The rise of ‘last-mile’ e-commerce warehouses — and their attendant truck traffic and air pollution — is disproportionately impacting the most historically disadvantaged parts of the city.

Air pollution from delivery trucks is impacting the health of New Yorkers, with an estimated 2,000 excess deaths per year attributed to long-term exposure to fine particulate matter, according to city data.
As Lauren Dalban reports in Inside Climate News, “The poorest neighborhoods often suffer the most in this equation—the PM2.5 levels from traffic are often higher in high-poverty neighborhoods, as well as the number of hospitalizations related to this pollutant.”
Dalban explains that the “last-mile warehouses” built for the distribution of e-commerce goods, which add to traffic and air pollution in surrounding areas, are often located in the poorest neighborhoods. Such warehouses can be built without a permit or environmental review in eight “commercial or manufacturing districts” around the city — many of which coincide with “environmental justice areas—places that have experienced a disproportionate amount of negative impacts from environmental issues due to historical disinvestment and social inequities.”
As part of an effort to redesign its trucking routes, New York City has launched a Commercial Cargo Bicycle Pilot Program and MicroHub program to encourage the use of smaller, low- or zero-emissions vehicles such as vans and cargo bikes for last-mile deliveries. According to Zach Miller of the Trucking Association of New York, “I think 80 percent of deliveries are happening to people’s homes right now in New York City, and that’s not what the truck route network was designed to do, so it is long past time to have this network be redesigned.”
FULL STORY: The Online Shopping Boom Comes at a Price—and Some New Yorkers Pay More Than Their Fair Share

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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