With online shopping as easy and convenient as ever, delivery vehicles have been more and more frequent on city streets across the United States. In fact, Philadelphia experiences over 600,000 total residential deliveries per year, a number which is anticipated to grow by over 30% by 2030. In Philadelphia, due to the lack of dedicated parking and the unavailability of a comprehensive map of loading zones, large delivery drivers oftentimes need to park illegally in order to make their deliveries. This clogs roadways, puts pedestrians at risk by blocking sight lines, endangers cyclists by obstructing bike lanes and slows down transit.

As a member of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), and in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia’s Streets Department, this project sought to understand how Philadelphia’s streets are used by heavy commercial and delivery vehicles in an effort to alleviate the negative consequences of a fractured landscape for urban delivery vehicles. Through data collection, mapping, and stakeholder engagement with city staff and industry representatives, this project helped shed light on the issue and led to concrete, data driven decision making and policy development.

Lead Analyst and Urban Freight Transportation Specialist:

• Collected and analyzed parking data to produce a freight parking and curbside management inventory for Center City Philadelphia, the first of its kind in the Greater Philadelphia region.
• Worked with Esri’s Collector application to map and categorize the heavy vehicle loading zones of over 40 miles of Center City Philadelphia streets.
• Conducted interviews with key City staff and officials, as well as key industry stakeholders, to discuss the issue at hand.

This project was the first effort of its kind to make sense of commercial loading zones and truck parking in Philadelphia. Since this project was completed, the City of Philadelphia has led to the development of new tools and an even greater understanding of commercial vehicle delivery of activity in the city. In the Spring of 2022, the city launched a Smart Loading Zone pilot project. This project will test the use of five types of software applications aimed at making loading activity more efficient and user-friendly.

Link to the Philadelphia Delivery Handbook.