Mapping Urban Freight Infrastructure for Planning: A Demonstration of a Methodology

Urban transportation infrastructure includes facilities such as loading docks and curb space which are important for freight pick-up and delivery operations. Information about the location and nature of these facilities is typically not documented for public or private urban freight stakeholders and therefore cannot be used to support more effective private sector operations or public sector planning and engineering decisions. Consequently, there is considerable value in performing an accurate inventory and evaluation of the system. In response to this urban freight challenge, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) contracted with the Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center (SCTL) at the University of Washington to develop a process to address the lack of information regarding the capacity for freight and parcel load and unload operations in dense urban areas of Seattle. This works focuses on the development of a data collection method for documenting private urban freight infrastructure that does not require prior permission, is ground-truthed, and can be completed within reasonable cost and time constraints. This paper presents the methodology, which consists of a survey form, survey collection app, data quality control process, data structure and a proposed typology for off public right of way freight loading / unloading infrastructure based on basic physical infrastructure characteristics. The data collection process methodology is applied to three Seattle urban centers. The method was then revised and improved for a second data collection effort in two additional urban centers.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AT025 Standing Committee on Urban Freight Transportation.
• Authors:
  • Machado-León, Jose Luis
  • Giron-Valderrama, Gabriela del Carmen
  • Goodchild, Anne
  • McCormack, Edward
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps;
• Pagination: 5p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data collection; Infrastructure; Loading facilities; Location; Logistics; Methodology; Pickup and delivery service; Supply chain management; Unloading facilities; Urban areas
• Identifier Terms: Seattle Department of Transportation
• Geographic Terms: Seattle (Washington)
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01661594
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-06171
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 28 2018 5:00PM