Publication: A Net Cure or Curse?: Tracking the Impact of E-Commerce on Urban Freight Transport Intensity in Bogotá and Buenos Aires
Loading...
Date
2023-06-26
ISSN
Published
2023-06-26
Author(s)
Fulponi, Juan Ignacio
Editor(s)
Abstract
The growth of e-commerce has the potential to reduce shopping-related travel but brings with it additional freight vehicle trips for the delivery of online orders to consumers. Understanding the overall net effect of e-commerce on urban trip intensity is essential for planning transport infrastructure and services. The paper analyzes how the growth of e-commerce is impacting mobility in Bogotá and Buenos Aires. The demand for e-commerce grew in both cities during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–21), mostly among higher income groups. Despite the significant potential for replacing private vehicle trips, the analysis finds little evidence that the growth of e-commerce is having a significant substitution effect on shopping trips. Overall, e-commerce currently generates more traffic than it avoids in both Bogotá and Buenos Aires, and, thus, is very likely to continue to add to the road traffic in the two metropolitan areas in the near future.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Stokenberga, Aiga; Fulponi, Juan Ignacio. 2023. A Net Cure or Curse?: Tracking the Impact of E-Commerce on Urban Freight Transport Intensity in Bogotá and Buenos Aires. Policy Research Working Papers; 10485. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39924 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The COVID-19 Mark on Urban Mobility(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-06-26)The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed mobility patterns in the Bogotá and Buenos Aires metropolitan areas, as shown by the differences between the October 2019, 2020, and 2021 indicator values derived from call detail record–based origin-destination matrices. The differences between 2019 and 2020 were more notable than between 2019 and 2021 on most mobility indicators, demonstrating a reversal of the pre-pandemic mobility habits. However, by late 2021, the return to pre-pandemic levels was still very partial in the case of public transport use (especially so in Buenos Aires), while in Bogotá the pandemic appeared to have induced a permanent—and increasing—shift to nonmotorized modes. Other mobility indicators that appear to have changed more permanently in Bogotá include the lower average distances traveled and the relatively higher importance of non-home-based mobility. In the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, the key persistent changes include the lower overall trip generation rates and specifically peak-hour travel, and the higher relative weight of travel to work and school compared to other travel purposes. These findings are partly explained by the underlying policy and regulatory context in the two cities and are relevant for designing transport policy in the post-pandemic context, including in terms of public transport route and schedule planning, cycleway network expansion, and, more broadly, the leveraging of big data as a complement to traditional mobility surveys.Publication Leveraging Big Data to Understand Women’s Mobility in Buenos Aires(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2024-01-10)While the travelers’ gender has not been a central consideration driving urban mobility planning, increasing evidence points to gender-differentiated mobility preferences and behaviors. This paper explores this topic in the context of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, aiming to identify policy relevant differences between the mobility of women and men. It does so by leveraging mobile phone–based data, combined with existing household travel survey data and an original large-scale interception survey implemented in late 2021 and early 2022. The paper provides descriptive analysis of key spatial and temporal mobility patterns as well as implements statistical analysis to identify whether gender represented a key determinant of mode choice in the context of the pandemic. The analysis finds that women in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area travel less, tend to have shorter individual trips, and are much more likely than men to travel during off-peak hours, including due to disproportionately taking on “care mobility” responsibilities. In terms of mode choices, women represent the majority of public transport users and are more likely than men to say they would cycle. However, women’s share among public transport users and their actual cycling and walking appear to be spatially correlated with, respectively, the availability of public transport services and dedicated, safe infrastructure. The travel responses to the pandemic documented in the original survey data also suggest that women are more likely than men to switch from public transport to private motorized modes as soon as their incomes allow them to unless appropriate health safety measures are put in place.Publication Logistics, Transport and Food Prices in LAC : Policy Guidance for Improving Efficiency and Reducing Costs(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-08)This introductory section explains the rationale for the guidance note, reflecting on the relevance of food prices in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), their impact on the poor and the effect that logistics and transport costs have on those prices. Based upon that framework, the note provides an overview of the logistics and transport hurdles faced by importers and consumers in the region as food products move through the logistics chain. The final section of the report provides some policy guidance that could improve the efficiency of logistics systems in LAC and reduce the price of delivered foods.Publication Joining, Upgrading and Being Competitive in Global Value Chains: A Strategic Framework(World Bank, Washington, D.C., 2013-04)In recent years, global value chains have played an increasing role in business strategies, profoundly affecting international trade and development paradigms. Global value chains now represent a major source of socio-upgrading opportunities and a new path for development. Trade, competitiveness and development policies should be reshaped accordingly to seize these opportunities and avoid the risks associated with greater participation in global value chains. This paper provides a framework and analytical tools for measuring and improving a country's performance with respect to participation in global value chains. With a clear operational focus, it provides guidance for countries willing to join, maintain participation, and/or move up global value chains. With the ultimate objective to increase the value (the development content) for trade, it also offers strategies to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of developing countries' participation in global value chains.Publication Integrating Border Regions : Connectivity and Competitiveness in South Asia(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014-07)Deeper regional integration can be beneficial especially for regions along international borders. It can open up new markets on opposite sides of borders and give consumers wider access to cheaper goods. This paper uses data from five contiguous districts of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh in the northeast of the subcontinent to measure the degrees of trade complementarity between districts. The paper illustrates that the regions are underexploiting the potential of intraregional commerce. Price wedges of up to 90 percent in some important consumption products along with measures of complementarity between households' production and consumption suggest the potential for relatively large gains from deeper trade integration. Furthermore, an examination of a specific supply chain of tea highlights factors that help industries scale up, aided by institutions such as an organized auction and decent physical and legal infrastructure. However, districts alike in geography but located across international boundaries face different development prospects, suggesting that gains from reduced "thickness of borders" would not accrue automatically. Much rests on developing intrinsic industry competitiveness at home, including the reform of regulatory and business practices and infrastructural bottlenecks that prevent agglomeration of local economies.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Senegal : Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) : Corporate Governance Country Assessment(Washington, DC, 2006-06)This report provides an assessment of Senegal's corporate governance policy framework, enforcement, and compliance practices. It highlights recent improvements in corporate governance regulation, makes policy recommendations, and provides investors with a benchmark against which to measure corporate governance in Senegal. The report identifies several key next steps that can be carried out in Senegal and that focus on implementation, including: (i) developing program to build awareness of the importance of corporate governance and to train directors in modern corporate governance principles; (ii) drafting a code of corporate governance; (iii) addressing governance weaknesses in the state-owned enterprises. A separate report reviews the special issues for the corporate governance of state-owned enterprises in Senegal; and (iv) revising the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) uniform act for commercial companies (over the long term) to incorporate modern corporate governance principles.Publication World Development Report 2017(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-01-30)Why are carefully designed, sensible policies too often not adopted or implemented? When they are, why do they often fail to generate development outcomes such as security, growth, and equity? And why do some bad policies endure? This book addresses these fundamental questions, which are at the heart of development. Policy making and policy implementation do not occur in a vacuum. Rather, they take place in complex political and social settings, in which individuals and groups with unequal power interact within changing rules as they pursue conflicting interests. The process of these interactions is what this Report calls governance, and the space in which these interactions take place, the policy arena. The capacity of actors to commit and their willingness to cooperate and coordinate to achieve socially desirable goals are what matter for effectiveness. However, who bargains, who is excluded, and what barriers block entry to the policy arena determine the selection and implementation of policies and, consequently, their impact on development outcomes. Exclusion, capture, and clientelism are manifestations of power asymmetries that lead to failures to achieve security, growth, and equity. The distribution of power in society is partly determined by history. Yet, there is room for positive change. This Report reveals that governance can mitigate, even overcome, power asymmetries to bring about more effective policy interventions that achieve sustainable improvements in security, growth, and equity. This happens by shifting the incentives of those with power, reshaping their preferences in favor of good outcomes, and taking into account the interests of previously excluded participants. These changes can come about through bargains among elites and greater citizen engagement, as well as by international actors supporting rules that strengthen coalitions for reform.Publication Commodity Markets Outlook, October 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-29)Commodity prices are expected to decrease by 5 percent in 2025 and 2 percent in 2026. The projected declines are led by oil prices but tempered by price increases for natural gas and a stable outlook for metals and agricultural raw materials. The possibility of escalating conflict in the Middle East represents a substantial near-term upside risk to energy prices, with potential knock-on consequences for other commodities. However, over the forecast horizon, longer-term dynamics—including decelerating global oil demand, diversifying oil production, and ample oil supply capacity—suggest sizable downside risks to oil prices, especially if OPEC+ unwinds its latest production cuts. There are also dual risks to industrial commodity demand stemming from economic activity. On the one hand, concerted stimulus in China and above-trend growth in the United States could push commodity prices higher. On the other, weaker-than-anticipated global industrial activity could dampen them. Following several overlapping global shocks in the early 2020s, which drove parallel swings in commodity prices, commodity markets appear to be departing from a period of tight synchronization. A Special Focus analyzes commodity price synchronization over time and considers the relative importance across commodity cycles of a wide range of demand and supply shocks, including global demand shocks and shocks specific to different commodity markets. It concludes that, while supply shocks were the dominant commodity price driver in the early 2000s and around the global financial crisis, post-pandemic price movements have been more substantially shaped by commodity-specific shocks, such as those related to conflicts.Publication The Container Port Performance Index 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-18)The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) measures the time container ships spend in port, making it an important point of reference for stakeholders in the global economy. These stakeholders include port authorities and operators, national governments, supranational organizations, development agencies, and other public and private players in trade and logistics. The index highlights where vessel time in container ports could be improved. Streamlining these processes would benefit all parties involved, including shipping lines, national governments, and consumers. This fourth edition of the CPPI relies on data from 405 container ports with at least 24 container ship port calls in the calendar year 2023. As in earlier editions of the CPPI, the ranking employs two different methodological approaches: an administrative (technical) approach and a statistical approach (using matrix factorization). Combining these two approaches ensures that the overall ranking of container ports reflects actual port performance as closely as possible while also being statistically robust. The CPPI methodology assesses the sequential steps of a container ship port call. ‘Total port hours’ refers to the total time elapsed from the moment a ship arrives at the port until the vessel leaves the berth after completing its cargo operations. The CPPI uses time as an indicator because time is very important to shipping lines, ports, and the entire logistics chain. However, time, as captured by the CPPI, is not the only way to measure port efficiency, so it does not tell the entire story of a port’s performance. Factors that can influence the time vessels spend in ports can be location-specific and under the port’s control (endogenous) or external and beyond the control of the port (exogenous). The CPPI measures time spent in container ports, strictly based on quantitative data only, which do not reveal the underlying factors or root causes of extended port times. A detailed port-specific diagnostic would be required to assess the contribution of underlying factors to the time a vessel spends in port. A very low ranking or a significant change in ranking may warrant special attention, for which the World Bank generally recommends a detailed diagnostic.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.