In the heart of Amazon鈥檚 online retail empire, Seattleites can get everything from toothpaste to Thai food to a last-minute birthday gift delivered within hours.
But as cities like Seattle add new residents with appetites for near-instant gratification, how can businesses operating in urban environments with aggravating traffic and competition for street space meet customer expectations for quick deliveries?
A new 91探花 research center will collaborate with the Seattle Department of Transportation and three founding industry members 鈥� Costco, Nordstrom and UPS 鈥� to tackle that question and test new solutions in urban goods delivery.
The 91探花 will investigate high-impact, low-cost solutions for businesses delivering goods in urban settings and cities trying to manage limited curb and parking space where delivery trucks, bicycles, pedestrians and cars all need to coexist.
As part of the 91探花, the 鈥渓iving lab鈥� will bring transportation and urban planners who manage public spaces together with retailers, urban truck freight carriers, technology companies supporting transportation logistics and multifamily and commercial developers.
In Seattle鈥檚 growing number of apartment and condo buildings, for instance, the boom in online deliveries is also putting pressure on building owners to design loading and common areas that can handle the onslaught. With hundreds of residents now buying 10 or 20 percent of their goods online, a concierge who used to handle a flower delivery or two now may be running the equivalent of a package sort center in the building lobby.
鈥淪ome of the changes brought about by the rise in e-commerce have the potential to reduce costs and carbon dioxide and improve livability, but we need better planning and exchange to ensure these opportunities are harnessed,鈥� said civil and environmental engineering associate professor , who directs the transportation & logistics center, known as SCTL.
鈥淪eattle is a great location for this living laboratory because we have urban growth, geographic constraints and profound behavioral changes in the way people are buying things they need for daily life,鈥� she said.
At the same time, the the Urban Freight Lab and its industry members will investigate are applicable to other cities around the country.
鈥淲e have more than 300 Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores 鈥� many in dense urban settings with a range of delivery settings, including common docks and unique situations,鈥� said Loren VandenBerghe, director of transportation at Nordstrom. 鈥淲e are always interested in ways to better support our stores so we can better serve our customers. The SCTL鈥檚 efforts will be beneficial for us to glean some new best practices and actively participate in creating solutions so we can continue to do so.鈥�
SDOT director Scott Kubly on Wednesday announced a $285,000, 3-year research collaboration with the Urban Freight Lab that may grow over time.
鈥淔rom the first mile to the last fifty feet, freight delivery is changing,鈥� Kubly said. 鈥淔or big trucks coming out of the Port of Seattle and small trucks delivering to people’s homes and businesses, this joint project will address the rapidly evolving world of freight movement.鈥�
As an initial research question, the 91探花engineers, SDOT and lab members will focus on the 鈥渇inal 50 feet鈥� challenge, or the last leg of a delivery. It begins at the point where a delivery driver leaves a truck or vehicle on a street, alley or loading bay and extends through a privately owned building into a residential lobby or commercial area.
Students and researchers will first map existing freight infrastructure like private loading bays, as the city doesn鈥檛 have complete information about where those exist, and document how deliveries are being managed in the real world.
They鈥檒l also test solutions 鈥� from strategies to manage curb space or alleys differently to centralized drop-off lockers 鈥� to see how they work both in simulations and in the real world. Off-hours deliveries, for instance, can alleviate traffic and parking headaches. But would that noise disturb residents, or add to failed deliveries?
Eventually, the research team will develop an 鈥淯rban Freight Score鈥� 鈥� similar to that rates walkability for pedestrians 鈥� to evaluate the ability of trucks to access different locations around Seattle.
The new lab will draw on student expertise and research capacity from associated faculty members, as well as the UW鈥檚 , which combines business and engineering courses, exposes students to supply chain leaders at leading companies and allows students to work on a real-world operational issue.
鈥淚鈥檝e had the opportunity to work with the 91探花since the inception of the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Master’s program,鈥� said John Thelan, Costco鈥檚 Senior Vice President, Depot and Traffic. 鈥淭hey are a well-educated and very focused group. It鈥檚 a pleasure to invest in the future of such-high caliber students by forming this strategic partnership with the program.鈥�
Compared to other supply chain research programs around the country, the Urban Freight Lab is unique in bringing together stakeholders that manage both public and private aspects of urban deliveries, Goodchild said.
UPS and other freight carriers, for instance, can use sophisticated technologies to manage their own operations and run their own warehouses as profitably as possible, she said. But once a truck hits a city street, all bets are off.
鈥淭he problems where we can be of most value occur where a private company has to use public space or share public space 鈥� they can鈥檛 control that,鈥� Goodchild said. 鈥淭he ‘final 50 feet’ highlights the challenge of coordinating across numerous, diverse stakeholders. It鈥檚 a problem that isn鈥檛 going to solve itself and no one can solve independently.鈥�
For more information, contact Goodchild at annegood@uw.edu or SCTL鈥檚 chief operating officer Barb Ivanov at ivanovb@uw.edu.