Research Projects

Summary:
Seattle DOT has engaged the Urban Freight Lab to conduct research to explore strategies to alleviate congestion impacts and minimize the disruption of goods and service delivery to West Seattle during the closure of the West Seattle High Bridge, which connects the West Seattle peninsula to the rest of the city.

Summary:
In Phase 2 of the West Seattle Bridge Case Study, the research team will shift the focus from business establishments to consumers. In particular, we will explore consumer behavior, defined as how people choose to buy goods and services and where they buy them, to better understand residential demand and accessibility of goods for WS residents.  

Summary:
(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 focuses 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 and barriers to entry. 

Summary:
This project evaluates the impact of pedestrianization at Pike Place Market on vendors and delivery access, and analyzes how nearby traffic patterns change under the Market’s Vehicle Access Pilot.

Summary:
The Ballard Cordon Data Collection for Trucks and Cars is an analysis research project to be conducted by the Urban Freight Lab for the City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Summary:
Through synthesis of existing literature and interviews conducted with private and public stakeholders, this project aims to provide an overview of the barriers to achieving sustainable urban freight. The research will highlight key strategies that can enable sustainable last mile delivery in the urban environment and, importantly, outline the specific roadblocks to carrying out those strategies. This will help companies and public entities form sustainability plans and understand where collaboration between the two sectors in needed.

Summary:
This project brings together multiple data sources to better understand how different users interact with the curb, one of the most contested spaces in cities today. By combining perspectives on freight, passenger parking, and emerging mobility uses, it aims to develop new tools to help cities manage curb space more effectively.

Summary:
This study explored locating common carrier lockers at or near three of Seattle's Link Light Rail stations. The Urban Freight Lab developed multi-factor criteria to evaluate placing common carrier locker systems on public property and applied it to evaluate potential sites at or near three of Seattle's Link Light Rail stations and the Transit-Oriented Development areas near them. Mobility hubs aim to consolidate multiple modes of transportation – bicycles, ride shares, trains, and buses – within well-designed, well-connected public spaces containing ample community amenities.

Summary:
The Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center (SCTL) is conducting collaborative research with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) to explore and share innovative approaches for moving, storing, and redistributing surplus food. Transportation, storage, and logistics have been key operational barriers to increasing rescued food. SPU commissioned SCTL to create a shared data-driven understanding of the logistics of food rescue in Seattle. The purpose of this project is to reduce waste and increase access and food quality for customers of food banks and meal programs. Research will be conducted with both businesses that donate food and the organizations that receive it.

Summary:
The Urban Freight Lab partnered with Net Zero Logistics, the City of Boston, and the Boston Transportation Department on an e-cargo bike delivery program with the goal of supporting local businesses, reducing pollution, easing traffic congestion, and improving street safety.

Summary:
This project will test an innovative set of incentives and regulations to better understand what technology and strategies municipalities can use to support and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the freight sector.

Summary:
The Urban Freight Lab is a key technical and research partner on the Miami-Dade County SMART Curbs Program, part of a multi-city effort funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve curb management, bike lane safety, and zero-emission last-mile delivery.

Summary:
This project will build upon a previous Urban Freight Lab study (funded by the U.S. Department of Energy) that was aimed at improving commercial vehicle delivery efficiency generating and providing real-time and future parking information to delivery drivers. In this subsequent study, researchers will build upon the knowledge developed and the existing network of parking occupancy sensors installed in a 10-block study area in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, to explore how historical parking occupancy data can be used by urban planners and policymakers to better allocate curb space to commercial vehicles. We will use data from the 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.

Summary:
The City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has engaged the Urban Freight Lab to conduct research on the impacts of a Freight- and Transit-only lane (FAT lane) that was in place in January 2019, during the closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct (a major thoroughfare) in Seattle and reduction of capacity in an already congested road network. The research findings will be used to understand the FAT Lane's performance towards achieving city goals and to guide development of future FAT Lane projects.

Summary:
The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) was approached by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to complete a review of proposed evaluation criteria and propose a data collection plan in preparation for the implementation of a Freight and Bus Lane (FAB) Lane in Fall 2024 for King County Metro's Bus Route 40.