CEE Seminar: Measuring E-Commerce and Its Impacts on Communities

Abstract: In recent years, as e-commerce has grown as a share of U.S. retail, and as new on-demand and direct-to-home delivery services have emerged and proliferated, distribution logistics have rapidly evolved. Complex networks of warehousing and distribution facilities have been introduced, not only in suburban and exurban areas where space is ample and affordable, but also in urban centers where local facilities are needed to support express delivery services. New models of city logistics are also needed to support emerging omni-channel retail models and to enable efficient delivery of small parcel lots to disparate receivers. This presentation will share results from several recent and ongoing studies in the New York City metropolitan area to present a comprehensive overview of the impacts of warehousing developing and emerging delivery logistics on local streets and on surrounding communities, and the potential policy implications of these recent changes.

Bio: Alison Conway is an associate professor of civil engineering at the City College of New York. She is also a member of the research team for MetroFreight, a Volvo Research and Education Foundations Center of Excellence in Urban Freight. At CCNY, Conway teaches courses in transportation planning, transportation systems engineering, urban freight and city logistics, and urban street design. She conducts research primarily in the areas of urban freight and city logistics, freight data, and multi-modal interactions in the urban environment. Conway currently serves as chair of the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) Freight Data Committee, chair of the ASCE Transportation and Development Institute's (T&DI) Freight and Logistics Committee, and member of the TRB's Urban Freight Committee.