Urban Freight Lab

City streets were not designed for the volume and speed of modern #freight. Yet shippers navigate unpredictable #traffic #congestion, limited #curbspace, and competing demands — all without control over the #infrastructure they rely on. As our founding director, Anne Goodchild, explains: “In urban areas, you don’t build or manage the infrastructure, but you exist in it. You don’t control it, but you’re measured on how well you perform in it.” At the Urban Freight Lab, we’re studying innovative approaches to make last-mile deliveries more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. https://lnkd.in/g8sHS5tU #urbandelivery #lastmile #supplychain #logistics #urbanlogistics

Excited for StreetLight's Summit 2025 and our founding director, Anne Goodchild's keynote. She'll cover some of the most pressing questions for in #transportation, including: - How is freight evolving, and what does it mean for our communities? - Who is bearing the costs of #truck traffic? - How can we ensure efficient deliveries while reducing impacts on livability?

Congratulations to our Arsalan Esmaili for receiving the prestigious Best Academic Paper Award (Freight Planning and Logistics) at the Transportation Research Board #TRBAM last month in Washington, D.C. Arsalan co-authored the paper, titled Autonomous Delivery Vehicles Acceptance: The Moderating Role of Perceived Risk of Theft, with researchers Sina Rejali (Queensland University of Technology, Australia), Kayvan Aghabayk (University of Tehran, Iran), Amin Mohammadi (University of Tabriz, Iran), and Chris De Gruyter (RMIT University, Australia). The paper examines the adoption of Autonomous Delivery Vehicles (#ADVs) in developing countries, extending the Technology Acceptance Model (#TAM) to provide new insights. Congratulations to Arsalan and team! https://lnkd.in/gxbR9JPV #freight #planning #transportation #autonomousdelivery #TRBAM25

Our founding director Anne Goodchild delivered the keynote address at Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota's Transportation Research Conference, sharing insights from her two-decade career leading urban #freight research. One emerging shift she highlighted in this space is the surge in residential deliveries: "The impact of the transforming #retail sector has changed everything about how goods get to their final destination and how we connect to those goods." The freight load on cities, once concentrated in commercial and industrial districts, has now shifted to residential areas, fundamentally changing how we think about #planning and practice. For example, Urban Freight Lab research estimates that today, more than 90% of freight trips in Seattle's West Seattle peninsula are residential. To address this, Prof. Goodchild and the Urban Freight Lab are exploring data-driven approaches, such as quantifying the extra expenses incurred by commercial drivers cruising for parking and reducing these costs by using in-ground sensors that provide drivers with real-time information about available parking They have also estimated how much time drivers could save by using parcel lockers in residential buildings to streamline deliveries and reduce dwell time in the #Final50Feet. Throughout the talk, Prof. Goodchild emphasizes the importance of building strong partnerships between researchers, public agencies, and private industry, and fostering a deep understanding of each other's challenges. Watch the video: https://lnkd.in/gP9EN99N #urbanplanning #goodsmovement #transportation #lastmile

Our Travis Fried delivered a presentation at Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota's Transportation Research Conference highlighting how #ecommerce #traffic disproportionately affects low-income communities, contributing to concerns around air quality, health, and road safety. Travis's research at the Urban Freight Lab is driving important conversations about the broader impacts of urban #freight systems and a comprehensive approach to #planning that considers not just efficiency but community well-being and environmental and social justice as well. More to come as we continue exploring solutions that support healthy,equitable, and resilient communities! https://lnkd.in/gZ5ccYh5 #urbanfreight #sustainability #urbanplanning #equity #livablecities

Our survey for #Seattle #delivery operators is still open! Do you or your company use commercial vehicles in Seattle? Take a quick survey to share your experiences and insights. You'll be entered to win a $200 Amazon gift card —? and your feedback will help improve Seattle Department of Transportation's Commercial Vehicle Load Zone (CVLZ) program. Take the survey: https://bit.ly/4g0VX1p

We are thrilled to partner with Shared-Use Mobility Center and Cityfi on a Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Communities Taking Charge Accelerator project. We will be developing model policies, codes, and designs for light urban vehicles (LUVs) — including e-cargo bikes, e-tuktuks, microtrucks, and low-speed electric vehicles — to help cities adopt clean #transportation solutions and expand zero-emission #infrastructure. More: https://lnkd.in/grTdMDek #mobility #zeroemissions #electrification #emobility #electricvehicles

We are thrilled to announce that the Urban Freight Lab has been selected as one of 25 winners of the Communities Taking Charge Accelerator, an initiative led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) & U.S. Department of Transportation's Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. Our project focuses on: How can the #electrification of shared #parking lots and establishment of #logistics #microhubs support sustainable and equitable #lastmile #delivery systems? We will be collaborating with LAZ Parking, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Net Zero Logistics, and Penn State University to deliver solutions that: reduce #emissions from urban logistics #operations, increase delivery #efficiency in last-mile logistics, optimize off-street #parking lot usage, and expand workforce opportunities and provide low-emissions delivery services in communities. We are proud to be part of the #TakingCharge Accelerator and look forward to contributing to a connected and scalable scaling the electric #transportation ecosystem. https://lnkd.in/gT6ceU9k #innovation #emobility #electrification #sustainability #microhubs #fleets #equity #lastmiledelivery

Congratulations to both Travis Fried and Sarah Dennis-Bauer for being awarded CUTC - Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Outstanding Student of the Year, both for Road Mode! Each year, U.S. Department of Transportation-funded University Transportation Research Centers each selects one student to receive this prestigious award, which is presented at the #CUTC banquet during the #TRB Annual meeting in January. The CUTC awards recognize exceptional students, faculty, and leaders for their accomplishments in #transportation research and education. They are nominated by educators from nationwide and represent some of the brightest minds in the industry. cc: PacTrans Region 10 University Transportation Center

Congestion pricing has officially launched in New York City, and, while much of the focus has been on commuters, the #shipping and #logistics industry is also feeling the impact. However, there are strategies businesses and customers can adopt to mitigate driving and #delivery costs, such as optimizing #packaging efficiency, remapping routes, expanding cargo bike programs, or, as Urban Freight Lab Director Kelly Rula suggests, shifting deliveries to late-night and early-morning hours when tolls are less expensive. https://lnkd.in/gP9gpDfB #congestionpricing #logistics #traffic #shipping #cargobikes #urbanfreight