Economy

The Handbook provides methods to quantify GHG emission reductions from a specified list of measures, primarily focused on project-level actions. The Handbook also includes a method to assess potential benefits of different climate vulnerability reduction measures, as well as measures that can be implemented to improve health and equity, again at the project level.

In 2021, City Council directed PBOT to identify new revenue sources that reflect the City’s policy goals, address the bureau’s structural deficit, and provide maximum flexibility to invest in our transportation system, and to present its recommended revenue proposals to Council during the FY 2022-23 budget development process. POEM is an initiative to raise funds for implementing transportatin options by essentially taxing driving.

Automobile-dependent planning has changed automobiles from a luxury into a necessity. Excessive vehicle costs leave many households without money to purchase essential food, shelter and healthcare. They need more affordable transportation options.

This dissertation work addresses three fundamental bikeshare equity problems. Chapter 2 examines whether bikeshare systems have targeted specific populations. Chapter 3, extends knowledge about how to estimate bikeshare ridership in underserved communities. This research fills a gap by analyzing the current utilization rates of bikeshare systems among disadvantaged populations. Chapter 4, develops a destination competing model to estimate destination choices and analyze spatial patterns.

McKinsey partners and industry experts discuss the future expansion of parcel delivery using drone technology.

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) will impose challenges on cities that are currently difficult to fully envision yet critical to begin addressing. This research makes an incremental step toward quantifying the impacts that AVs by examining current associations between transportation network company (TNC) trips — often viewed as a harbinger of AVs — and parking revenue in Seattle. Using Uber and Lyft trip data combined with parking revenue and built environment data, this research models projected parking revenue in Seattle. Results demonstrate that total revenue generated in each census tract will continue to increase at current rates of TNC trip-making; parking revenue will, however, start to decline if or when trips levels are about 4.7 times higher than the average 2016 level. The results also indicate that per-space parking revenue is likely to increase by about 2.2 percent for each 1,000 additional TNC trips taken if no policy changes are taken. The effects on revenue will vary quite widely by neighborhood, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all policy may not be the best path forward for cities. Instead, flexible and adaptable policies that can more quickly respond (or better yet, be proactive) to changing AV demand will be better suited at managing the changes that will affect parking revenue.

This report details the current state of the North American industrial market in 2020 and its projected growth over the next couple years.

The trucking industry is expected to be an early adopter of self-driving technology which could have a major impact on the truck-driving profession.

The purpose of this study is to go beyond cataloging pilot projects to determine the lessons learned, emerging trends and considerations, and examples of promising practices from pilot projects in the United States and Canada. Researchers assessed 220 pilot projects and 11 case studies. Based on that assessment, they recommend 10 actions for pilot projects generally. The study resulted in 31 lessons learned organized by pilot goals, evaluation, implementation, outcomes, and policy and infrastructure implications.

This survey estimates how many U.S. households do not have a bank account or are “underbanked,” and provides insights that may help these consumers within the banking system.

IMARC Group analyzes the growing trend of online food ordering and delivery. Their report provides a macro overview of the market to micro details of the industry performance, recent trends, and key market drivers and challenges.

"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 report gives a detailed analysis of the United States’ housing market, demographic drivers, homeownership, rental housing, and housing challenges for 2019.

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.

A book about the role of creativity in the United States economy. Americans' values, relationships, choices of where to live, and sense of time are changing, becoming more similar to the way artists and scientists have lived for decades. Our values and tastes, our personal relationships, our choices of where to live, and even our sense and use of time are changing

Walmart announced free next-day delivery for online orders over $35. The offer will begin in Phoenix and Las Vegas and gradually spread across the rest of the United States.

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

There has been a shift in car buyer demographics over the past several years. Younger generations that were previously most likely to be car buyers often don’t have the need or financial means to own a car.

This article examines how consumer behavior in retail has shifted to a trend of making online purchases and picking them up in stores. It identifies the retailers that have been most successful with this trend and makes investment recommendations.

This podcast discusses the potential jobs lost and gained as a result of automation, as well as how existing jobs will likely evolve.

Target announced that customers can place an online order for delivery if their order is over $35 for a flat delivery fee of $9.99, or for free if they are a member of Shipt.

Although online shopping has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs, there has not been enough to make up for the amount of traditional retail jobs lost.

Amazon announced that it will make one-day shipping the standard for all Prime members. This move pressures other retailers like Target and Walmart to keep up with consumers' delivery expectations.

Statistica published a chart ranking the reasons shoppers chose to make purchases online.

Pew Research Center studied the reasons behind why and when Americans choose to shop online vs. in physical stores. Studies conducted by the Center indicated price to be the most important factor in determining whether people chose to shop online or in physical stores. Separately, buying an item for the first time increased the likelihood that a person purchased the item in person rather than online.

Mobile e-commerce is growing and taking over more of overall e-commerce sales. Projections suggest that global growth will continue into 2021.

The closures of brick-and-mortar stores are causing towns in the U.S. to miss out on sales, income, and property taxes that local governments rely on for revenue.

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 gig economy has been growing fast in the U.S., with the nonemployer “ride and room” sharing industries making up a significant share of the growth, especially in the country’s largest metro areas.

This website is a resource for consumer habits and economic trends in the restaurant industry in the U.S.

From 2000 to 2008, there was a shift in the geography of poverty in the U.S. from urban areas to the suburbs surrounding major metro areas.

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

Electric vehicles only make up a small percentage of the U.S.’s car fleet, however they are becoming more affordable.

Self-driving cars will be first available to robotaxi-fleet operators, not private owners. This availability restriction comes from the expensive nature of LIDAR sensors that make the sensors themselves more expensive than the rest of the vehicle. The safety and reliability of automated vehicles also impacts their ability to be privately owned, at least at first. Safe and reliable vehicle operation is easier to achieve when the vehicles operate within a geographic range that has been mapped in detail, meaning automated vehicles will mainly operate in city centers in their early stages of adoption. These considerations driving automated vehicles toward fleet ownership will have impacts on many areas of the automotive industry.

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.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 3,000 new establishments classified as warehouse or storage were added between 2009 and 2018.

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.

Robin Chase, co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar and cofounder of NUMO, discusses the misconceptions around Mobility as a Service and its potentials for public benefit.

This framework provides an overview of the work Urbanism Next does and how we approach our research.

The goal of this white paper is to consider the impact of AVs on municipal budgets. AVs create a “potential rat’s nest of a budgeting challenge.” This paper seeks to begin the process of untangling that rat’s nest, and provide the foundation for future phases of the project that will consider potential additional revenue sources to fund the infrastructure changes that may come from the integration of AVs as well as land use planning implications.

Residential Preference: the social, environmental, and physical preferences that affect a person or family’s choice of residential location (for our purposes, in relation to the urban core and other amenities offered as a part of living in density) The introduction of autonomous vehicles and the comprehensive integration of E-commerce into the urban and suburban fabric will have a widespread effect on the factors the influence a resident’s location preference.

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.

Today, warehouses are transforming into massive “mega-distribution centers” located in increasingly suburban areas. However, the rapid delivery expectations of E-commerce will also perpetuate the need for a network of local, smaller-scale supply points.

Open source simulation platform for supporting planning and analysis of urban development, incorporating the interactions between land use, transportation, the economy, and the environment.

Urban Footprint provides a cloud-based urban planning software built by urban planners and designers who truly understand planning needs. Service includes actionable data, scenario building, and multi-metric analysis.

Decision-makers guidebook for strategy development, process in planning, procuring and operating policy decisions in transportation.

La Fabrique aims to maximize the chances of success of mobility innovations without providing direct financial support to projects. La Fabrique provides organized resources and partnership opportunities to entrepreneurs.

Free, open source tool that can support presenting budget flows in transport in a particular city through a sankey visualization.

This article examines the increasingly high demand for same-day and two day delivery and what customers are willing to do to get it.

The Future of Work in Cities contrasts the realities cities face today with the ways they are planning for tomorrow, exploring the means by which cities can exploit innovative opportunities while realigning local governance priorities.

The American retail sector is undergoing a long-term structural shift away from small “mom-and-pop” stores and toward national chains. Retail establishments have gotten larger and more concentrated; the mass-market merchandisers of the later twentieth century continued a trend toward consolidation of the retail sector into national chains operating large stores that started before their widespread emergence. In the late twentieth century, Wal-Mart emerged as the world’s most important (and controversial) retailer. The evidence on Wal-Mart’s effects on retail employment suggests either mild positive or mild negative effects, but Wal-Mart’s effect on prices suggests increases in real income.

This document includes the interests of most, if not all, major issues surrounding the impact AVs will have on our communities, government, and environment once they land.

"To gauge the opinions of everyday Americans on this complex and far-reaching topic, the survey presented respondents with four different scenarios relating to automation technologies. Collectively, these scenarios speak to many of the hopes and concerns embedded in the broader debate over automation and its impact on society. The scenarios included: the development of autonomous vehicles that can operate without the aid of a human driver; a future in which robots and computers can perform many of the jobs currently done by human workers; the possibility of fully autonomous robot caregivers for older adults; and the possibility that a computer program could evaluate and select job candidates with no human involvement."

Is Paris in the position to be able to offer free transit to all? This article breaks down the barriers and examines how it has become reality in other cities.

This article outlines the ebb and flow of Lyft's finances and how things have played out since they went public in March.

The rise of renting in the U.S. isn’t just about high housing prices, or preferences for city living, but about the flexibility to compete in today’s economy." This article examines the changes in trends of housing ownership versus renting.

Between 1998 and 2005, employment in the U.S. warehousing industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of 22.23%, and the number of establishments increased at compound annual growth rate of 9.48%. Over this same period of time, the price for transportation fuels increased dramatically and became much more volatile. In this paper we examine the microeconomic and macroeconomic forces that have enabled such rapid growth in the warehousing industry. We also analyze structural change through employment and warehouse construction starts data and show that a new breed of warehouse has emerged – the mega distribution center, or mega DC.

This article explores the rate of retail store closures, its effects on employment, and the role of economy market forces on the changes.

Chinese companies are going all-out on unmanned systems for delivery logistics. A fleet of new autonomous cargo drones, robotic trucks, and quadcopters are private-sector developments that are making China a future world leader in robotics.

This white paper will discuss the non-technological trends logistics managers much know and then will hone in on the technologies that will impact the logistics in 2018.

This article outlines how parking demand pricing is working in Washington, DC to help mitigate congestion issues in the city.

This report presents findings from a detailed analysis of the growth of app-based ride services in New York City, their impacts on traffic, travel patterns and vehicle mileage since 2013, and implications for policy makers. The analysis utilizes trip and mileage data that are uniquely available in New York City, providing a detailed and comprehensive look at the expansion of app-based ride services and their impact on critical City goals for mobility, economic growth and environmental sustainability.

A synopsis of how Walmart plans to increase services and capacity in order to continue to compete with Amazon.

SAFE believes that AV-related labor displacement concerns—many of which have been expressed sensationally—must be addressed seriously rather than merely dismissed out of hand or repeated without verification. In response to these concerns, SAFE commissioned a panel of highly regarded transportation and labor economists to conduct a fact-based and rigorous assessment of the economic costs and benefits of AVs, including labor impacts.

To gain a deeper understanding of retailers’ focus, concerns and investment plans, Zebra conducted a global research study across a wide spectrum of retail segments, including: specialty stores, department stores, apparel merchants, supermarkets, electronics, home improvement and drugstore chains. The results of this study are shared in this 2017 Retail Vision Study.

"This research analyzed the competitiveness of freight tricycles, low- capacity freight delivery vehicles, as compared with diesel vans in urban areas. Freight tricycles, also known as electric-assisted trikes, are low- emission vehicles powered by a combination of human effort and an electric engine. This research developed a cost model that incorporated vehicle ownership and operation models as well as logistics constraints such as time windows, cargo capacity, fuel consumption, and energy use. Unlike previous research efforts, the model was tailored to the unique characteristics of freight tricycles and diesel van deliveries in urban areas. The model was used to analyze the competitiveness of freight tricycles against diesel- powered delivery vans. "

This report compares and analyzes the "relative advantages and disadvantages of autonomous and connected large trucks relative to light-duty vehicles."

"In the United States, road infrastructure funding is declining due to an increase in fuel efficiency and the non-adjustment of fuel taxes to inflation. Legislation to tax plug-in vehicles has been proposed or implemented in several states. This paper assesses (1) the magnitude of the decline in federal fuel tax revenue caused by plug-in vehicles and (2) quantifies the revenue that could be generated from a federal plug in vehicle registration fee.

The future of department stores in suburban malls is grim, this article explains the rising trends and what is causing the push.

This article explains to us the reasons Amazon bought Whole Foods - working to create a rather seamless day-to-day operation for its customer base.

Using data from the recently released American Community Survey, this report examines population change in the 51 metropolitan areas with 1 million or more population, and focuses on the change in population in close-in neighborhoods, those places within 3 miles of the center of each metropolitan area’s primary central business district.

This article outlines the changing numbers Uber has experienced this year and the sharp declining revenue. Chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, weighs in on the changes.

The expansion of delivery services is expanding each day with the use of new technology. In this article, we see how a new app can give delivery drivers access to your trunk to leave packages, an option that is created to eliminate the need to leave packages on your doorstep if security concerns you.

Target acquires delivery service Shipt for $550 million, this article explains how its going and how they match up to other delivery options.

In an effort to keep up with competitor Amazon, Walmart partners with delivery company Postmastes to offer same-day grocery delivery to more US households.

This book is about on-demand delivery and its logistic process. It also presents the trend of on-demand services.

This article explores the possible motives for online retailers to open up physical stores.

Connected and fully automated or autonomous vehicles (CAVs) are becoming increasingly viable 23 as a technology and may soon dominate the automotive industry. Once CAVs are sufficiently 24 reliable and affordable, they will gain greater market penetration, generating significant economic 25 ripple effects throughout many industries. This paper synthesizes and expands upon analysis from 26 multiple reports on the economic effects of CAVs across 13 different industries and the overall 27 economy.

This paper models the market potential of a fleet of shared, autonomous, electric vehicles (SAEVs) 20 by employing a multinomial logic mode choice model in an agent-based framework and different 21 fare settings.

Deaths and devastating injuries. A litany of labor violations. Drivers forced to urinate in their vans. Here is how Amazon’s gigantic, decentralized, next-day delivery network brought chaos, exploitation, and danger to communities across America.

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.

In 2013, eyewear e-commerce pioneer Warby Parker opened its first retail store in SoHo with fairly low expectations. In 2015, that store still occasionally had a line out the door on weekends, and Warby Parker had 12 retail locations across the country, with plans to open seven more before the end of the year. This article explores why the online-native eyewear retailer chose to open so many stores in such a short period of time.

The full story of autonomous vehicles is yet to be written. We created four scenario planning stories that explain how cities could shape the driverless future: tap taxi to tackle isolation, weaving a microtransit mesh, a human touch on robot delivery, reprogramming bus, bikes and barriers.

This report is an analysis of 153 "state of the city" speeches by mayors between January and April of 2019. They have been analyzed to identify the 10 major issues cities are talking about and other major issues that are being prioritized across the country.

The questionable acquisition of Jet.com by Walmart last year has seemed to pay off, this article explains the purchase and their success since.

Amazon agreed to buy the upscale grocery chain Whole Foods for $13.4 billion, in a deal that will instantly transform the company that pioneered online shopping into a merchant with physical outposts in hundreds of neighborhoods across the country.

The presentation includes the macro trend of e-commerce, investment overview, emerging trends in e-commerce, and the future predictive.

This study advances the national conversation about how to cope with the effect of AVs on workers in three ways: by setting forth a framework for discussion, presenting quantitative simulations and qualitative scenarios to help assess key impacts, and providing policy recommendations for mitigating negative impacts while also setting an agenda for research on policy.

Meal-delivery companies are the ultimate symbol of the most powerful force in business today: convenience maximalism. But it comes with ethical, ecological, and economic costs.

Most of today’s retailers and their supply chain advisors understand the shift in retail sales to the online channel but, for many years, the inclusion of gasoline, groceries, and automobile sales in U.S. retail sales numbers masked the true extent of eCommerce penetration. This is a blog summary of a longer report.

Nordstrom has officially opened its first store without inventory, testing a new format for the department store chain called Nordstrom Local.

"This document is for city administrations, national policy makers, and anyone considering a move to employ cycle logistics. It outlines the major learning points and success factors, and sets out nine recommendations for the most successful implementation. The project demonstrated that e-bikes were popular, efficient, reliable and – above all – saved money compared to the motorized alternative. Most of the participants were so impressed, they are continuing or expanding their use of e-bikes, after the project end-point."

The luxury industry has entered a “new normal,” characterized by lower growth. To succeed in the next decade, brands will need to refocus on their customers to better anticipate and cater to their needs.

A new report confirms what local officials in Oklahoma have been saying for some time: Internet retail sales are eating away at sales tax revenues.

This article discusses about the cost of AV per mile compared to SOVs and looks into AV peak demand and surge pricing.

There's a good reason Walmart, Kroger, and other supermarket chains are rapidly building out their online grocery options: Amazon.com is running away with the category, and as more grocery shopping moves online, it may develop an impenetrable lead over the competition.

JD.com is an example of what companies may look like in the future of automation. This article talks about how their company, shipping 200,000 orders a day, operates in this new age.

This article lays out the share of the market Amazon versus its competitors hold and the impacts its growth is having.