Overcoming Barriers to Freight and Logistics Firm Collaboration with Urban Planning (Project D5)

This project gains on-the-ground insight into competition for curb space, what issues drivers face, and the circumstances that inform their parking choices and related behaviors. To do so, it uses data from Reddit to examine US parcel delivery driver perceptions and behavior, focusing on the following questions: What are some key challenges parcel delivery drivers encounter when delivering in urban areas? What strategies do drivers employ when parking their vehicles to make deliveries? What reasons do drivers cite for engaging in unauthorized or questionable parking practices? The study uses “flexible” coding to analyze the collected comments, providing granular, qualitative understanding of driver behavior and thought processes. Parking is a primary challenge drivers discussed as a concern while delivering in urban areas, especially because parking difficulties extend the time required to complete routes. Drivers in the collected sample preferred to park in authorized spaces, but generally accepted the practice of unauthorized parking was necessary to expeditiously complete their routes. Such parking was motivated by lack of supply of authorized spaces, but also by need for safety and/or expedience. Drivers also opined that parking enforcement personnel rarely issued tickets or other reprimands, acknowledging that for delivery vehicles, unauthorized parking is often necessary. Finally, drivers described concerns surrounding interactions with other road users while making deliveries, especially in terms of conflict and safety. Curb management policies and freight providers’ practices alike will need to adapt in the face of the changing landscape of the curb. To that end, this project also engaged in synthesis of extant and emerging interventions and planning initiatives that may guide the future of urban freight delivery. Specifically, this report provides a brief examination of freight demand management initiatives, curb management initiatives, and safety initiatives. It concludes by discussing how these may complement

• Record URL:
  https://stride.ce.ufl.edu/stride-project-d5/
• Record URL:
  https://stride.ce.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/153/2022/12/STRIDE-Project-D5-Final-Report.pdf

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $114871
• Contract Numbers:

  69A355174710

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education Center (STRIDE)

  University of Florida
  365 Weil Hall
  Gainesville, FL  United States  32611
• Project Managers:

  Tucker-Thomas, Dawn

• Performing Organizations:

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  UNC-CH New East Building
  Campus Box #3140
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina  United States  27599-3140

  University of Florida, Gainesville

  152 Rhines Hall
  P.O. Box 116400
  Gainesville, FL  United States  32611
• Principal Investigators:

  McDonald, Noreen

  Steiner, Ruth

• Start Date: 20210501
• Expected Completion Date: 20220930
• Actual Completion Date: 20221108
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; City planning; Delivery service; Electronic commerce; Freight transportation; Loading and unloading; Logistics; Traffic congestion; Urban goods movement
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01775430
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education Center (STRIDE)
• Contract Numbers: 69A355174710
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jun 25 2021 9:43PM