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Paper

Evaluation of Bicyclist Physiological Response and Visual Attention in Commercial Vehicle Loading Zones

 
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Publication: Journal of Safety Research
Publication Date: 2023
Summary:

With growing freight operations throughout the world, there is a push for transportation systems to accommodate trucks during loading and unloading operations. Currently, many urban locations do not provide loading and unloading zones, which results in trucks parking in places that obstruct bicyclist’s roadway infrastructure (e.g., bicycle lanes).

Method
To understand the implications of these truck operations, a bicycle simulation experiment was designed to evaluate the impact of commercial vehicle loading and unloading activities on safe and efficient bicycle operations in a shared urban roadway environment. A fully counterbalanced, partially randomized, factorial design was chosen to explore three independent variables: commercial vehicle loading zone (CVLZ) sizes with three levels (i.e., no CVLZ, Min CVLZ, and Max CVLZ), courier position with three levels (i.e., no courier, behind the truck, beside the truck), and with and without loading accessories. Bicyclist’s physiological response and eye tracking were used as performance measures. Data were obtained from 48 participants, resulting in 864 observations in 18 experimental scenarios using linear mixed-effects models (LMM).

Results
Results from the LMMs suggest that loading zone size and courier position had the greatest effect on bicyclist’s physiological responses. Bicyclists had approximately two peaks-per-minute higher when riding in the condition that included no CVLZ and courier on the side compared to the base conditions (i.e., Max CVLZ and no courier). Additionally, when the courier was beside the truck, bicyclist’s eye fixation durations (sec) were one (s) greater than when the courier was located behind the truck, indicating that bicyclists were more alert as they passed by the courier. The presence of accessories had the lowest influence on both bicyclists’ physiological response and eye tracking measures.

Practical Applications
These findings could support better roadway and CVLZ design guidelines, which will allow our urban street system to operate more efficiently, safely, and reliable for all users.

Authors: Dr. Ed McCormackDr. Anne Goodchild, Hisham Jashami, Douglas Cobb, Ivan Sinkus, Yujun Liu, David Hurwitz
Recommended Citation:
Jashami, Hisham, Douglas Cobb, Ivan Sinkus, Yujun Liu, Edward McCormack, Anne Goodchild, and David Hurwitz. “Evaluation of Bicyclist Physiological Response and Visual Attention in Commercial Vehicle Loading Zones.” Journal of Safety Research. Elsevier BV, December 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2023.11.018
Report

Supporting Comprehensive Urban Freight Planning by Mapping Private Load and Unload Facilities

 
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Publication Date: 2023
Summary:

Freight load and unload facilities located off the public right-of-way are typically not documented in publicly available databases. Without detailed knowledge of these facilities, i.e. private freight load and unload infrastructure, cities are limited in their ability to complete system-wide freight planning and to comprehensively evaluate the total supply of load and unload spaces in the city. To address this challenge, this research describes the development and application of a data collection methodology and a typology of private freight load/unload facilities for their inventory and documentation in dense urban centers.

The tools developed in this research are practice-ready and can be implemented in other cities to support research, policy and planning approaches that aim to improve the urban freight system. Assessment of the degree of harmonization between the current delivery vehicle dimensions and infrastructure they service is a crucial step of any policy that addresses private freight load/unload infrastructures. This includes providing: the adequate access dimensions, capacity to accommodate the volume and vehicle type, and an effective connecting design between the facilities and the public right-of-way.

A case study in Downtown Seattle found more than 337 private freight facilities for loading/unloading of goods but that translates into only 5% of the buildings in the densest areas of the city had these facilities. Alleys were found to play a critical role since 36% of this freight infrastructure was accessed through alleys.

This research results in the first urban inventory of private freight load/unload infrastructure, which has been shown to be a valuable resource for the City of Seattle that can be used to better understand and plan for the urban freight system.

Recommended Citation:
Machado León, J., Girón-Valderrama, G., Goodchild, A., & McCormack, E. Supporting Comprehensive Urban Freight Planning by Mapping Private Load and Unload Facilities (2023).
Technical Report

Developing Design Guidelines for Commercial Vehicle Envelopes on Urban Streets (Technical Report)

 
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Publication Date: 2020
Summary:

This report presents research to improve the understanding of curb space and delivery needs in urban areas. Observations of delivery operations to determine vehicle type, loading actions, door locations, and accessories used were conducted. Once common practices had been identified, then simulated loading activities were measured to quantify different types of loading space requirements around commercial vehicles. This resulted in a robust measurement of the operating envelope required to reduce conflicts between truck loading and unloading activities with adjacent pedestrian, bicycle, and motor vehicle activities.

A bicycling simulator experiment examined bicycle and truck interactions in a variety of CVLZ designs. The experiment was completed by 50 participants. The bicycling simulator collected data regarding a participant’s velocity, lane position, and acceleration. Three independent variables were included in this experiment: pavement marking (No, Minimum, or Recommended CVLZ), Courier Position (none, behind vehicle, on driver’s side), and Accessory (none or hand truck). The results support the development of commercial loading zone design recommendations that will allow our urban street system to operate more efficiently, safely, and reliably for all users.

As urban populations and freight activities grow, there is continued pressure for multiple modes to share urban streets and compete for curb space. Cities are recognizing curb space as valuable public real estate that must be better understood and designed in order to improve the quality of life for residents and the transportation systems of cities.

Current commercial vehicle load zones are not well designed to accommodate safe, efficient, and reliable deliveries. Commercial vehicles using urban curbside loading zones are not typically provided with a consistent envelope, or a space allocation adjacent to the vehicle for deliveries. While completing loading and unloading activities, drivers are required to walk around the vehicle, extend ramps and handling equipment, and maneuver goods; these activities require space around the vehicle. But these unique space needs of delivery trucks are not commonly acknowledged by or incorporated in current urban design practices. Due to this lack of a truck envelope, drivers of commercial vehicles are observed using pedestrian pathways and bicycling infrastructure for unloading activities as well as walking in traffic lanes. These actions put themselves, and other road users in direct conflict and potentially in harm’s way.

This project improves our understanding of curb space requirements and delivery needs in urban areas. The research approach involved the observation of delivery activities operations to measure the envelope required for different vehicle types, loading actions, door locations, and accessories. Once the envelope was determined the (simulator was used).

Common loading and unloading practices and where freight activities occurred in relationship to trucks (sides, back, or front) were initially identified by observing twenty-five curbside deliveries in urban Seattle. The research team next collaborated with three delivery companies with active operations in urban areas. These companies proved access to their facilities, nine different urban delivery vehicles, and a variety of loading accessories. The research team initially recorded the commercial vehicle’s closed vehicle footprint without any possible extensions engaged. Next the open vehicle footprint was measured when all vehicle parts such as doors, lift gates, and ramps were extended for delivery operations. Finally, the active vehicle footprint was recorded as the companies’ drivers simulated deliveries which allowed the research team to observe and precisely measure driver and accessory paths around the vehicle.

This process resulted in robust measurements, tailored to different types of truck configurations, loading equipment and accessories, of the operating envelope around a commercial vehicle. These measurements, added to the foot print of a user-selected delivery truck sizes, provides the envelope needed to reduce conflicts between truck loading and unloading activities and adjacent pedestrian, bicycle, and motor vehicle activities.

A bicycling simulator experiment examined bicycle and truck interactions in a variety of CVLZ designs. The experiment was successfully completed by 50 participants. The bicycling simulator collected data regarding a participant’s velocity, lane position, and acceleration.

Three independent variables were included in this experiment: pavement marking (No, Minimum, or Recommended CVLZ), Courier Position (none, behind vehicle, on driver’s side), and Accessory (none or hand truck). Several summary observations resulted from the bicycling simulator experiment:

  • A bicyclist passing by no loading zone (truck is obstructing bike lane) or minimum loading zone (truck next to the bike lane without a buffer) had a significantly lower speed than a bicyclist passing a preferred loading zone (truck has an extra buffer). A smaller loading zone had a ix decreasing effect on mean speed, with a courier exiting on the driver side of the truck causing the lowest mean speed.
  • A courier on the driver’s side of the truck had an increasing effect on mean lateral position, with a no CVLZ causing the highest divergence from the right edge of the bike lane. Consequently, bicyclists shifted their position toward the left edge of bike lane and into the adjacent travel lane. Moreover, some bicyclists used the crosswalk to avoid the delivery truck and the travel lane.
  • In the presence of a courier on the driver’s side of the truck, the minimum CVLZ tended to be the most disruptive for bicyclists since they tended to depart from the bike lane toward the adjacent vehicular travel lane.
  • When the bicyclist approached a delivery vehicle parked in the bicycle lane, they had to choose between using the travel lane or the sidewalk. About one third of participants decided to use the sidewalk.

From our results, commercial loading zone best practice envelope recommendations can be developed that will allow our urban street system to operate more efficiently, safely, and reliably for all users

Authors: Dr. Ed McCormackDr. Anne GoodchildManali Sheth, David S. Hurwitz, Hisham Jashami, Douglas P. Cobb
Recommended Citation:
McCormack, Ed. Anne Goodchild, Manali Sheth, et.al. (2020). Developing Design Guidelines for Commercial Vehicle Envelopes on Urban Streets.
Paper

Developing Design Guidelines for Commercial Vehicle Envelopes on Urban Streets (Paper)

 
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Publication: International Journal of Transport Development and Integration
Volume: 3:02
Pages: 132 - 143
Publication Date: 2019
Summary:

Commercial heavy vehicles using urban curbside loading zones are not typically provided with an envelope, or space adjacent to the vehicle, allocated for loading and unloading activities. While completing loading and unloading activities, couriers are required to walk around the vehicle, extend ramps and handling equipment and maneuver goods; these activities require space around the vehicle. But the unique space needs of delivery trucks are not commonly acknowledged by or incorporated into current urban design practices in either North America or Europe. Because of this lack of a truck envelope, couriers of commercial vehicles are observed using pedestrian pathways and bicycling infrastructure for unloading activities, as well as walking in traffic lanes. These actions put them and other road users in direct conflict and potentially in harm’s way.

This article presents our research to improve our understanding of curb space and delivery needs in urban areas. The research approach involved the observation of delivery operations to determine vehicle type, loading actions, door locations and accessories used. Once common practices had been identified by observing 25 deliveries, simulated loading activities were measured to quantify different types of loading space requirements around commercial vehicles. This resulted in a robust measurement of the operating envelope required to reduce conflicts between truck loading and unloading activities with adjacent pedestrian, bicycle, and motor vehicle activities. From these results, commercial loading zone design recommendations can be developed that will allow our urban street system to operate more efficiently, safely and reliably for all users.

Recommended Citation:
McCormack, Edward, Anne Goodchild, Manali Sheth, and David Hurwitz. Developing Design Guidelines for Commercial Vehicle Envelopes on Urban Streets. International Journal of Transport Development and Integration, 3(2), 132–143. https://doi.org/10.2495/TDI-V3-N2-132-143