EBP Staff Present at the Consortium for Scenario Planning

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On January 14th, 2021, Kyle Schroeckenthaler and Naomi Stein presented virtually during the fourth annual Consortium for Scenario Planning, featuring interactive presentations by practitioners, consultants, and academics who use scenarios to develop more equitable and inclusive places, address economic and environmental challenges, respond to infrastructural needs, and more.

Schroeckenthaler and Stein, along with Sarah Philbrick, Senior Research Analyst, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, presented "After COVID: Future Scenarios for Transportation, Housing and the Economy." They discussed scenario planning efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Boston’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) has created scenarios to investigate possible mid-term (3–5 year) economic impacts of COVID-19 and to determine a range of responsive policy strategies which may be needed immediately as the economy is impacted by the pandemic or later, as the economy rebounds.

Michigan Mobility 2045 launched its forecasting and scenario planning practice just as COVID-19 struck, leaving the team with new questions about economic trajectories alongside new demand for e-commerce, telecommuting, and other technology changes. EBP used consensus building workshops to inform data analysis tasks, including travel demand model runs, which helped the agency understand how slower and faster growth and shifts in location preferences might affect network performance.

Presenters also touched on incorporating unemployment, supply chain for key industries, activity location, technology, and other areas impacted by the pandemic into scenario planning processes.