Oregon Active Transportation Summit

Public markets and food halls are becoming major generators of high-frequency trips including vendor supply, third-party delivery and prepared food pickups, catering and events, and waste hauling among many other needs, yet most are still designed as if freight, pickup, and logistics activities are incidental.

This session will share the planning and design approach underway for the James Beard Public Market Zero-Emissions Logistics Initiative: a zero-emissions concept using electric cargo bikes and an electric refrigerated van, paired with a small-footprint microhub, storage and charging infrastructure, cold-chain staging development, and changes at the curb with clearer loading and pickup operations.

Importantly, this is a pre-launch case study: the market and zero-emission logistics initiative are expected to launch in early 2027. That’s exactly why the session is valuable, most projects fail or stall because the building, curb, staffing model, vendor participation plan, and performance metrics aren’t designed early enough.

We’ll walk through the decisions we’re making now, the tradeoffs, what we’ll be measuring from day one, and how to avoid “pilot purgatory” by building a program that is efficient, sustainable, and scalable. Attendees will leave with a practical checklist for designing microhubs at trip-dense destinations, what to change in the facility, what to do at the curb, how to structure partnerships, and what success measures to set before launch.

Attendees will learn how to:
- Turn a trip-dense destination (market/food hall/main street) into a microhub + curb operating model before launch.
- Identify the minimum viable facility moves (staging, secure storage/charging, cold-chain considerations, order pickup design) to prevent operational chaos later.
- Build a partner + staffing model that clarifies roles and responsibilities between the market, the delivery operator, and the city.
- Create a vendor participation and engagement plan that supports small businesses and sets clear service expectations.
- Choose a small set of launch-ready metrics (dwell time, conflicts/double-parking reduction, trip displacement, CO₂e, reliability, participation/equity outcomes) and a simple dashboard approach.