Accessibility and Equity Analysis of Transit Facility Sites for Common Carrier Parcel Lockers

Abstract

Transit goals have typically focused on commuter trips but facilitating urban last mile freight logistics is a potential strategy to increase transit ridership and mitigate the demands of parcel distribution on the transportation network. Presently, most parcel lockers operate out of private businesses, but consumer surveys have found that transit users may be interested in locker facilities at transit facilities. The implementation of an unmanned, secure, common carrier parcel locker system could have benefits for non-transit users as well. This research presents a multiple-criteria approach for analyzing the potential of public transportation facilities as hosts for a common carrier locker system. Several accessibility and equity metrics, including ridership, mode of transportation, spatial distribution, and sociodemographic profiles of coverage areas are utilized. A case study utilizing real-word data from the Portland, OR region and its transit facilities is used to illustrate accessibility and equity tradeoffs. The results demonstrate that multiple facility types have the potential to host a locker system but there are complex accessibility and equity tradeoffs to be considered by stakeholders and policy makers when prioritizing locations.