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.
To offer a locker solution that can compete with the convenience of home deliveries, the alternative of a common carrier parcel locker system has been conceived to maximize the consolidation benefits to consumers.
The implementation of an unmanned, secure, common carrier parcel locker system could also benefit non-transit users. New 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 are utilized, including ridership, mode of transportation, spatial distribution, and sociodemographic profiles of coverage areas.
A case study utilizing real-world 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 can host a locker system, but there are complex accessibility and equity tradeoffs to be considered by stakeholders and policymakers when prioritizing locations.