residents, and consumers—making a collaborative effort between sectors essential for developing mutually beneficial solutions. Using a systems engineering approach, the UFL has completed innovative research projects that provide foundational data and proven strategies, such as:

Dr. Goodchild’s contributions to transportation engineering in the U.S. and abroad have been significant. She is an expert in international border and port operations and has been instrumental in bringing supply chain concepts to freight model architectures. She has worked at the forefront of GPS data applications, identifying observable transportation characteristics that statistically predict transportation behavior.

She is the author or co-author of more than 100 research publications, and serves as associate editor for the peer-reviewed scientific journal Transportation Letters. From 2016 to 2018 she chaired the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board (TRB) Freight and Marine Chairs group, the top national research organization in her field. She teaches logistics and analysis, global trade, transportation & logistics management, and advises graduate students in transportation engineering, and has won several teaching and research awards.

Dr. Goodchild is the recipient of numerous research grants, including recent awards from the U.S. Department of Transportation, PacTrans (Regional University Transportation Center for Federal Region 10), Seattle Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration’s Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2), TRB’s National Cooperative Freight Research Program, and the Washington and Oregon State Departments of Transportation.

Dr. Goodchild holds both a doctorate (2005) and a master’s degree (2003) in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree (with high honors) in mathematics from University of California, Davis. Before earning her Ph.D. she worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Applied Decision Analysis Inc. in Europe and North America designing efficient airline schedules and optimizing research portfolios. She joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty at the University of Washington in 2005. In addition, she holds a Visiting Professorship at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and a Research Affiliateship at Urban@UW (an initiative of the Office of Research and CoMotion at the University of Washington).

  • Adjunct Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of Washington
  • Visiting Professor, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg (Sweden)
  • Affiliate, Urban @ UW, University of Washington
  • Co-Chair, Aurora Urban Freight Consortium
  • Member, NECTAR (The Network on European Communications and Transport Activity Research) Cluster 3 Organizing Committee, Logistics and Freight
  • Member, Washington State Freight Advisory Committee (Chair, 2011-2013)
  • Organizing Committee, International Urban Freight Conference (I-NUF), Long Beach, CA (2017, 2019, 2021)
  • Associate Editor, Transportation Research Record (TRR) (2019-2020)
  • Member, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Board (TRB), Taskforce on Development of Freight Fluidity Performance Measures (2016-2019)
  • Group Chair, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Board (TRB), Freight Group (2016-2019)
  • Chair, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Board (TRB), Freight and Marine Chairs Group (2016-2018)
  • Chair, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on Intermodal Freight Transportation (AT045) (2013-2016)
  • Member, National Academy of Sciences, Committee for Study of Freight Rail Transportation and Regulation (2014-2015)
  • Editor, International Journal of Logistics and Transportation Research (2013-2014)
  • Member, Puget Sound Regional Council Freight Advisory Panel (2008-2011)
Paper

Identifying the Challenges to Sustainable Urban Last-Mile Deliveries: Perspectives from Public and Private Stakeholders

 
Download PDF  (0.48 MB)
Publication: Sustainability
Volume: 14, 4701
Publication Date: 2022
Summary:

While freight transportation is a necessary activity to sustain cities’ social and economic life—enabling the movement and deployment of goods and services in urbanized areas—it also accounts for a significant portion of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The urban freight ecosystem is a complex network of agents, both public and private. Reducing CO2 emissions from urban freight requires the collaboration and coordination between those agents, but the motivations behind their goals, strategies for achieving those goals, and the challenges faced by each agent may differ. In this paper, we document the strategies aimed at reducing CO2 emissions considered by cities and private companies with the goal of understanding the challenges to progress faced by each. To accomplish this, we interviewed officials from purposefully sampled city departments in North America and private companies involved in city logistics. We found that cities face challenges related to a lack of strong leadership, resources, and policy tools. Companies must consider technological challenges, costs, and their workforce before reducing emissions. Cities and companies are challenged by the disaggregated nature of the urban freight “system”—a system that is not organized at the municipal scale and that is driven by performance and customer expectations.

Recommended Citation:
Maxner, T.; Dalla Chiara, G.; Goodchild, A. Identifying the Challenges to Sustainable Urban Last-Mile Deliveries: Perspectives from Public and Private Stakeholders. Sustainability 2022, 14, 4701. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084701.
Paper

Delivery by Drone: An Evaluation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology in Reducing CO2 Emissions in the Delivery Service Industry

 
Download PDF  (2.33 MB)
Publication: Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
Volume: 61
Pages: 58-67
Publication Date: 2018
Summary:

This research paper estimates carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) levels of two delivery models, one by trucks and the other by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or “drones.”

Using several ArcGIS tools and emission standards within a framework of logistical and operational assumptions, it has been found that emission results vary greatly and are highly dependent on the energy requirements of the drone, as well as the distance it must travel and the number of recipients it serves.

Still, general conditions are identified under which drones are likely to provide a CO2 benefit – when service zones are close to the depot, have small numbers of stops, or both. Additionally, measures of VMT for both modes were found to be relatively consistent with existing literature that compares traditional passenger travel with truck delivery.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Jordan Toy
Recommended Citation:
Goodchild, Anne, and Jordan Toy. "Delivery by Drone: An Evaluation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology in Reducing CO2 Emissions in the Delivery Service Industry" Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 61 (2018): 58-67.

Dr. Ed McCormack

Dr. Ed McCormack
Dr. Ed McCormack
  • Research Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC)
  • Director, Sustainable Transportation Master's degree program
edm@uw.edu  |  206-543-3348  |  Wilson Ceramics Lab 108
  • Freight Mobility in Urban Areas
  • Transportation Technology Evaluation
  • Freight Systems Performance Measurement

Dr. Ed McCormack’s research program is broadly around the theme of the use of technology to improve mobility for people and goods. Improved data storage, wireless communications, and faster computers have created new streams of high quality transportation information. This information allows operators and the public to be more strategic and efficient about using our transportation system but also requires new thinking and innovative approaches. Given the belief in our society that technology can solve many problems, one challenge that he frequently addresses in his research is elemental: what works? For example, his research has evaluated the application and usability of different in-vehicle tracking technologies and of freight-oriented traveler information systems.

A second topic of importance is his recent research—derived from his interest in technology—that explores the development of quantitative tools that can use streaming data. Many of his projects have used these data to create performance measures that allow the monitoring of vehicle travel activity and the calculation of metrics that support engineering and planning decisions.

He has increasingly focused on freight mobility. Despite freight’s obvious importance to our society, this area of transportation has traditionally been understudied by academics, particularly in comparison to people transportation. As a researcher, he has found that there are opportunities to provide innovative insights in this area.

  • Faculty Appreciation for Career Education & Training (FACET) Award for mentoring of students (2020)
  • Ph.D., Geography, University of Washington (1997)
    Dissertation: A Chained-Based Exploration of Work Travel by Residents of Mixed Land-Use Neighborhoods
  • M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Washington (1985)
    Thesis: An Examination of Transit’s Work-Share Using Census Journey–to-Work and Transit On-Board Survey Data
  • B.S.E., Geography, University of Washington (1979)

Dr. Ed McCormack is an international leader in truck GPS data applications for freight performance measurement, and technology that facilitates truck flows along roadways and through border crossings and marine ports. He developed methods for the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Norwegian government to measure truck speed and reliability performance on highways and roads through the analysis of truck GPS data. He recently served as the Chief Engineer in the ITS section of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

He holds a PhD in Geography, MS in Civil Engineering, and a BA in Geography—all from the University of Washington. Before working at UW, he was an engineering consultant with David Evans and Associates and a transportation planner with both King County and the Puget Sound Regional Councils.

Dr. McCormack has worked on National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board (TRB) projects to identify and improve truck bottlenecks, incorporate smart growth principles into freight forecasting tools, and help public agencies obtain freight data and turn it into valuable information.

He is an independent evaluator for U.S. Department of Transportation freight technology projects, including those addressing truck queuing and congestion. He is directs and teaches in the Sustainable Transportation Master’s degree program and Livable Communities certificate program.

  • Professor (II), Department of Civil and Transport Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Adjunct Research Associate Professor, Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington
Paper

Urban Delivery Company Needs and Preferences for Green Loading Zones Implementation: A Case Study of NYC

 
Download PDF  (0.42 MB)
Publication: Proceedings of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Transportation and Development Conference 2022: Transportation Planning and Workforce Development
Publication Date: 2022
Summary:

(This project is part of the Urban Freight Lab’s 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.)

Green Loading Zones (GLZs) are curb spaces dedicated to the use of electric or alternative fuel (“green”) delivery vehicles. Some U.S. cities have begun piloting GLZs to incentivize companies to purchase and operate more green vehicles. However, there are several questions to be answered prior to a GLZ implementation, including siting, potential users and their willingness to pay. We reviewed best practices for GLZs around the world, and surveyed goods delivery companies operating in New York City to collect such information for a future GLZ pilot. The findings suggest the best candidate locations are areas where companies are currently subject to the most parking fines and double parking. Companies expressed willingness to pay for GLZs, as long as deploying green vehicles in the city can offset other cost exposures. Respondents also selected several single-space GLZs spread throughout a neighborhood as the preferred layout.

Recommended Citation:
Maxner, T., Goulianou, P., Ranjbari, A., and Goodchild, A. (2022). "Studying Urban Delivery Company Needs and Preferences for Green Loading Zones Implementation: A Case Study of NYC", In Proceedings of ASCE Transportation and Development Conference (Forthcoming), Seattle, WA.
Student Thesis and Dissertations

Emissions, Cost, and Customer Service Trade-off Analyses in Pickup and Delivery Systems

Publication Date: 2011
Summary:

As commercial vehicle activity grows, the environmental impacts of these movements have increasing negative effects, particularly in urban areas. The transportation sector is the largest producer of CO2 emissions in the United States, by end-use sector, accounting for 32% of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2008. Medium and heavy-duty trucks account for close to 22% of CO2 emissions within the transportation sector, making systems using these vehicles key contributors to air quality problems. An important well-known type of such systems is the “pickup and delivery” in which a fleet of vehicles pickups and/or delivers goods from customers.

Companies operating fleet of vehicles reduce their cost by efficiently designing the routes their vehicles follow and the schedules at which customers will be visited. This principle especially applies to pickup and delivery systems. Customers are spread out in urban regions or are located in different states which makes it critical to efficiently design the routes and schedules vehicles will follow. So far, a less costly operation has been the main focus of these companies, particularly pickup and delivery systems, and less attention has been paid to understand how cost and emissions relate and how to directly reduce the environmental impacts of their transportation activities. This is the research opportunity that motivates the present study.

While emissions from transportation activities are mostly understood broadly, this research looks carefully at relationships between cost, emissions and service quality at an individual-fleet level. This approach enables evaluation of the impact of a variety of internal changes and external policies based on different time window schemes, exposure to congestion, or impact of CO2 taxation. It this makes it possible to obtain particular and valuable insights from the changes in the relationship between cost, emissions and service quality for different fleet characteristics.

In an effort to apply the above approach to real fleets, two different case studies are approached and presented in this thesis. Each of these cases has significant differences in their fleet composition, customers’ requirements and operational features that provide this research with the opportunity to explore different scenarios.

Three research questions guide this research. They are explained in more detailed below. The present study does not seek to provide a conclusive answer for each of the research questions but does shed light on general insights and relationships for each of the different features presented in the road network, fleet composition, and customer features.

In summary, this research provides a better understanding of the relationships between fleet operating costs, emissions reductions and impacts on customer service. The insights are useful for companies trying to develop effective emission-reduction strategies. Additionally, public agencies can use these results to develop emissions reductions policies.

Authors: Felipe Sandoval
Recommended Citation:
Sandoval, Felipe (2011). Emissions, Cost, and Customer Service Trade-off Analyses in Pickup and Delivery Systems, University of Washington Master's Degree Thesis.
Thesis: Array

Analysis of a Food Bank Home Delivery Program

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. Hunger relief organizations, such as food banks, play a key role in redistributing food to those experiencing food insecurity. However, a share of the food-insecure population could not be reached by this system. In particular, people who are immobile, immunocompromised, and elderly are not able to access the food bank network. The University District Food Bank, serving the northeast neighborhoods of Seattle, started a home delivery program 10 years ago, where volunteers pick up groceries at the food bank and deliver them to households in need, and largely expanded it during the pandemic. While volunteers were initially performing deliveries using cars or vans, the program was expanded through a collaboration with the Cascade Bicycle Club, a non-profit bike advocacy organization.

For this work, the project team proposes a collaboration between young junior scholars at the Urban Freight Lab (UFL) with expertise in the study of last-mile urban distribution systems, the University District Food Bank, and the Cascade Bicycle Club. This grant will enable UFL researchers to perform preliminary research, to better understand the challenges in the last-mile distribution of food from food banks and identify operational improvements to increase the efficiency of the system.

Project Team Members:

  • Giacomo Dalla Chiara (PI): Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Urban Freight Lab
  • Travis Fried (Collaborator): Research Assistant, Urban Freight Lab
  • Maxwell Burton (Collaborator): PRP & Volunteer Community Engagement Project Manager, Cascade Bicycle Club
  • Joe Gruber (Collaborator): Executive Director, University District Food Bank