pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

Developing Design Guidelines for Commercial Vehicle Envelopes on Urban Streets

PI: Ed McCormack (UW), edm@uw.edu, ORCID: 0000-0002-2437-9604

Co PIs: Anne Goodchild (UW), David Hurwitz (OSU)

AMOUNT & MATCH: $180,000 from PacTrans; $180,000 Match

PERFORMANCE PERIOD: 8/16/2017 – 8/15/2019

STATUS: Completed

CATEGORIES: Freight, Design Guidelines, Parking Envelopes, Urban Streets

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DESCRIPTION: This research will use two methods to better understand the need for a commercial vehicle operating envelope – a space around the vehicle for unloading or loading activity and driver maneuvering.

The first is a field study in urban Seattle of current practice and the evaluation of existing infrastructure. The research team will survey and observe freight activity at a range of different configuration of Commercial Vehicle Load Zones (CVLZ). The length and width of each observed CVLZ and the space used for unloading activity will be recorded. The research team will also collaborate with a trucking company to simulate various deliveries while recording the movement around each truck. As a second phase, the researchers will work with Oregon State University’s driving simulator laboratory to design an experiment to test driver and bicyclist behavior around the truck and to estimate a safe operating envelope that would absolve conflicts. Different envelope will be explored for different vehicle types, handling equipment, and cargo characteristics. From these results, design recommendations will be drawn that will allow for safe and efficient shared roadway use.