United States-European Commission Urban Freight Twinning Initiative: Compendium of Project Summaries
Overview of Second Annual Urban Freight Roundtable at 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting

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Research

United States

The Final 50 Feet of Urban Goods Delivery

The University of Washington and the Seattle Department of Transportation are gathering data on delivery assets (i.e., loading zones, alleys, and building loading bays) to determine how best to design the "final 50 feet of delivery." This term refers to the movement of a freight shipment from a delivery vehicle to the recipient. The University of Washington will perform concentrated analysis on specific building types to generate scalable "archetypical" buildings that illustrate urban freight needs, and that can inform the requirements for freight facilities for large-scale developments.

The final 50 feet of a downtown delivery.
Source: Chris Eaves, Seattle Department of Transportation.

Project Type

Research and data gathering

Project Site(s)

Highly developed urban centers

Websites

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/thefinal50feet.htm

https://depts.washington.edu/sctlctr/members/urban-freight-lab

Contact

Barb Ivanov
Chief Operating Officer
University of Washington Supply Chain & Logistics Center
(206) 468-2201
Ivanov@uw.edu

Chris Eaves
Senior Civil Engineering Specialist
Seattle Department of Transportation
(206) 684-4524
Christopher.Eaves@seattle.gov

Jude Willcher
Strategic Advisor, Capital Programming
Seattle Department of Transportation
(206) 684-4059
Jude.Willcher@seattle.gov

Challenges Addressed

• Goods delivery in highly developed urban environments
• Parking
• Access
• Congestion
• Building Design

Expected Outcomes

This work is designed to pilot and evaluate operational improvements in highly developed urban environments such as urban centers, central business districts, and urban villages. The project will also inform policy and permitting on current development needs.

Stakeholder Involvement

• Public agency (Seattle Department of Transportation)
• Higher education (University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab)
• Private industry (UPS, USPS, Nordstrom, FedEx, Costco)