Urban Freight Lab

Fireside Chat: The Future of Electrification
2024-04-23 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom webinar
Join the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics graduate degree program for a Fireside Chat discussion on the future of electrification.
Register: https://bit.ly/future-of-electrification

Fireside Chat: Robotic Remote Automation in Supply Chain Management
2024-05-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom webinar
Join the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics graduate degree program for a Fireside Chat discussion on the future of robotic and remote automation in supply chain management.
Register: https://bit.ly/robotic-scm

Last-Mile Logistics Innovations: Parking Guidance Systems and Sidewalk Delivery Robots
2024-07-12 14:00 - 15:30 | More Hall 218, University of Washington
The Urban Freight Lab is hosting Prof. Michele Simioni (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden) for a seminar on “Last-Mile Logistics Innovations: Parking Guidance Systems and Sidewalk Delivery Robots.”
Abstract: The talk will delve into the topics of curbside management, simulation, and optimization. The first and main part will discuss alternative traffic management strategies for last-mile delivery operations. Various parking guidance approaches involving allocating commercial vehicles to dedicated loading/unloading bays are investigated alongside a vehicle-specific geofence strategy. Methodologically, an agent-based model framework is used to reproduce the interactions between (parking and cruising) carriers, surrounding traffic, and a traffic controller and integrated with simulation to perform the corresponding optimization. The latter part of the presentation will describe preliminary findings from the ISMIR project, which investigates the interplay between sidewalk delivery robots and pedestrian infrastructure.
Bio: Michele Simoni is an Assistant Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Before relocating to Stockholm, he served as a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics and completed his PhD at UT Austin. Michele’s research focuses on modeling and optimizing emerging transportation solutions and services, with applications in last-mile freight transportation, transportation policy, and traffic engineering.

Urbanism Next Europe
2024-10-09 - 2024-10-11 | ‍Maritim Hotel Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Urbanism Next Europe Conference is a partnership between Urbanism Next at the University of Oregon, TU Delft, TNO, and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS).
The Urban Freight Lab will speak on a session on “What Can Shared Micromobility Teach Us About Enhancing the Microfreight Ecosystem?” on Friday, October 11, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Summary: In the United States, micro-freight is still a fledgling industry. Can lessons learned and technology developed from the micromobility ecosystem accelerate its growth and proliferation? As digital solutions emerge focused on curb management to achieve transportation policy outcomes, we reflect on what did and didn’t work for micromobility and apply it to building public-private ecosystems that foster micro-freight as a sustainable urban-friendly trend. Join our discussion of the technology supporting a unique zero-emission delivery zone implementation in Portland, Oregon, leveraging real-time data sharing, curb digitization, and partnership with a local e-trike delivery company.
Speakers:

Kelly Rula, Urban Freight Lab
Franklin Jones, B-Line Urban Delivery
Michael Schwartz, INRIX
Jacob Sherman, Portland Bureau of Transportation

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting
2025-01-06 | Washington, D.C.
Truck Parking Panel Discussion
P25-21142
Chris Eaves
Autonomous Delivery Vehicles Acceptance: The Moderating Role of Perceived Risk of Theft
P25-21106
Arsalan Esmaili
Mining of Heavy-Duty Truck Activity Patterns Using Natural Language Processing Techniques
TRBAM-25-02063
Zhengtao Qin
A Novel Approach for Reconstructing Freight Trips of Heavy-Duty Truck Using Operational Logic
TRBAM-25-02064
Zhengtao Qin
Container Trailer Stop Identification of Freight Enterprises Based on Transportation Management Services of The Entire Logistics Process
TRBAM-25-02065
Zhengtao Qin

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting
2025-01-07
AI for Tracking Curbside Conflicts in Last-Mile Deliveries
TRBAM-25-04046
Anne Goodchild
Improving Autonomous Vehicle Crash Data by Data Mining and AI Tools
TRBAM-25-04418
Arsalan Esmaili
Seattle: Curb Data and Digital Infrastructure
P25-20811
Mary Catherine Snyder
The Impacts of Curb Space Allocations on Cruising-for-Parking Emissions in a Simulated Environment
TRBAM-25-05866
Tom Maxner

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting
2025-01-08 | Washington, D.C.
Decarbonization of Trucking for Freight-Heavy Industries: Reclassify Truck Trip Patterns Considering Carbon Emissions
TRBAM-25-03159
Anne Goodchild and Zhengtao Qin

StreetLight Summit 2025
2025-03-13 09:00 - 10:30 | Zoom webinar
Join the transportation data event of the year for a Big Data blast at the virtual StreetLight Summit. Practitioners will share analytics for everything from routine traffic counts to transit scheduling, based on actual analyses in StreetLight InSight. Dr. Anne Goodchild will deliver the keynote at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 13.

TRB Conference on Data and AI for Transportation Advancement
2025-05-27 - 2025-05-29 | Westin Hotel, 1900 5th Ave., Seattle, WA, United States
Artificial Intelligence and data analysis have the potential to help the transportation system better reach its goals of providing safe and efficient ways to move people and goods. The DATA conference will bridge the gap between the data, cutting-edge technologies, and computing processes and the challenges and opportunities for organizations and agencies to incorporate these into their workflow. Presenters will emphasize concrete outcomes and examples of advancing AI and data analysis within the transportation industry and highlight practical solutions and programs. Workshops and tours are available on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
Participants will:

Understand the data used to build AI and Machine Learning models
Understand the fundamentals of AI and data analysis and their interplay with transportation decision making, practices, policies, guidance, and regulations
Exchange ideas about AI and machine learning implementation frameworks and mechanisms within a transportation environment
Understand the data needed to support new initiatives
Identify successful methods, strategies, and tools agencies can consider to measure performance within their investment and implementation strategies
Frame future research to address ongoing questions and pervasive gaps in knowledge and practice

Lunch & Learn with Burges Visiting Professor Paul Buijs
2025-10-29 12:00 - 13:00 | More Hall 110
From “I can wait” to impact: Turning consumer patience into more sustainable ecommerce delivery
Presented by Visiting Burges Professor Paul Buijs, Associate Professor, University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
12 noon – 1 p.m.
In person: More Hall, Room 110
Online: Zoom link
RSVP required.
The Visiting Burges Professorship and lecture is brought to you by Steve and Sylvia Burges and lunch is hosted by the Urban Freight Lab.
Abstract: Do we really need every online order tomorrow, or even today? Often not. Many consumers are willing to accept later delivery when it the option is presented well. This talk explores how that flexibility can be turned into measurable sustainability gains.
This presentation shares ongoing empirical work that quantifies willingness to wait: how many people will delay, by how much, and under what conditions. We test communication strategies and choice architecture to see what actually persuades consumers.
Second, I discuss modeling of what e-commerce sellers and delivery companies can do with the extra time: smoothing workloads across days, concentrating stops to increase delivery density, or skipping low-yield routes. Each lever has distinct effects on distance traveled, fleet use, and emissions.
Finally, I connect consumer behavior with operational strategies to estimate the realizable potential under different contexts. We close with practical playbooks for e-commerce sellers, delivery companies, and cities on how to design checkout choices and delivery policies that translate “I can wait” into a more sustainable last mile.
About the speaker: Dr. Paul Buijs explores how stakeholders are both affected by — and can contribute to — the transition to more sustainable logistics systems. His research spans a wide range of domains, from urban delivery networks to heavy road freight, and considers sustainability through multiple lenses, including carbon emissions, livability, and economic inclusivity. Current topics include how logistics can adapt to evolving urban environments, how urban planning can reduce the sector’s footprint in cities, how to accelerate freight transport decarbonization, how emerging ecommerce delivery and return models impact CO2 emissions, and how to ensure the shift to green urban logistics is equitable for all. Dr. Buijs has a MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management and a Ph.D. in Sustainable Logistics, both from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

POLIS Annual Conference
2025-11-26 08:00 - 2025-11-27 17:00 | Utrecht, Netherlands

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting
2026-01-12
Presentation: Curb Digitalization for Last-Mile Deliveries (P26-20708)
Presenter: Giacomo Dalla Chiara
Panel: Unlocking the Power of Curb Data: Applications of the Curb Data Specification (Lectern Session 2048)
Date & Time: Monday, January 12, 10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Description: Cities are increasingly recognizing the curb as one of the most valuable—and most contested—pieces of public space. From rideshare pickups and delivery zones to micro-mobility parking and freight loading, demand at the curb is higher than ever. The Curb Data Specification (CDS) provides a common language for cities, technology providers, and operators to manage this complexity.
This session will explore how cities are applying CDS to improve curb management and support broader mobility goals. Case studies will highlight lessons learned from early adopters, demonstrate the role of CDS in enabling better coordination with private operators, and showcase opportunities to use data-driven approaches for curbside policy and planning. Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how to apply these insights to develop effective curb management strategies, strengthen public-private coordination, and enhance data-driven decision-making in urban planning practice.

Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting
2026-01-13
Poster: A Comparative Analysis of Commercial Vehicle Load Zone Programs Across U.S. Cities (TRBAM-26-01448)
Authors: Giacomo Dalla Chiara, Yu-Chen Chu, Kelly Rula, Anne Goodchild
Session: Last-Mile and Behavioral Logistics (3163)
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 13, 8 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Poster: Understanding Carrier Preferences for Urban Freight Parking Pricing: A Discrete Choice Experiment in Seattle (TRBAM-26-04174)
Authors: Arsalan Esmaili, Giacomo Dalla Chiara, Rubina Singh, Kelly Rula, Anne Goodchild
Session: Current Research in Urban Freight Transportation (3036)
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 13, 8 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Poster: Location-Routing Problem with a Mixed Fleet of E-Cargo Bikes in a Zero-Emission Delivery Zone: The Case of Portland (TRBAM-26-05673)
Authors: Chaoyi Zhang, Anne Goodchild, Kelly Rula
Session: Current Research in Urban Freight Transportation (3036)
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 13, 8 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
