Urban Freight Lab

New @axios story on PantryMap.org, part of our @NSF work exploring micropantires with mapping, real-time updates, and sensors that track activity, temperature, and shelf weight, with partners @getridwell @uwcse @WADeptHealth @CascadeBicycle. axios.com/local/seattle/…

.@uwnews highlights PantryMap.org, developed by our researchers to connect neighbors to little free pantries through real-time updates, activity feeds, wish lists, and stock-level reporting, with @NSF, @getridwell @uwcse @WADeptHealth & more. washington.edu/news/2026/05/0…

Great to see UFL friend and partner @CascadeBicycle Pedaling Relief Project expanding with Hopelink Bellevue Market. Since 2020, PRP volunteers have redistributed 1.7MM pounds of surplus food by bike to people in need, reducing waste and air pollution. cascade.org/news/2026/04/c…

We gathered members last week for our quarterly meeting. Thanks @SeattleSPU North Transfer Station for hosting and giving a look inside the facility and its operations. We also heard from @SDOT, @pike_place and @UofIllinois. Grateful for everyone who joined and shared their work.

Urban Freight Lab friend & member Mark Chiusano (Net Zero Logistics) published a @CityLimitsNews op-ed on last-mile delivery in NYC, highlighting foot couriers, ebikes, and waterfront freight as lower-impact ways to move goods in dense urban neighborhoods. citylimits.org/opinion-how-la…

A new paper is now out in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, coauthored by our Anne Goodchild and Edward McCormack. The study looks at how commercial drivers make curbside parking decisions in dense urban environments. Read the paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.trip…

Still time to submit to a special issue of Transportation Research Part E: Emerging Vehicle Technologies for Next-Generation Transportation and Logistics Systems, guest edited by our Giacomo Dalla Chiara. Submissions are due April 30. journals.elsevier.com/transportation…

.@StreetsblogUSA highlights our work on these hyper-local #micropantries and how they connect with the broader food assistance network. Our research team is using sensors to study food availability and help coordinate between donors, orgs, and partners. usa.streetsblog.org/2026/03/03/how…

Please join us in welcoming Wylie Cleugh to our team. Wylie is an undergrad student in Industrial & Systems Engineering #researching how #technology and policy shape urban #transportation systems and support more #sustainable and equitable cities. Welcome! urbanfreightlab.com/people/wylie-c…

Congrats to Giacomo Dalla Chiara on being promoted to Senior Research Scientist. Since joining the Lab 7 years ago, he has worked to advance urban freight research to make systems and cities more efficient, equitable, and sustainable. urbanfreightlab.com/people/giacomo…

We're featured in #Ridwell's blog highlighting our @NSF-funded research on this micro-pantry network. Our interdisciplinary team is studying how these hyperlocal systems operate: how food moves through them, when they're used, and who needs them most. blog.ridwell.com/blog/micro-pan…

If you've walked through Seattle lately, you've probably seen one: a small box stocked with canned goods, snacks, and fresh produce. Micro-pantries are simple and community-powered, but they raise bigger questions about how cities move food, reduce waste, and support neighbors.

While ecommerce has transformed how we shop, new UFL research shows that the environmental cost of "next-day delivery" is not shared equally. “Increasing nationwide disparities in road freight emissions across cities,” is published in Nature Cities: nature.com/articles/s4428…

New study by our Sarah Dennis-Bauer examines how freight routing strategies affect public health, with actionable insights for optimizing routes while maintaining efficient operations. Read the paper in Transportation Research Part D: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Looking forward to sharing our work at @NASEMTRB #TRBAM Annual Meeting. Where to find us: – Curb Digitalization for Last-Mile Delivery – Understanding Carrier Preferences for Urban Freight Parking Pricing - Location-Routing Problem with Mixed Fleet in Zero-Emission Delivery Zone

Community micropantries provide support for households who face barriers to traditional food assistance. But they also bring a challenge: how do we ensure safety, reliability, and efficiency at scale? We're working on multidisciplinary research to explore: deohs.washington.edu/hsm-blog/commu…

New Urban Freight Lab research highlights how U.S. cities are creating their own playbooks for sustainable freight. Read the full paper, "Advancing Zero- and Low-Emission Zones: Local Levers to Decarbonize Urban Freight Using Existing Authority": urbanfreightlab.com/publications/a…

We've wrapped up our time with Paul Buijs, who joined us as a Visiting Burges Professor and Scholar. Paul closed out his visit with a talk on customer willingness to wait for ecommece deliveries. It has been great having Paul here, and we’re looking forward to staying connected.

New publication: Our new paper in Transport Reviews looks at how researchers evaluate health equity impacts of freight emissions providing a clear starting point for researchers and policymakers to understand who is affected by freight emissions and how: urbanfreightlab.com/publications/t…

We partnered with @Seattledot and @OpenMobilityFnd, funded by @USDOT, to test Vehicle-to-Curb tech and a digital permit system to improve CVLZs. Findings are published in our new report, Seattle SMART: Digitizing the Last Mile. urbanfreightlab.com/publications/s…