VREF launched two international Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in 2013: MetroFreight and Sustainable Urban Freight Systems (SUFS). Both CoEs work with a number of global partners to further their research and professional networks. An additional research and communication platform, the Gothenburg Urban Freight Platform (UFP) was established in 2014. Under the VREF Theme Urban Freight a global network comprised of scholars, and public and private practitioners has been created, communication between urban freight experts has been fostered, and extensive educational materials have been produced and distributed.
- CoE MetroFreight (MF) – is led by METRANS Transportation Center in Los Angeles and Long Beach, with Professor Genevieve Giuliano as Project Leader. MF has three core partners: the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) Consortium, City College of New York; the French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport Development and Networks (IFSTTAR), University of Paris-Est, and; the Korea Transport Institute (KOTI), Seoul. MF also partners with non-academic industry and government representatives in these four key cities, as well as UPS Corporation, which provides a global perspective.
- CoE Sustainable Urban Freight Systems (SUFS)– is led by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, with Professor José Holguin-Veras as Project Leader. SUFS has six core partners: the University of Westminster, the University of Gothenburg, Pennsylvania State University, Kyoto University, TNO-Delft University of Technology and the University of Melbourne. The work of the core research partners is complemented by input from numerous associate research centres, core industry partners and core city partners worldwide.
- Gothenburg Urban Freight Platform (UFP) – is hosted jointly by the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology, with Professor Michael Browne as Project Leader.
The UFP fosters networking opportunities and provides a platform for collaborative research, educational and outreach activities. The UFP organizes the biennial VREF Urban Freight Conference, a major international event in the field of urban freight.