Commercial Needs

Microtransit—shared transportation that offers dynamic routing and scheduling to efficiently match demand—is emerging as an ally to fixed-route services. However, its positive impacts are too often constrained by the politics and economics imposed by existing transit infrastructure. This paper proposes a solution that ‘‘flips transit on its head.’’ By rapidly prototyping microtransit services across cities and analyzing supply-demand mismatches, it is possible to launch truly data-driven transit services. To illustrate the framework, a unique dataset generated from a year of Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s GoLink service, one of the largest ondemand microtransit services in North America, is used. Mapping and machine learning are combined to empower planners to ‘‘join the dots’’ when (re)designing fixed-route transit lines. It is shown that microtransit should not simply fill in the gaps left by inefficiently scheduled bus routes: by incorporating it fully into their planning processes, cities and transit agencies could dramatically reverse the fortunes of public transit.

The rapidly developing concept of carsharing is an essential and scalable part of sustainable, multimodal mobility in urban environments. There is a clear need for carsharing operators to understand their users and how they use different transportation modes to intensify the development of carsharing and its positive impacts on the environment and urban cohabitation. The researchers foster this understanding by analyzing usage data of carsharing in a medium-sized German city. They compare user groups based on individual characteristics and their carsharing usage behavior. They focus on a station-based two-way carsharing scheme and its relation to free-floating carsharing. 

Bike enthusiasts argue that bikesharing programs can be an important element of sustainable mobility planning in the urban cores of large metropolitan areas. However, the objective longterm impact of bikesharing on reducing auto-dependence is not well-examined, as prior studies have tended to rely on self-reported subjective mode substitution effects. We use a unique longitudinal dataset containing millions of geo-referenced vehicle registrations and odometer readings in Massachusetts over a six-year period - the Massachusetts Vehicle Census - to examine the causal impact of bikesharing on various metrics of auto-dependence in the inner core of Metro Boston.

"The Customers 2020 findings provide a clearer picture of what customer experience will look like in the not-too-distant future. In this report, Walker takes the message one step further, illuminating the evolutions that companies can and should focus on now to exceed customer expectations in 2020 – and to win."

This article identifies how changing emerging technologies and consumer behavior and priorities will influence retail. These trends include preferences for experiences over things, faster delivery options, and brand identity.

This article discusses what makes a retail experience meaningful. Executives in retail design, experience, and real estate agreed that the main elements of meaningful retail experience are localization, service, and shareability.

This article provides a list of retail store closings including department stores, specialty retailers, grocery stores, and food service chains.

With the global move towards cashless transactions, many lawmakers have proposed legislation requiring stores and restaurants to accept cash payments due to equitable access and cybersecurity concerns.

The City of Houston removed its minimum parking requirements for property owners in east downtown and part of Midtown. Developers in those neighborhoods will now be able to decide how much parking is needed for businesses and residences.

Persistent demand for trucks and SUVs has caused prices to rise while Tesla’s price reductions have caused electric vehicles to become less expensive.

This website serves as a guide to how e-commerce has affected industrial real estate and building design.

One-day and same-day deliveries are causing companies to need warehouse space closer to the dense urban areas they are serving. However, this land is scarce, expensive and involves a long development process.

Amazon’s shipping network has been increasing rapidly over the past decade which has led to severe working conditions for their thousands of employees around the world, especially during events like “Prime Day.”

With the rise of e-commerce, Americans are demanding more deliveries. However, with declining warehouse availability, congested streets and limited curb access, the U.S.’s infrastructure may not be able to handle the increasing demand.

“Retailers and logistics firms are establishing warehouses closer to large urban centers to keep up with rising consumer demand for faster delivery of products ordered online.”

Logistics development company Prologis has built the first multi-story industrial warehouse in the U.S. just south of Seattle. Other multi-story warehouses have been planned or proposed in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles as growing e-commerce demands faster deliveries.

“Using the number of square feet leased in similar center types, data shows a cyclic shift from more traditional tenants – such as apparel – to necessity-based and experiential tenants.”

Many traditional malls have come up with creative ways to transform themselves to stay relevant in the 21st century and maintain sources of revenue as store closures rise. The typical malls with large atriums, department stores, food courts, and parking lots are finding new uses for these spaces including fitness centers, apartments, event spaces, markets, and mini theme parks.

2019 saw a record number of retail store closings, however the actual retail square footage was not proportionally impacted. This emerging trend is due to smaller tenants opening more stores and retailers shedding space in order to improve sales productivity.

The impacts of e-commerce and changing consumer behaviors have caused brick and mortar retailers to shift their business models and reduce store square footage.

Traditionally massive big box store retailers like Target and Dollar General are opening smaller versions of their stores in urban areas and college campuses to bring in new customers that were previously too far away from their bigger suburban stores.

Credit Suisse predicts that as many as 25% of U.S. malls will close by 2022 due to the rise of e-commerce, discount chains, retail bankruptcies and store closings.

This article provides a complete list of all stores planning to close in 2019.

The invention of the internet introduced a new typology to the marketplace, the online retailer. Omnichannel retail strategies - where a retailer operates through both physical locations and online sales - have become a necessity in today’s market.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are a near future reality and the implications of AVs on city development and urban form, while potentially widespread and dramatic, are not well understood. This report describes the first order impacts, or the broad ways that the form and function of cities are already being impacted by forces of change including⁠—but not limited to⁠—AVs and related technologies.

The purpose of the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide (part of the Cities for Cycling initiative) is to provide cities with state-of-the-practice solutions that can help create complete streets that are safe and enjoyable for bicyclists.

This study presents the emerging trends of Real Estate in 2019, such as firm Profitability prospects, real estate business prospects, housing issue, retail transforms, tax reform, and capital market. It also analyzes the trends for different type of property and different region of US and Canada.

This report describes a shoppers trip and what the planner may be most interested in about it as well as street design and it's accommodation for all activities that may need to happen throughout the day.

This report includes information on the first of many research tasks planned for the partnership between SDOT and the Urban Freight Lab. This is the first assessment in any American city of the privately-owned and operated elements of the Final 50 Feet of goods delivery supply chains. These include private truck freight bays and loading docks, delivery policies and operations within buildings located in Center City.

Bonobos, a popular menswear e-tailer, opened a brick and mortar store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, but you can't actually leave with anything. This article explains how the store works.

Food delivery apps are reshaping the restaurant industry—and how we eat—by inspiring digital-only establishments that don’t need a dining room or waiters.

Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to take space in a first-of-its-kind three-story warehouse, a new type of distribution center that could reduce delivery times in congested cities to hours rather than days. While common in densely-populated Asian and European cities, modern warehouses with multiple floors have been absent until recently in the U.S., where higher land and construction costs deterred developers. But now that more retailers are racing to deliver more same-day packages, developers are starting to build the multistory fulfillment centers needed to speed delivery in congested cities.

A first-of-its-kind law will give New York City data on small businesses fleeing the city as retail rents skyrocket. But skeptics fear that won’t be enough.

At 92 million strong, millennials are an economic and demographic powerhouse. They’re also different from every preceding generation since they’ve grown up with personal computers and smartphones. They’re used to a connected world in which information, goods and services are readily available at the click of a button. This millennial mindset is shaping how the tenants of tomorrow are looking for space to live, work and shop and what they expect. In this whitepaper we break down the three most important millennial trends and what they mean for commercial real estate.

This paper provides examples of how cities have successfully changed curb use to support transit. It is focused on the types of busy, store-lined streets where high-ridership transit lines often struggle with reliability. These key curbside management strategies support reliable transit and safer streets in one of two ways: either by directly making room for transit, or supporting transit projects by better managing the many demands on the urban curb.

Ever since Amazon began selling books online in 1995, retailers — and plenty of other commentators — have been asking what role, if any, physical stores might play in the retail arena. Some have gone so far as to predict the ultimate demise of stores, and others expound the virtues of various hybrid omnichannel solutions. This report explores where things stand in retail in 2017.

We are long past the point of discussing how technology has interrupted our lives and changed our perspective of the world. We are now in the post-disruption era, and in many sectors including retail, a new normal is emerging. We are seeing that the most successful retailers are using both online and offline approaches. The key is the critical balance between the efficiency of online with the engagement of offline.