Impacts of E-Commerce on Travel and Land Use Patterns

E-commerce (electronic commerce) generally refers to the buying and selling of goods and services over an electronic network, primarily the Internet. These transactions occur either as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer, or consumer-to-business. Although e-commerce has long been a part of the commercial and freight distribution landscapes, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted considerable growth in e-commerce, affecting the business models of numerous commercial establishments as well as delivery and other service industries. Advanced communications and delivery technologies improved the convenience of e-commerce to shoppers, attracting new customers and developing strong consumer bases. Even as the pandemic winds down, e-commerce remains a principal means of distributing goods to markets and consumers. The growth of e-commerce has transformed land use and transportation in settings ranging from small communities and rural areas to suburban areas and cities. Research is needed to fully comprehend the qualitative and quantitative effects of e-commerce to effectively integrate e-commerce into transportation and land use policy and investment decision-making. The research will be useful to transportation and land use planners and practitioners, but also will provide useful information for executive leadership, elected officials, and the general public. The objective of this research is to develop a guide on the effects of e-commerce on transportation and land use, including the impacts on transportation systems and freight delivery as well as on the communities and land uses that support them. The guide shall provide practical strategies, methods, and techniques on how to measure and project the effects of e-commerce on transportation and land use, and how to incorporate e-commerce into transportation analysis and decision-making processes and functions.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5326
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $400000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 08-173

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Weeks, Jennifer

• Start Date: 20230320
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Electronic commerce; Land use; Transportation planning; Travel patterns
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01846750
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 08-173
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 24 2022 11:02AM