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Urban Freight Lab

Research Topic: The Final 50 Feet of the Urban Goods Delivery System

The Urban Freight Lab coined the term “Final 50 Feet” and defined it as the supply chain segment that begins when a delivery vehicle pulls into a parking space and stops moving — in public load/unload spaces at the curb or in an alley, or a building’s loading dock or internal freight bay. It tracks the delivery process inside buildings and ends where the customer takes receipt of their goods. This research analyzes processes, develops potential solutions, and tests operational improvements in the final segment of the urban goods delivery system.

Generating Opportunity for All (GOAL): Microfreight Hubs Feasibility in North Fort Smith, Arkansas

(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.)

This project seeks to examine how microfreight hubs can increase equity to services, benefit historically marginalized communities, and be joined to share micromobility options, social service agencies, and minority businesses in North Fort Smith, Arkansas.

The Urban Freight Lab will assist Frontier MPO and the City of Fort Smith by sharing knowledge and providing feedback as they develop a cohesive strategy to develop a microfreight hub pilot project that leverages community resources.

The proposed goal is to create a cohesive strategy to develop a sound planning process, grow collaborative relationships, produce a sustainable business model, and implement a microfreight hub pilot project that leverages community resources.

Summary of Project Phases and Associated Tasks:

  • Assessment Phase
    • Task 1: Gather and review background information regarding the plans, policies, codes, and data related to establishing and implementing microfreight hubs within North Fort Smith.​
    • Task 2: Conduct literature review on microfreight hub operations and business model.
    • Task 3: Gather, review, and provide feedback on existing partnerships and stakeholders.
    • Task 4: Identify and review potential microfreight hub locations particularly locations that will enhance accessibility to vulnerable groups
  • Outreach and Learning Phase
    • Task 1: Deliver virtual interactive coaching session on establishing and building collaborative relationships and pilot lessons learned.
    • Task 2: Convene community champions, partners, freight carriers, and other stakeholders to develop clear understanding of community and stakeholder needs, concerns, and challenges.
    • Task 3: Develop next steps and any action plans for moving a microfreight hub forward.

Partner Organization: Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization, City of Fort Smith, Arkansas

The Urban Freight Lab awarded Technical assistance to the Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization (FMPO) in Fort Smith, West Arkansas. 

Presentation

Investigation of Private Loading Bay Operations in Seattle’s Central Business District

 
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URL: https://metrans.org/inuf_2022-papers_presentations
Publication: 9th International Urban Freight Conference, Long Beach, May 2022
Publication Date: 2022
Summary:

Cities need new load/unload space concepts to efficiently move freight, particularly as autonomous vehicles (both passenger and freight) become feasible. This research aims to: understand the importance of off-street commercial parking, understand how off-street facilities are managed, and determine whether off-street commercial parking is an underutilized resource for urban goods delivery.

Researchers determined the locations of commercial and residential buildings in Seattle’s Central Business District with off-street delivery infrastructure, established communication with property management or building operators, and conducted interviews regarding facility management, usage, roadblocks in design/operations, and utilization.

This research finds that overbooking of off-street space is infrequent, most facility management is done by simple tenant booking systems, buildings relying primarily on curb space notes that infrastructure and operations were hindered by municipal services — especially when connecting to alleyways.

Authors: Griffin DonnellyDr. Anne Goodchild
Recommended Citation:
Griffin Donnelly and Anne Goodchild. Investigation of Private Loading Bay Operations in Seattle's Central Business District. 9th International Urban Freight Conference (INUF), Long Beach, CA May 2022.
Student Thesis and Dissertations

Modeling of Urban Freight Deliveries: Operational Performance at the Final 50 Feet

 
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URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/47033
Publication Date: 2021
Summary:

The demand for goods and services is rapidly increasing in cities, in part due to the rise in online shopping and more varied delivery options. Cities around the world are experiencing an influx of goods pickup and delivery activities. The movement of goods within urban areas can be very constraining with high levels of congestion and insufficient curb spaces. Pick-up and delivery activities, specifically those that are out of vehicle activities, encompass a significant portion of urban goods movement and inefficient operations can negatively impact the already highly congested areas and truck dwell times. This dissertation aims to provide insights and data-driven approaches to support freight plans in various cities around the globe with a focus on urban freight deliveries. To accomplish this goal, this dissertation first proposes to discover the current delivery process at the final 50 feet by creating value stream maps that summarize the flow of delivery activities and times, and time variations between activities. The map will be based on the data collected from five freight-attracting buildings in downtown Seattle. Secondly, this research explores contributing factors associated with dwell time for commercial vehicles by building regression models. Dwell time, in this study, is defined as the time that delivery workers spend performing out-of-vehicle activities while their vehicle is parked. Finally, this dissertation predicts the total time spent at the final 50 feet of delivery, including dwell times and parking-related times through discrete event simulations for various “what if” delivery scenarios. Multi-objective simulation-based optimization algorithms were further used to discover the optimal numbers of parking and building resources (e.g. number of on and off-street parking capacity, number of security guards or receptionists). This aims to better understand how increased deliveries in urban cities can impact the cost distributions between city planners, building managers, and delivery workers. This will also identify the areas for improvement in terms of infrastructure and resources to better prepare for the future delivery demands based on various scenarios.

Authors: Haena Kim
Recommended Citation:
Kim, Haena (2021). Modeling of Urban Freight Deliveries: Operational Performance at the Final 50 Feet. University of Washington Ph.D. Dissertation.
Paper

A Mobile Application for Collecting Task Time Data for Value Stream Mapping of the Final 50 Feet of Urban Goods Delivery Processes

 
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URL: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1541931218621410
Publication: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting
Volume: 62
Pages: 1808-1812
Publication Date: 2018
Summary:

Delivery options have become very diverse with online shoppers demanding faster delivery options (e.g, 2-day delivery, same day delivery options) and more personalized services. For this reason, transportation planners, retailers, and delivery companies are seeking ways to better understand how best to deliver goods and services in urban areas while minimizing disruption to traffic, parking, and building operations. This includes understanding vertical and horizontal goods movements within urban areas.

The goal of this project is to capture the delivery processes within urban buildings in order to minimize these disruptions. This is achieved using a systems approach to understanding the flow of activities and workers as they deliver goods within urban buildings. A mobile application was designed to collect the start and stop times for each task within the delivery process for 31 carriers as they deliver goods within a 62-story office building.

The process flow map helped identify bottlenecks and areas for improvements in the final segment of the delivery operations: the final 50 feet. It also highlighted consistent tasks conducted by all carriers as well as differences with given carrier type. This information is useful to help decision-makers plan appropriately for the design of future cities that encompass a variety of delivery processes.

Authors: Haena KimDr. Anne Goodchild, Linda Ng Boyle
Recommended Citation:
Kim, Haena, Linda Ng Boyle, and Anne Goodchild. (2018) "A Mobile Application for Collecting Task Time Data for Value Stream Mapping of the Final 50 Feet of Urban Goods Delivery Processes." In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 62(1), 1808–1812. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541931218621410

NYC Zero-Emission Freight and Green Loading Zone Market Research

(This project is being conducted under the Urban Freight Lab’s (UFL) Technical Assistance Program, where UFL contributes to the project by providing 1:1 match funds in terms of staff and/or research assistants to complete project tasks.)

This project is focused on conducting targeted freight industry market research to identify strategies that can support charting a pathway to zero-emission freight strategies for New York City by 2050 and identify the associated roadblocks/barriers to entry.

Partner Organization: New York City Department of Transportation

Project Goals:

  • Understand the interests and concerns of freight industry and private sector stakeholders to enable collaboration and inform the development of NYC DOT’s Green Loading Zone pilot
  • Actively engage NYC freight stakeholders to identify the greatest likelihood of accelerating the uptake and greater efficiency for zero-emission trucks.
  • Improve NYC DOT’s understanding of the obstacles and roadblocks that impact progress towards achieving zero emissions urban freight in NYC.

Summary of Project Tasks:

Task 1: Research Scan

Review national and international best practices on zero-emission urban freight, and identify new and existing strategies that support achieving zero-emission freight in NYC, with a particular focus on loading zone and curb management.

Task 2: Market Research Survey Design

Develop a short survey for stakeholders (freight industry, consumer brands and parcel carriers, etc. serving NYC area) to better understand the potential scale, siting, and contextual implementation of the Green Load Zone (GLZ) pilot. The survey will collect data on:

  • current trends and future estimations about the use of “green” vehicle fleet
  • barriers and opportunities with prevailing market conditions
  • key drivers and constraints for stakeholders
  • needs, motivation and role of each stakeholder involved

Task 3: Freight Industry Market Research and Stakeholder Engagement

Distribute the survey, and summarize and synthesize survey findings. Findings will help NYCDOT:

  • understand the interests and concerns of freight industry and other private stakeholders around the use of GLZs
  • identify potential GLZ users and accelerate the uptake of it
  • make informed decisions about implementation of the GLZ pilot
  • chart a pathway to achieving zero-emission freight in NYC

Task 4: Final Report

Provide a final report to NYCDOT.

Presentation

Growth of Ecommerce and Ride-Hailing Services is Reshaping Cities Innovative Goods Delivery Solutions for Cities of the Future

 
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Publication: Eno Transportation (August 9, 2018 Webinar)
Publication Date: 2018
Authors: Barbara Ivanov
Presentation

Exploring the Sustainability Potential of Urban Delivery Microhubs and Cargo Bike Deliveries

 
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URL: https://metrans.org/inuf_2022-papers_presentations
Publication: 9th International Urban Freight Conference, Long Beach, May 2022
Publication Date: 2022
Summary:

Micro-consolidation implementations and pairing with soft transportation modes offer practical, economic, environmental, and cultural benefits. Early implementations of micro consolidation practices were tested but cities need to understand their implications in terms of efficiency and sustainability.

This study includes a research scan and proposes a typology of micro-consolidation practices. It focuses on assessing the performance of microhubs that act as additional transshipment points where the packages are transported by trucks and transferred onto e-bikes to complete the last mile.

The purpose of the study is to assess the performance of delivery operations using a network of microhubs with cargo logistics and identify the conditions under which these solutions can be successfully implemented to improve urban freight efficiencies and reduce emissions. The performance is evaluated in terms of vehicle miles traveled, tailpipe CO2 emissions, and average operating cost per package using simulation tools.

Authors: Şeyma GüneşDr. Anne Goodchild
Recommended Citation:
Şeyma Güneş and Anne Goodchild (2022). Exploring the Sustainability Potential of Urban Delivery Microhubs and Cargo Bike Deliveries. 9th International Urban Freight Conference (INUF), Long Beach, CA May 2022.
Technical Report

Year Two Progress Report: Technology Integration to Gain Commercial Efficiency for the Urban Goods Delivery System, Meet Future Demand for City Passenger and Delivery Load/Unload Spaces, and Reduce Energy Consumption

 
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Publication: U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date: 2021
Summary:

The objectives of this project are to develop and implement a technology solution to support research, development, and demonstration of data processing techniques, models, simulations, a smart phone application, and a visual-confirmation system to:

  1. Reduce delivery vehicle parking seeking behavior by approximately 20% in the pilot test area, by returning current and predicted load/unload space occupancy information to users on a web-based and/or mobile platform, to inform real-time parking decisions
  2. Reduce parcel truck dwell time in pilot test areas in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington, by approximately 30%, thereby increasing productivity of load/unload spaces near common carrier locker systems, and
  3. Improve the transportation network (which includes roads, intersections, warehouses, fulfillment centers, etc.) and commercial firms’ efficiency by increasing curb occupancy rates to roughly 80%, and alley space occupancy rates from 46% to 60% during peak hours, and increasing private loading bay occupancy rates in the afternoon peak times, in the pilot test area.

The project team has designed a 3-year plan to achieve the objectives of this project.

In Year 1, the team developed integrated technologies and finalized the pilot test parameters. This involved finalizing the plan for placing sensory devices and common parcel locker systems on public and private property; issuing the request for proposals; selecting vendors; and gaining approvals necessary to execute the plan. The team also developed techniques to preprocess the data streams from the sensor devices, and began to design the prototype smart phone parking app to display real-time load/unload space availability, as well as the truck load/unload space behavior model.

In Year 2, the team executed the implementation plan:

  • oversaw installation of the in-road sensors, and collecting and processing data,
  • managed installation, marketing and operations of three common locker systems in the pilot test area,
  • tested the prototype smart phone parking app with initial data stream, and
  • developed a truck parking behavior simulation model.
Authors: Urban Freight Lab
Recommended Citation:
Urban Freight Lab (2021). Year Two Progress Report: Technology Integration to Gain Commercial Efficiency for the Urban Goods Delivery System.
Paper

From the Last Mile to the Last 800 Feet: Key Factors in Urban Pick-Up and Delivery of Goods

 
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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2609-10
Publication: Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Volume: Freight Systems, Volume 1
Pages: 85-92
Publication Date: 2017
Summary:

Pickup and delivery operations are an essential part of urban goods movements. However, rapid urban growth, increasing demand, and higher customer expectations have amplified the challenges of urban freight movement. In recent years, the industry has emphasized improving last-mile operations with the intent of focusing on what has been described as the last leg of the supply chain. In this paper, it is suggested that solving urban freight challenges requires an even more granular scale than the last mile, that is, the last 800 ft. The necessary operations in the last 800 ft require integration of diverse stakeholders, public and private infrastructure, and a diverse set of infrastructure users with multiple, varied objectives. That complexity has led to a gap in the needs of delivery operations and the characteristics of receiving facilities (i.e., unloading and loading facilities and pickup–drop-off locations). This paper focuses on accessibility for pickup and drop-off operations, taking a closer look at urban goods movement in the last 800 ft from the final customer. The paper presents and analyzes previously documented approaches and measures used to study the challenges at the proposed scale. Finally, it proposes a more holistic approach to address accessibility for urban pickup–delivery operations at the microscale to help develop more comprehensive urban freight transportation planning.

Authors: Polina ButrinaDr. Anne GoodchildGabriela Girón-ValderramaJosé Luis Machado León, Pramod Ayyalasomayajula
Recommended Citation:
Butrina, Polina. Gabriela Del Carmen Girón-Valderrama, José Luis Machado-León, Anne Goodchild, and Pramod C. Ayyalasomayajula. From the Last Mile to the Last 800 ft: Key Factors in Urban Pickup and Delivery of Goods. Transportation Research Record 2609, no. 1 (2017): 85-92.