Workforce Development Resources

This paper is motivated by a need to examine the characteristics of commercial vehicle movements in an urban area. It studied the aggregate travel patterns of commercial vehicle movements in urban areas, i.e., the trip length distributions, the tour length distributions and the affecting factors of them, using a travel diary data collected by the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) for the Denver Metropolitan area, Colorado, USA. The detailed statistical analyses reveal that the mean trip travel time and mean tour travel time of commercial vehicles vary by vehicle body type, fleet size and type of the company where the vehicles belong to. Meanwhile, the regression modeling results indicate that the trip airline distance and the vehicle body types are good predictors for trip travel time while the tour airline distance and the number of stops along a tour can be used to determine tour travel time.

The evaluation of urban freight distribution initiatives is an essential process to the successful and effective implementation. The ultimate goal is to identify solutions where economic, social and environmental objectives can be combined, in order to achieve sustainable urban freight transport development. This paper presents the development of a conceptual framework for modelling the dynamic behavior of various stakeholders in urban freight distribution and evaluates different strategic policies. The framework allows decision makers to conceptualize the promising initiatives and the factors that will be integrated into the model development. The methodology proposed takes into consideration the behavior of several stakeholders and their interactions using the multi-agent system approach. Then the urban freight distribution initiatives can be prioritized. The case study of Rundle Mall Precinct, Adelaide is introduced and will be the test case for the model developed.

This report presents a general overview of public policy and planning in the field of urban freight transport. Urban freight transport is the subject of local, regional and national policies in different policy fields, such as transportation planning, environmental planning and economic planning. The most interesting developments in policies related to urban freight transport in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Japan are described. These countries show differences in underlying problems and approaches, but also present similarities. Their policies are mainly based on stimulating consolidation by voluntary co-operation between transport companies in combination with the establishment of freight centers, and measures in the field of licensing and regulation. None of these countries pretend to have found the optimal solution to the urban freight transport problems, so that further development of urban freight transport policy is still needed. Further regulation of urban freight transport, as well as technological innovation will considerably influence policy-making in the field of urban freight transport in the future.

Transportation Academy at the University of Massachusetts released a paper about their current work plan and mission along with its strengths, weaknesses, and threats in implementing such an academy in a university setting. Paper is to assist other universities interested in the same endeavor.

As discussed throughout the project (Holguin-Veras 2006), the implementation of off-peak deliveries (OPD) requires both receivers that are willing to accept deliveries during the off-peak hours, as well as carriers willing to provide the service. The project highlighted that receivers, by virtue of being the end customer, have a great deal of influence on what the carriers do. In this context, should a significant number of receivers decide to request off-peak deliveries, it is almost certain that the carriers would follow suit. This fact has important implications because short of mandatory regulations forcing the private sector to do off-peak deliveries-it is clear that the long-term sustainability of off-peak delivery programs require policy incentives to mitigate the impacts on receivers, which are likely to face additional costs. On the other hand, carriers-that stand to benefit from the increased productivity derived from faster travel speeds during the off-peak hours-are likely to participate in off-peak deliveries if sufficient number of receivers request the service. These concepts are to be kept in mind throughout this section. This report focuses on the implementation of off-peak delivery policies.

This is a program to educate the public on the importance of organ and tissue donation