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Earlier this month I attended the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) annual conference, which took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. AMPO is a nonprofit organization that represents many of the nation’s 402 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and other regional planning agencies.

Written by Ira Hirschman and Scott Middleton.

A staggering 1 in 4 families in New York City is food insecure, up from 1 in 8 before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in massive job loss and economic hardship. This means that over 1.75 million households lack access to enough food for an active, healthy life and face limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods, according to Feeding America.

In early May, EBP’s Scott Middleton examined the national drop in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) from January through April to see the decline in driving caused by the pandemic. Using data from StreetLight’s VMT Monitor program, he found that in late April, VMT at the national level was about half of what was expected in a business-as-usual year. 

The global spread of COVID-19 and resulting quarantine measures have disrupted manufacturing supply chains and dramatically reduced business and household consumption.

With the social distancing and stay-at-home mandates precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent general economic downturn, demand for air service has been reduced to essential travel.

Typically, access conveys movement – driving to a job, walking to a store, taking a bus to school. But in the coronavirus era, being able to participate in the economy without leaving the house has become paramount.

Few places were spared from the spread of COVID-19 this spring.

Many places have become quieter since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: shops are shuttered, playgrounds are chained off, and airports are largely deserted.

If annual events are exciting (think: March Madness, tax returns), then quadrennial are exceptionally so (Leap Day, World Cup). Decennial events, however, are a true occasion. This year, for only the 24th time in American history, the federal government is undertaking its constitutionally mandated count of everyone living in the United States – the U.S. Census.

Tuesday morning at the TRB Annual Meeting, I attended a session entitled "Adoption of Emerging Mobility Services and Other Disruptive Technologies: An International Perspective". The presentations included discussion on technologies in use in cities in Latin America and Africa to organize the informal transportation options to reduce inefficiencies and some of the regulatory challenges.