INFORMS selected the Off-Hour Delivery (OHD) Project as one of six finalists for the 2017 Franz Edelman Award. INFORMS, which recognizes organizations that have transformed the way people tackle the world’s complex problems, is the most prestigious award for analytics and operations research, with past winners including Netherlands Railway, UPS, Hewlett-Packard, General Motors, and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The New York City Off-Hour Delivery (NYC OHD) program is the innovative work of a private-public-academic partnership, a collaborative effort of leading private-sector groups and companies, with the public-sector agencies led by the New York City Department of Transportation, and the research partners led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The efforts of this partnership have induced more than 400 commercial establishments in NYC to accept OHD without supervision. The benefits of the program include reduced vehicle emissions, and improved quality of life for urban citizens, as well as decreased delivery costs, increased delivery reliability, and enhanced employee productivity. The program’s total economic benefits exceed $20 million per year.

The OHD project was shortlisted for the award with the American Red Cross, Barco, BHP Billiton, General Electric, and Holiday Retirement. Learn more about INFORMS