Urban Freight Lab

A sincere thank you to U.S. Department of Transportation's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multimodal Freight Infrastructure & Policy Allison Dane Camden and Director of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Gateway Office Xochitl Castaneda for visiting the Urban Freight Lab at the University of Washington this summer. It was a pleasure to share updates on our ongoing research and discuss the future of #multimodal #freight in such esteemed company. We look forward to continued #collaboration and welcome you back anytime!

A huge thank you to two fantastic guest speakers at our recent Urban Freight Lab meeting: Sarah Pullman, Transportation Planner at the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and Caleb Weaver, VP of Public Affairs at Ridwell. Sarah shared valuable insights on Portland's zero-emissions #delivery zone, and Caleb provided an overview of Ridwell's #transportation and #logistics system. We appreciate your time and contributions to these important discussions! #zeroemissions #urbanfreight #goodsdelivery #sustainability #urbanmobility

We are excited to introduce Zhengtao Qin, a visiting research assistant at the Urban Freight Lab for the the 2024-25 academic year. Zhengtao is a doctoral student in Transportation Engineering at Tongji University in China. Her research interests include urban #freight #planning, travel behavior, and #traffic #emissions, and she has published papers in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. Zhengtao is currently conducting #research on optimizing urban heavy truck route choices to reduce emissions, aiming to contribute to more sustainable and efficient urban freight systems. Welcome, Zhengtao! We look forward to your contributions to the Urban Freight Lab. https://lnkd.in/gWBN6cZJ #UrbanFreight #Sustainability #Research #Transportation

Package #misloads (packages mistakenly placed on the wrong vehicle) are a costly problem, increasing miles and work time for drivers while causing delays in service commitments to customers. Even a seemingly small misload rate (less than 1%) can have significant consequences, considering the massive scale of the #delivery industry. A 0.2% misload rate means that half the delivery trucks on the road are carrying a misloaded package — a package that would need to be transferred to another driver en route, returned and rescheduled, or delivered via an additional unscheduled stop. Our latest blog post discusses the strategies and #technologies that can reduce misload errors, increasing operational accuracy, improving the customer experience, boosting efficiency, and generating cost savings. https://lnkd.in/gUE6dBFE #logistics #supplychainmanagement #lastmiledelivery #rfid Impinj #customerexperience

The Urban Freight Lab summer meeting is abuzz as U.S. Department of Transportation Policy Advisor Liya Rechtman presents #DOT's newly released 44-page Report to Congress: Decarbonizing Transportation, outlining the department's strategies to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas #emissions in alignment with the UN Paris Agreement. DOT's approach focuses on three key strategies: reducing unnecessary travel distances for people and #freight, expanding energy-efficient #transportation options, and transitioning to zero-emission #mobility options. The report: https://lnkd.in/gswubnWa

Our summer Urban Freight Lab meeting is off to an excellent start! We're thrilled to have Daniel Firth, C40 Cities Director of Climate Action Implementation, sharing insights on #congestion pricing: reflecting on the past two decades and what's ahead. We're exploring case studies from Stockholm and London, looking at costs, benefits, strategies for designing effective and equitable congestion pricing, and its potential to reduce #emissions. We are also pleased to have representatives from three #C40 cities in attendance today: Seattle, Portland, and New York City. #congestionpricing #equity #transportation #climateaction Seattle Department of Transportation, Portland Bureau of Transportation, New York City Department of Transportation

Join the Urban Freight Lab for a seminar on curbside management, simulation, and #optimization. Michele Simoni (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) will discuss cutting-edge innovations in last-mile #delivery, including innovative approaches to managing traffic in last-mile #operations, strategies for optimizing parking for commercial vehicles, and preliminary findings from the Investigating Sidewalks’ Mobility and Improving it with Robots (ISMIR) project on the relationship between sidewalk delivery robots and pedestrian #infrastructure. #lastmiledelivery #mobility #curbmanagement #transportation

Misplaced keys are frustrating. Misplaced packages in #lastmile delivery? Even more so. Our latest #GoodsMovement2030 blog post examines the problem of misloading in #delivery #operations — how misloaded packages affect both customers and companies and how simulation tools and tracking technologies are paving the way for more efficient deliveries. https://lnkd.in/gUE6dBFE #supplychainmanagement #RFID Impinj #logistics #customerexperience #customerservice

With the rise of ride-hailing services, rentable scooters and bikes, sidewalk dining, and #ecommerce deliveries, curbs are now considered some of the most in-demand pieces of urban real estate — evolving from parking spaces to everything else. Recognizing the critical need for efficient curb management, cities are leveraging innovative digital solutions and strategies, such as dynamic pricing, digitizing curb space, and establishing zero-emissions delivery zones, reshaping curbs into multifaceted assets that support sustainable urban #mobility and community development. The Urban Freight Lab is working with the Seattle Department of Transportation and the Open Mobility Foundation on a U.S. Department of Transportation-funded Last-Mile Freight Curb Access Program, digitizing the critical last mile of urban goods delivery, using sensor-based technology solutions to expedite deliveries, reduce vehicle #emissions, and increase productivity, fostering more efficient and sustainable urban #logistics #operations. https://lnkd.in/gyai3pdG #lastmile #citylogistics #goodsmovement #goodsdelivery #climateaction #urbanplanning #curbmanagement #dynamicpricing #zeroemissions

A win for urban freight today! Thrilled to see New York City Department of Transportation receive a U.S. Department of Transportation #RAISEGrant to launch the Urban Freight Mobility Collaborative, the first city-led hub in the U.S. focused on reducing the negative impacts of urban freight movement. With community, industry, government, and academic partners, NYC is set to pilot innovative solutions like micro-distribution centers (#microhubs), common-carrier lockers, commercial #cargobicycles, #micromobility, electric freight vehicles, and new waterways infrastructure. At the Urban Freight Lab, we look forward to sharing insights and collaborating on innovative urban #freight solutions that improve equity, tackle climate change, and make our cities more livable. https://lnkd.in/gS__FDaG #urbanfreight #livablecities #climateaction #innovation #sustainability #goodsmovement #lastmile #freightmobility #freightplanning