Academic literature on the topic 'Curbside delivery'

Loading zones and commercial vehicle activity are issues in cities across the country including the District of Columbia. Like other major U.S. cities, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has tried a variety of initiatives to alleviate the strain commercial vehicle activity places on the overall transportation system. These include metering or otherwise pricing loading zones and parking, expanding the size and increasing the number of loading zones, increasing the number of metered parking spaces, extending loading and metering time periods, simplifying and standardizing truck parking rules, and encouraging nighttime or off-peak goods delivery. These initiatives have had some success but a more targeted approach was needed, especially to address non-commercial vehicles parking in loading zones and thus pushing delivery vehicles to double park while loading and unloading. As part of the parkDC: Penn Quarter/Chinatown performance parking pilot, DDOT attempted to reduce the number of illegally parked cars blocking loading zones by raising prices to the highest prevailing rate on the blockface and increasing loading zone availability by extending the hours of operation of loading zones. Moving forward, DDOT has identified several next steps including: oversize/overweight vehicle routing, increased and targeted loading zone enforcement, increased disincentives for violations, data-driven modifications to the loading zone program, and modifications to the pay-by-cell program to mitigate non-trucks paying to park in loading zones. As gaps in understanding curbside movement close with increased data availability, the District expects the programs associated with curbside management to evolve to reflect smarter policy, program, and management practices.

The UK parcel sector generated almost £9 billion in revenue in 2015, with growth expected to increase by 15.6% to 2019 and is characterized by many independent players competing in an “everyone-delivers-everywhere” culture leading to much replication of vehicle activity. With road space in urban centers being increasingly reallocated to pavement widening, and bus and cycle lanes, there is growing interest in alternative solutions to the last-mile delivery problem. We make three contributions in this paper: firstly, through empirical analysis using carrier operational datasets, we quantify the characteristics of last-mile parcel operations and demonstrate the reliance placed on walking by vehicle drivers with their vans being parked at the curbside for on average 60% of the total vehicle round time; secondly, we introduce the concept of “portering” where vans rendezvous with porters who operate within specific geographical “patches” to service consignees on foot, potentially saving 86% in driving distance on some rounds and 69% in time; finally, we highlight the wider practical issues and optimization challenges associated with operating driving and portering rounds in inner urban areas.

In recent years, fashion brands and retailers have been advancing rapidly to provide U.S. consumers more seamless omni-channel shopping experiences. The pandemic has further accelerated the growth of omni-channel shopping. This study aimed to explore the effects of channel integration in six aspects (i.e., promotion, product and price, transaction information, information access, order fulfillment, and customer service) on the U.S. consumers’ intentions to use three omni-channel shopping methods: buy online pick-up in-store (BOPI), buy online curbside pickup (BOCP), and buy in-store home delivery (BIHD). We proposed a mediation model to test the effects through consumer perceived values (hedonic value, utilitarian value), perceived risk, and perceived behavioral control. Furthermore, this study explored the moderating effect of perceived COVID-19 vulnerability on the relationships between consumers’ internal evaluations of channel integration and their shopping method selection intentions. A total of 516 eligible responses were gathered through a survey of U.S. consumers. Multiple regressions were applied to test the hypotheses. Six types of channel integration showed significant effects on the U.S. consumers’ internal evaluations, which in turn influence their intentions to use certain types of omni-channel shopping methods. Overall, the proposed model exhibits a satisfactory explanatory power.

An alternative statistical modeling approach, hierarchical tree-based regression (HTBR), is presented for developing modal correction factors for hydrocarbon (HC) emissions from motor vehicles. The term modal refers to operating modes of vehicle activity such as cruise, idle, deceleration, and acceleration. Explanation of the statistical theory is provided, followed by a presentation of specific modeling results for HCs. The modeling results are based on 4,800 vehicle emissions tests representing 29 laboratory testing cycles. HTBR methods are indicated to overcome statistical difficulties that are problematic for classical ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression, a commonly applied statistical technique for analyzing emissions data. HTBR methods are more adept at treating interactions and monotonic transformations on independent variables, better at handling categorical independent variables with more than two levels, not adversely affected by multicollinearity, and good at capturing nonadditive behavior across the range of independent variables. Unfortunately, HTBR theory is less well developed than OLS regression theory, and statistical parameter properties, such as efficiency, unbiasedness, and consistency, need further development. The HTBR modeling results for HCs are insightful. Hydrocarbon emissions from normal-emitting motor vehicles are most sensitive to changes in power (instantaneous speed2 ƃ acceleration) requirements of a given driving sequence, while high-emitting vehicles are sensitive to both the amount of idle activity and positive kinetic energy (instantaneous speed ƃ acceleration) in a given driving sequence. Vehicle model year, engine size (cubic centimeters of displacement), curbside weight, and fuel delivery type (fuel injected, throttle body injected, carbureted), also were indicated to influence emission rates. Finally, high- and normal-emitting vehicles are sensitive to different operational and vehicle specific factors.

Meal delivery has become increasingly popular in past years and of great importance in past months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustaining such services depends on maintaining provider profitability and reduced cost to consumers while continuing to support autonomy and independence for customers, restaurants, and delivery drivers (here crowdsourced drivers). This paper investigates the possible enactment of curbside regulations in the U.S. that limit the number of drivers simultaneously waiting at restaurants to pick up meals for delivery on both public safety and delivery efficiency. Curbside regulations would aim to increase safety by enabling social distancing between delivery personnel at pickup locations and have a secondary benefit of improving local traffic flows, which are sometimes impeded in busier, urban locations. Curbside space limits are studied in relation to their impacts on consumer-related performance measures: freshness of the food on delivery and click-to-door time. This investigation is enabled through a proposed hybrid discrete-event and time-advanced simulation platform that replicates meal delivery service calls and pickup and delivery operations across a region built on data from a leading meal delivery company. Embedded within the simulation is an integer program that optimally assigns orders to drivers in a dynamically changing environment. Order assignments are constrained by imposed curbside capacity limits at the restaurants, and potential efficiencies and curbside violation reductions from bundling orders are assessed. Results of analyses from numerical experiments provide insights to state and local communities in designing curbside restrictions that reduce curbside crowding yet enable delivery companies to retain their profitability.

As freight deliveries in cities increase due to retail fragmentation and e-commerce, parking is becoming a more and more relevant part of transportation. In fact, many freight vehicles in cities spend more time parked than they are moving. Moreover, part of the public parking space is shared with passenger vehicles, especially cars. Both arrival processes and parking and delivery processes are stochastic in nature. In order to develop a framework for analysis, we propose a queueing model for an urban parking system consisting of delivery bays and general on-street parking spaces. Freight vehicles may park both in the dedicated bays and in general on-street parking, whereas passenger vehicles only make use of general on-street parking. Our model allows us to create parsimonious insights into the behavior of a delivery bay parking stretch as part of a limited length of curbside. We are able to find explicit expressions for the relevant performance measures, and formally prove a number of monotonicity results. We further conduct a series of numerical experiments to show more intricate properties that cannot be shown analytically. The model helps us shed light onto the effects of allocating scarce urban curb space to dedicated unloading bays at the expense of general on-street parking. In particular, we show that allocating more space to dedicated delivery bays can also make passenger cars better off.

Denna studie är en undersökning om hur Covid-19 pandemin har förändrat kundupplevelsehantering för svensk hemelektronikhandel. Vidare undersöks hur svenska hemelektronikföretag och konsumenter svarat och agerat på dessa förändringar. Forskningen har använt triangulerande datainsamlingsmetoder. Kvantitativ data har samlats in genom enkätundersökningar med konsumenter. Kvalitativ data har samlats in från intervjuer med representanter på svenska hemelektronikföretag. Studien ägde rum under Covid-19 pandemin och utfördes därmed på distans med hjälp av digitala verktyg. Studiens resultat tyder på att Covid-19 pandemin lett till ett hopp på tre år i utvecklingen av handeln inom hemelektronik och därmed bidragit med en övergång från interaktion via fysiska butiker till digitala kanaler. Företag inom hemelektronik har även fokuserat mindre på hur konkurrenter agerat och mer på vad konsumenter efterfrågar. Detta har lett till utveckling av nya kanaler och helt nya sätt att interagera med kunder. De nya kanalerna integrerar mänsklig natur i dess interaktion genom video samt direkt kommunikation mellan kund och anställd. Kunder är mer nöjda med deras upplevelser hos företagen under pandemin än innan pandemin och företagen förutspås fortsätta i den utveckling pandemin bidragit till.
This study investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed customer experience management for the Swedish consumer electronics trade. It also examines how Swedish consumer electronics companies and consumers have responded and acted on these changes. The research has used triangulating data collection methods. Quantitative data have been collected through surveys with consumers. Qualitative data have been collected from interviews with representatives of Swedish consumer electronics companies. The study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and was thus carried out remotely using digital tools. The results of the study indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a three-year jump in the development of trade in consumer electronics and thus contributed to a transition from interaction via physical stores to digital touchpoints. Home electronics companies have also focused less on how competitors have acted and more on what consumers demand. This has led to the development of new touchpoints and completely new ways of interacting with customers. The new touchpoints integrate human nature in its interaction through video and direct communication between customer and employee. Customers are more satisfied with their experiences with companies during the pandemic than before the pandemic and the companies are predicted to continue in the development the pandemic has contributed to.

Public, fixed-route transit services most commonly operate on public streets. In addition, transit passengers must use sidewalks to access transit stops and stations. However, streets and sidewalks are under the jurisdiction of municipalities, not transit agencies. Various municipal policies, practices, and decisions affect transit operations, rider convenience, and passenger safety. Thus, these government entities have an important influence over the quality, safety, and convenience of transit services in their jurisdictions. This research identified municipal policies and practices that affect public transport providers’ ability to deliver transit services. They were found from a comprehensive literature review, interviews and discussions with five local transit agencies in the U.S., five public transportation experts and staff from five California cities. The city policies and practices identified fall into the following five categories: Infrastructure for buses, including bus lanes, signal treatments, curbside access; Infrastructure for pedestrians walking and bicycling to, and waiting at, transit stops and stations; Internal transportation planning policies and practices; Land development review policies; Regional and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) issues. The understanding, acknowledgment, and implementation of policies and practices identified in this report can help municipalities proactively work with local transit providers to more efficiently and effectively operate transit service and improve passenger comfort and safety on city streets.