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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:

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

Truck Trip Generation by Grocery Stores

 
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Publication: Washington State Transportation Innovations Unit and Washington State Transportation Commission
Publication Date: 2010
Summary:
Quantifying the relationship between the number and types of truck trips generated by different land uses provides information useful for traffic demand analyses, forecasting models, and a general understanding of the factors that affect truck mobility. This project evaluated data collection methodologies for determining truck trip generation rates by studying a specific kind of establishment. This effort focused on grocery stores and collected both interview and manual count data from eight supermarkets in the Puget Sound region.
We selected grocery stores for this project because they constitute a common land use that is present in almost every type of neighborhood in the metropolitan region. Grocery stores generate truck trips that have the potential to affect all levels of the transportation roadway network, from local roads in neighborhoods to highways. The eight stores in the Puget Sound region identified for this study were diverse and included both national and local chains. The stores ranged in size from 23,000 to 53,500 square feet and included a variety of urban and suburban locations.
Methodologies for gathering trip generation information were identified in the literature. Telephone interviews and manual counts, which are frequently used data collection methodologies, were explored in this project. The project started with telephone interviews of four distribution centers. This step helped to refine the interview approach and helped to determined that data from larger warehouses could not be easily used to develop information on the number of trips traveling to individual stores. A second round of interviews, lasting between 10 and 15 minutes, was then conducted with the managers or receivers of the nine grocery stores. In addition to the number of truck trips that the store generated, the interviews explored a range of topics related to the busiest days and their delivery windows. This information was used to set up manual, on-site truck counts at each of the grocery stores.
We concluded that a combination of telephone interviews and manual counts is a reasonable way to collect accurate truck trip generation rates. Telephone interviews were an important first step. They established contact with grocery stores, which then provided permission for on-site manual counts. Information elicited from store interviews also included the days and times when the viii truck deliveries occurred so that the manual counts could be scheduled to reflect optimal times. In addition, the interview conversations provided sometimes unanticipated but valuable information that was relevant to understanding truck trip-generation rates. Because it is cost prohibitive and inefficient to send manual counting teams to observe facilities for long shifts, information from store managers regarding their delivery windows and hours made the counts more feasible.
The Puget Sound grocery stores in the study (all of which were conventional supermarkets) generated an average of 18 truck trips per day on typical weekdays. These daily counts were probably low, as some of the stores accepted a few late deliveries outside of the receiving windows. Most of these truck arrivals occurred before noon, and the average delivery time was 27 minutes. Although peak days of the week varied across the sample set, all reported higher volumes during holidays.
The manual counts (15 site observations) provided more accurate truck trip generation rates than did telephone interviews. The interview responses indicated approximately ten to twelve trucks per day in comparison to the average of 18 trucks per day counted at each store by observers. The telephone interviewees at the grocery stores clearly underestimated the number of trucks and provided only minimal information on truck characteristics. Manual counts also provided more detailed information regarding truck type, delivery location (loading docks or front door), average delivery time, and product mix.
Few grocery store characteristics that could be directly related to truck trip generation rates were identified. The project team reviewed literature discussing both trip generation data collection and grocery store management and could not identify any specific characteristic that could be used to quantify the number of truck trips generated by different stores. While size or employment is often related to truck trips in the ITE Trip Generation Manual, this effort did not find any direct relationship with these variables, with a possible exception related to a store’s size. This finding, that smaller stores generated more trucks trips, suggests that one promising area to explore is the linkage between the level at which stores are served by regional warehouses or direct service delivery (DSD) and the number and type of truck trips. The manual counts indicated variability in the nature and size of the delivery trucks, which in turn related to ix whether the deliveries were at the front door (often small trucks and DSD) or loading dock (larger trucks from warehouses with consolidated loads). Smaller stores often use more DSD, which may result in more truck trips generated. It is also possible that smaller stores had smaller stock rooms, requiring more frequent deliveries. Other census-related variables such median household income, residential density and jobs-housing balance, were evaluated, but no significant relationships to truck trip rates were found.

 

Authors: Dr. Ed McCormack, Alon Bassok, Emily Fishkin, Chilan Ta
Recommended Citation:
McCormack, E., Ta, C., Bassok, A., & Fishkin, E. (2010). Truck Trip Generation by Grocery Stores. (No. TNW2010-04).
Paper

NCFRP Report: Smart Growth and Urban Goods Movement

 
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Publication: TR News
Volume: 295
Publication Date: 2014
Summary:

Smart growth design, a strategy for improving the quality of life in urban areas, has typically focused on the areas of passenger travel, land use and nonmotorized transport adoption. The role of goods movement is often ignored in discussions of smart growth. This article reports on National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 24, which addresses the importance of the relationship between smart growth and goods movement. A number of principles of smart growth are identified, as are areas where there are research gaps. Urban transportation forecasting models have shown that smart-growth land use offers benefits both for passenger travel and goods movement. Additionally, smart-growth improvements to transit and nonmotorized transportation have been found to offer greater benefits to trucks than do roadway investments.

Authors: Dr. Anne GoodchildDr. Ed McCormack, Alon Bassok
Recommended Citation:
McCormack, Ed, Anne Goodchild, and Alon Bassok. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Smart Growth and Urban Goods Movement. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/22522.

Analysis of Parking Utilization Using Curb Parking Sensors (Task Order 10)

In a Department of Energy-funded project led by the Urban Freight Lab, a network of parking occupancy sensors was installed in a 10-block study area in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The study aimed at improving commercial vehicle delivery efficiency generating and providing real-time and future parking information to delivery drivers and carriers. This project will build upon the existing sensor network and the knowledge developed to explore how historical parking occupancy data can be used by urban planners and policymakers to better allocate curb space to commercial vehicles. The proposed project will use data from the existing sensor network and explore the relationship between the built environment (location and characteristics of establishments and urban form) and the resulting occupancy patterns of commercial vehicle load zones and passenger load zones in the study area.

Task 1 – Gather public data sources

Using public data sources (e.g. SDOT open data portal and Google Maps Places) the research team will obtain data on buildings and business establishments located in the Belltown study area (1st to 3rd Ave and Battery to Stewart Street). Data will include the location of business establishments, building height, land use, and estimates of the number of residents per building.

Task 2 – Analyze sensor data and estimate parking events

The research team will retrieve and process 1-year historical sensor data from the sensor network deployed in the study area. Sensor data is not directly usable as sensors are placed every 10 feet and a vehicle parking in a curb space might activate more than one sensor. Therefore, the research team will develop an algorithm that takes as input raw sensor data and gives as output estimate individual parking events, each consisting of a start time, curb space, and parking dwell time. The algorithm will be validated and algorithm performance will be reported.

Task 3 – Estimate parking utilization for each curb parking space

Using the estimated parking events obtained from task 2, the research team will analyze parking patterns and estimate total parking utilization for each curb parking space over time.

Task 4 – Design and perform an establishment survey

The research team will design an establishments survey to gather data on opening times, number of employees, type of business, and number of trips generated by business establishments in the study area. The survey will then be deployed and data will be collected for the business establishments in the study area. Descriptive statistics will be obtained characterizing the demand of freight trips generated by business type in the study area.

Task 5 – Analysis of parking utilization

The research team will perform statistical modeling to understand factors affecting curb space utilization in relationship with the location and characteristics of individual buildings and business establishments. The output of this effort is twofold: first, the analysis will obtain the factors that best explain the observed variability in curb parking demand, second, the analysis will obtain a model that can be used to predict future curb space demand.

Task 6 – Dissemination of findings and recommendations

A final report containing the result from the collection, processing, and analysis of the sensors data and establishment survey data will be drafted and published.

Expected outcomes

  • Descriptive time and spatial analysis of commercial vehicle load zone and passenger load zone utilization
  • Understand the impact of different establishments’ location and characteristics on commercial vehicle load zone and passenger load zone utilization
  • Discussion of policy implications for commercial vehicle load zones and passenger load zones allocation and time restrictions
Technical Report

Technology and Safety on Urban Roadways: The Role of ITS in WSDOT

 
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Publication: Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC)
Publication Date: 2006
Summary:

This report examines the relationship between Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and safety from an urban perspective.

Existing urban ITS systems are either system-level or site-level applications. System-level ITS, such as freeway management systems or traffic signal networks, address safety concerns only indirectly. These systems are designed to improve traffic flows and thus indirectly reduce collisions caused by congestion. Other system-level ITS used to increase the efficiency of transit, commercial vehicle, and emergency service operations also benefit safety indirectly. Site-level ITS applications, such as railroad/highway crossing warnings or work zone systems, are installed to directly address safety concerns. However, these applications are limited to specific locations identified as hazardous.

Most urban crashes in Washington involve multiple vehicle collisions caused by driver error at locations that have not been identified as hazardous. Future ITS systems known collision avoidance systems (CAS) hold considerable promise for urban roadway safety because these in-vehicle devices will inform drivers of judgment errors and can do so at many locations along an urban roadway system.

A handful of ITS applications are so well tested that they can be aggressively pursued by WSDOT as tools to reduce urban crashes. Most of these applications include the various systems, such a ramp meters and incident detection, used for freeway management. Other ITS safety applications, while promising, still need to be fully documented and are best used as demonstration applications. Most of these applications involve sensor technology used to warn drivers about road and roadside hazards at specific sites. The greatest safety benefit from ITS may come from in-vehicle collision warning systems. These applications should evolve from a number of large federal research projects and private industry initiatives that are under way. Given their potential impact on safety, WSDOT should monitor applications of these projects.

Authors: Dr. Ed McCormack, Bill Legg
Recommended Citation:
McCormack, E., Legg, B. (2000). Technology and Safety on Urban Roadways: The Role of ITS in WSDOT. Research Report, Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC). Washington State Transportation Center, U.S. Department of Transportation. 
Paper

Smart Growth and Goods Movement: Emerging Research Agendas

Publication: Journal Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability
Volume: 2-Aug
Pages: 115-132
Publication Date: 2015
Summary:

While recent urban planning efforts have focused on the management of growth into developed areas, the research community has not examined the impacts of these development patterns on urban goods movement. Successful implementation of growth strategies has multiple environmental and social benefits but also raises the demand for intra-urban goods movement, potentially increasing conflicts between modes of travel and worsening air quality. Because urban goods movement is critical for economic vitality, understanding the relation between smart growth and goods movement is necessary in the development of appropriate policies.

This paper reviews the academic literature and summarizes the results of six focus groups to identify gaps in the state of knowledge and suggest important future research topics in five sub-areas of smart growth related to goods movement: (1) access, parking, and loading zones; (2) road channelization and bicycle and pedestrian facilities; (3) land use; (4) logistics; and (5) network system management.

Authors: Dr. Anne GoodchildDr. Ed McCormack, Erica Wygonik, Alon Bassok, Daniel Carlson
Recommended Citation:
Wygonik, Erica, Alon Bassok, Anne Goodchild, Edward McCormack, and Daniel Carlson. "Smart Growth and Goods Movement: Emerging Research Agendas." Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability 8, no. 2 (2015): 115-132.

Freight and Transit Lane Study (Task Order 7)

The City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) engaged the Urban Freight Lab to conduct research on the impacts of a Freight and Transit-Only (FAT) Lane in place in January 2019. The research findings will be used to understand the FAT Lane’s performance towards achieving city goals and to guide the development of future FAT Lane projects.

The Seattle Freight Master Plan includes a FAT Lane strategy to reach the city’s economic goals:

  • (2) Economy – Provide a freight network that supports a thriving and diverse economy for Seattle and the region.
  • (2.4) Maintain and improve truck freight mobility and access between and within the city’s MICs and to the regional highway system
  • (2.4.2) Explore and test the use of truck-only lanes to improve freight mobility on city streets with high truck volumes

SDOT’s key research interests in this project are to:

  1. Document whether the FAT Lane’s benefits to truck drivers were strong enough to attract heavy freight vehicles from using other downtown streets. This will be measured by comparing truck volume on the Lane during implementation to volume after it was closed.
  2. Determine whether passenger cars followed the posted FAT Lane restrictions. This will be measured by documenting the number of cars violating the rule.
  3. Document transit use during the implementation period.

Background:

The Alaskan Way Viaduct, a major freight thoroughfare in Seattle, was closed on January 11, 2019 significantly reducing capacity in the already congested road network in Greater Downtown Seattle. To improve freight and transit access to commercial and industrial areas in the city, the City of Seattle Department of Transportation, in partnership with the WSDOT, temporarily installed two blocks of a Freight and Transit Lane on Alaskan Way.

The FAT Lane was in the curb lane only, on southbound Alaskan Way (at street level, not on the Viaduct). The 2-block segment is north of Little H on Alaskan Way, which provides access to Colorado and Alaskan Way. The FAT Lane supported Port of Seattle operations.

Research Tasks:

The following tasks will be completed by the Urban Freight Lab:

Task 1 – Research Scan

Subtasks:

  1. Conduct a short research scan of published reports that provide data-based evidence of the results of FAT Lane projects.
  2. Write a 2-3 page summary of the results of other FAT Lane projects

Task 2 – Analysis of video data

Subtasks:

  1. SDOT will provide video of the FAT Lane segment taken when the Lane was open and after it closed, to the UFL. The UFL will categorize and count vehicles in the lane as follows:
    • Transit/bus
    • Passenger/car
    • Truck/freight:
      1. Drayage with container
      2. Drayage without container
      3. All other trucks/freight vehicles. This category includes: delivery vans/trucks, construction and waste vehicles, and if readily apparent service commercial vehicles.
    • Other vehicles, e.g. those lacking differentiating features to categorize.
  2. UFL will analyze the count data and include key findings in the final report. The analysis will include:
    1. A comparison of truck volume on the Lane during implementation to the volume after it was closed. This may include time of day, day of week, or other factors.
    2. The number of passenger cars in the Lane during implementation. e.g. the number of violators.
    3. The UFL researchers will also explore whether comparing data collected in the Greater Downtown Cordon study to data collected in this study yields valid findings.
Paper

Bringing Alleys to Light: An Urban Freight Infrastructure Viewpoint

 
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Publication: Cities
Volume: 105
Publication Date: 2020
Summary:

There is growing pressure in cities to unlock the potential of every public infrastructure element as density and demand for urban resources increase. Despite their historical role as providing access to land uses for freight and servicing, alleys have not been studied as a resource in modern freight access planning.

The authors developed a replicable data collection method to build and maintain an alley inventory and operations study focused on commercial vehicles. A Seattle Case study showed that 40% of the urban center city blocks have an alley. 90% of those alleys are wide enough to accommodate only a single lane for commercial vehicles. 437 parking operations were recorded in seven alleys during business hours and found that all alleys were vacant 50% of the time.

This confirms that, in its alleys, Seattle has a valuable resource as both space for freight load/unload; and direct access to parking facilities and business entrances for commercial, private, and emergency response vehicles.

However, alley design features and the prevalence of parking facilities accessed through the alley may restrict the freight load/unload space in the alley. Future efforts should investigate how to better manage these infrastructures.

Recommended Citation:
Machado-León, Girón-Valderrama, G. del C., & Goodchild, A. (2020). Bringing Alleys to Light: An Urban Freight Infrastructure Viewpoint. Cities, 105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102847 
Paper

Evaluating the Impacts of Density on Urban Goods Movement Externalities

Publication: Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability
Volume: 10:04
Pages: 13-Jan
Publication Date: 2017
Summary:

Research has established a potential to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by replacing passenger travel for shopping with delivery service, and a few studies have indicated CO2 emissions can also be reduced. However, that research has mostly focused on urban locations and has not addressed criteria pollutants. This study examines the impacts of replacing passenger travel for shopping with delivery service over a broader set of externalities (VMT, CO2, NOx, and PM10) in both urban and rural communities. Three different goods movement strategies are considered in three different municipalities in King County, Washington, which vary in size, density, and distance from the metropolitan core. The research finds that delivery services can reduce VMT over passenger vehicle travel for shopping, however, the potential to reduce CO2, NOx, and PM10 emissions varies by municipality. Significant trade-offs are observed between VMT and emissions – especially between VMT and criteria pollutants.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Erica Wygonik
Recommended Citation:
Wygonik, Erica, and Anne Goodchild. Evaluating the Impacts of Density on Urban Goods Movement Externalities. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability 10, no. 4 (2017): 487-499. 
Thesis: Array