A Strategic Public-Private Research Partnership
The Urban Freight Lab (UFL), housed at the Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington, is an innovative partnership bringing together private industry, academic researchers, and public transportation agencies to solve urban freight management problems that overlap private and public spaces and have wide-ranging benefits.
in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood. Photo by Urban Freight Lab.
A Living Laboratory
City of Seattle Department of Transportation. Photo by Urban Freight Lab.
The UFL works to develop 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. To achieve its goals the Lab collects original, granular urban goods system data as well as existent data, conducts analyses, develops promising strategies, and pilot tests those strategies on the street and in urban buildings.
We adhere to four principles when designing methodologies. To be widely used, data collection must be replicable, available at a reasonable cost, groundtruthed, and have quality control measures built into each step.
Bringing Together Stakeholders Representing Both Public and Private Aspects of Urban Delivery
The UFL is a structured work group comprised of industry members, who are senior executives from retail and wholesale companies, logistics and goods delivery firms, and the City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). Lab members act to improve the management of both public and private operations of urban goods delivery systems by engaging in strategic applied research and identifying priority problems for future research projects.
Our Impact: This work is having a real impact here in Seattle and beyond. Here's how.
The Final 50 Feet Research Program
Since our launch in October 2016, the UFL has completed an innovative suite of research projects in the Final 50 Feet Research Program that provide foundational data and proven strategies to help cities reduce truck dwell times in the final 50 feet.
Contact:
Kelly Rula
Director of Policy and Partnerships, Urban Freight Lab
krula@uw.edu
More:
How we work
Read our research publications
Media recognition of the Urban Freight Lab
Learn about our current research
Meet our members
Join us
About the Urban Freight Lab (UFL): An innovative public-private partnership housed at the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center at the University of Washington, the Urban Freight Lab is a structured workgroup that brings together private industry with City transportation officials to design and test solutions around urban freight management.
About the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center: The Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington is the go-to place to analyze and solve urban goods delivery, sustainability, logistic hubs and ports, and freight system performance management problems that overlap private and public spaces and control. Our work integrates in-depth consultation with industry and the public sector, transformative research, and executive education, and serves the powerful nexus of industry, transportation infrastructure, and policymakers.