The study by professor Ann Campbell found delivery times could be cut by about 50-percent if companies designed routes built around walking.

The National Science Foundation is funding Tippie professor Beste Basciftci's work on streamlining and improving transit systems.

Beste Basciftci has received a $272,546 grant from NSF to research ways that improve the planning and operations of transit systems and emerging transportation systems.

“The most important thing in disaster preparation is to have a plan in place ahead of time, even if you have to add to it or change it a bit,” says Tippie's Ann Campbell. “You’re setting up a whole supply chain in the blink of an eye and you don't have a lot of time."

Take a peek outside on a busy street, and chances are that a UPS, FedEx, USPS, or other delivery truck is finagling its way through traffic. On any given day, an average of 50 million packages are being delivered in the United States. In the next six years, those numbers are expected to double: industry insiders predict a total of 100 million packages will arrive at their destination every single...