Dr. Anne Goodchild

Founder, Urban Freight Lab
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

annegood@uw.edu | 206-543-3747 | Wilson Ceramics Lab 103

Publications on Google Scholar

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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

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URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084701

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.

Authors: Thomas MaxnerDr. Giacomo Dalla ChiaraDr. Anne Goodchild

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

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URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2017.02.017

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

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

Publications on Google Scholar

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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

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URL: https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484340.030

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.

Authors: Thomas MaxnerNota GoulianouDr. Andisheh RanjbariDr. Anne Goodchild

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

URL: https://orbiscascade-washington.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01ALLIANCE_UW/1juclfo/alma99149478340001452

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

Report

NYC Zero-Emissions Urban Freight and Green Loading Zones Market Research

Download PDF (3.99 MB)

Publication Date: 2022

Summary:

In an effort to reduce emissions from last-mile deliveries and incentivize green vehicle adoption, The New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) is seeking to implement a Green Loading Zone (GLZ) pilot program. A Green Loading Zone is curb space designated for the sole use of “green” vehicles, which could include electric and alternative fuel vehicles as well as other zero-emission delivery modes like electric-assist cargo bikes. To inform decisions about the program’s siting and regulations, this study was conducted by the University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab (UFL) in collaboration with NYC DOT under the UFL’s Technical Assistance Program.

The study consists of three sources of information, focusing primarily on input from potential GLZ users, i.e., delivery companies. An online survey of these stakeholders was conducted, garnering 13 responses from 8 types of companies. Interviews were conducted with a parcel carrier and an electric vehicle manufacturer. Additionally, similar programs from around the world were researched to help identify current practices. The major findings are summarized below, followed by recommendations for siting, usage restriction and pricing of GLZs. It is important to note that these recommendations are based on the survey and interview findings and thus on benefits to delivery companies. However, other important factors such as environmental justice, land use patterns, and budgetary constraints should be considered when implementing GLZs.

Literature Review Findings

Green Loading Zones are a relatively novel approach to incentivizing electric vehicle (EV) adoption. Two relevant pilot programs exist in the United States, one in Santa Monica, CA and the other one in Los Angeles, CA. Both are “zero-emission” delivery programs, meaning alternative fuel vehicles that reduce emissions (compared to fossil fuel vehicles) are not included in the pilot’s parking benefits (dedicated spaces and free parking). Other cities including Washington, DC and Vancouver, Canada are also creating truck-only zones and dedicating parking to EVs in their efforts to reduce emissions. Bremen, Germany also has a similar program called an Environmental Loading Point.

Many cities in Europe are implementing low- or zero-emission zones. These are different than GLZs in that entire cities or sections of cities are restricted to vehicles that meet certain emissions criteria. London, Paris, and 13 Dutch municipalities are all implementing low-emission zones. These zones have achieved some success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions: in London, CO2 from vehicles has been reduced by 13 percent. Companies operating in those cities have opted to purchase cleaner vehicles or to replace trucks with alternative modes like cargo bikes. In addition to demonstrating similar goals as NYC DOT, these programs provide insights to the siting and structure of GLZs. Loading zones have been selected based on equity concerns, delivery demand, and commercial density. Every city in the literature review has installed specific signage for the programs to clearly convey the regulations involved.

Survey and interview Findings

A range of company types replied to the survey: parcel carriers (large shippers), small shippers, e-commerce and retail companies, freight distributors, a truck dealer, a liquid fuel delivery company, and a logistics NYC association (answering on behalf of members). The majority of these companies will be increasing their fleet sizes over the next ten years, and most plan to increase the share of EVs in their fleets while doing so. A smaller share (4 of 13) also plans to increase their share of alternative fuel vehicles. The most cited reasons for increasing fleet size and green vehicle share are: 1) internal sustainability goals, 2) social responsibility, and 3) new vehicles/models coming to the market.

Green vehicle adoption is not without its challenges. For EV adoption specifically, companies identified three major barriers: 1) competition in the EV market, 2) electric grid requirements upstream of company-owned facilities, and 3) lack of adequate government-supported purchasing subsidies. To overcome these barriers, respondents would like larger or more government purchasing incentives and reduced toll or parking rates for EVs. However, the majority of companies also expressed a willingness to pay for GLZs at similar rates to other commercial loading zones.

As for area coverage, all respondents deliver to Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. 11 of 13 deliver to Staten Island and the Bronx as well. All EV and cargo bike operators deliver to Manhattan, whereas only one EV operator and one cargo bike operator deliver to all five boroughs of NYC. Respondents deliver at all times of day, but the busiest times are between 9:00AM and 4:00PM (stated by 8 of 13 respondents). Peak periods are busiest for four companies in the morning (6:00AM-9:00AM) and six companies in the evening (4:00PM-9:00PM).

The interviews supported findings from the survey. Both interviewed companies have a vested interest in reducing their environmental footprint and plan to use or produce exclusively zero-emission vehicles by 2050 (carrier) or 2035 (manufacturer). However, they noted challenges to electrifying entire fleets for cities. Charging infrastructure needs to be expanded, but incentives are also needed (parking benefits, subsidies, expedited permitting) to make the market viable for many delivery companies.

Recommendations

The preceding findings informed four key recommendations:

GLZs should be made available to multiple modes: green vehicles and cargo bikes. Adequate curb space might be needed to accommodate multiple step-side vans plus a small vehicle and cargo bikes, but this should be balanced against curb utilization rates and anticipated dwell times to maximize curb use.
Explore piloting GLZs in Lower Manhattan and commercial areas of Midtown Manhattan; they could be the most beneficial locations for the pilot according to survey respondents.
The preferred layout for GLZs is several spaces distributed across multiple blocks.
DOT can charge for the GLZ use. It is recommended that rates not exceed current parking prices in the selected neighborhood, but some companies are willing to pay a modest increase over that rate to avoid parking tickets.

Authors: Thomas MaxnerNota GoulianouDr. Andisheh RanjbariDr. Anne Goodchild

Recommended Citation:
Urban Freight Lab (2022). NYC Zero-Emissions Urban Freight and Green Loading Zones Market Research.

Student Thesis and Dissertations

Finding a (Food) Way: A GIS Modeling Approach to Quantifying Local Food Transportation Systems

URL: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/40525

Publication Date: 2017

Summary:

In recent years the focus on and prioritization of the notion of local food, food access and sustainability has been increasing throughout the U.S., especially in urban areas. The rising demand and growing preference for local produce in turn leads to changes in how we transport food. The supply chains found in urban areas are already complicated and costly, and as demand changes this poses a challenge if the local food movement is to be accommodated in our cities. A new initiative seeks to mitigate these challenges through the introduction of a mobile application that allows users to order local produce online. Logistics modeling was conducted as a case study to support this effort. The goal of the research was to be able to inform and support decision-making on the logistics to support agricultural development and equal food access. The research found that there is opportunity for improvement to how local food is accessed, and that these mobile applications have the possibility to address food accessibility, economic vitality and sustainability, with a lower negative impact on the transportation environment.

Authors: Anna Bovbjerg Alligood

Recommended Citation:
Bovbjerg Alligood, Anna (2017). Finding a (Food) Way: A GIS Modeling Approach to Quantifying Local Food Transportation Systems, University of Washington Master's Degree Thesis.

Thesis: Array

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

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 developing 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.

The Urban Freight Lab is internationally recognized as a leader in urban freight research, housing a unique and innovative workgroup of private and public stakeholders and academic researchers working together to study and solve urban freight challenges. The Urban Freight Lab has previously worked on evaluating, studying, and deploying cargo cycles in Asia and the U.S, and is recognized as an expert leader in North America on cargo cycle research.

Objectives
The objectives of the white paper are the following:

Define and understand what types of cargo bikes exist in North America, their main features, how they are operated, and the infrastructure they need.
Identify opportunities for and challenges to large-scale adoption of cargo cycles in North American cities.
Learn from case studies of U.S. cities’ approaches to regulating and promoting cargo cycles.
Provide recommendations for how cities can safely recognize, enable and encourage large-scale adoption of cargo bikes, including infrastructure, policy, and regulatory approaches.