Travel and Mobility

Fewer people drove in Southeast Michigan during the heights of the pandemic and their destinations. According to Google Mobility data, shown in the interactive chart below, since February 2020 there have been fewer trips taken for retail, recreation, pharmacy, grocery and to workplaces which aligns with restricted travel mandates across the region during the pandemic. but there has been an explosion in trips to parks in Southeast Michigan. These changes were observed as early as February 2020 and have remained true through the last 18 months. At the highest points, according third party data made available by Google, trips to parks increased by as much as 315% from baseline levels. 

Another impact to travel during the Covid-19 pandemic has been the increased number of trips to parks and recreational areas. According to data from Strava, trips logged by bicyclists and pedestrians increased by as much as 300% in 2020 than 2019.

Stakeholders confirmed the increase in bicycle and pedestrian travel in the region during the community conversation. With the increased number of cyclists and pedestrians on the road, stakeholders reiterated how much safety should be considered in the region. Stakeholders suggested a number of measures to enhance safety for cyclists and pedestrians, including increased driver education, implementing road diets to both reduce speeds and increase the space available for safe travel between cyclists and pedestrians, and also regulating electric bike usage along shared pathways due to faster speeds and higher weights. 

While travel by personal vehicle decreased in the region, for many, including essential workers, transit trips remained a necessity. However, due to the high rates of virus transfer because of proximity, it would be expected that as riders sought to distance themselves from other passengers, significant changes were needed on regional transit services. In response, many providers discontinued routes deemed non-essential. Additionally, capacity limits, barriers, boarding and alighting changes were also implemented in the name of safety. Stakeholders reported varying results during the conversation, while some informed of initial decreases in ridership of up to 40-50%, other transit providers cited an actual increase in demand during the pandemic. This could be due, in part, to decreased car/vanpooling and availability app-based shared ride services.

Traffic volumes decreased significantly in Southeast Michigan during the early periods in the pandemic, yet despite fewer vehicles on the road, safety remained an important tissue in the region. While there were fewer reported vehicle crashes in the region according to crash statistics from Michigan State Police (MSP), more of those crashes resulted in serious injury or fatalities. Total crashes dropped by 25% from 2019 to2020, a decade low for the region, but fatal crashes increased 24%in the same period, a decade high. The fatality rates for bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians, each individually increased 83%,39%, and 27%, respectively.

The discussion on eCommerce was limited to Retailers and Consumer due to the magnitude of how growth in a short amount of time, and its significant land use impacts and transportation system effects.

The pandemic accelerated a decade long shift from traditional retail to eCommerce. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic online shopping was on the rise, gaining about a percent share of retails sales each year since the beginning of the decade. Since the first quarter of 2020, amidst the most restrictive lockdowns, online shopping increased dramatically accounting for 13% of total retail sales in the U.S. In Southeast Michigan, over half of all workers were working from home compared to 4.5% in 2019. The increased use of eCommerce was especially true for people with subscriptions to a delivery service, higher incomes, and spend a higher amount of time on computers.  

Warehouses in Southeast Michigan tend to be citied near the freeway network towards the outer urban edge and small (under 100,000 square feet) by modern standards. Southeast Michigan warehouses serve metro area industry, retail, and residents with some specialized to serve international trade purposes.

In areas across the US that serve as logistics and distribution hubs, warehousing has tended towards larger footprints (over a million square feet), higher ceilings, fewer obstructions, and automation.

Since 2017, warehouse development in Southeast Michigan has accelerated in number and grown in size (indicated by the blue circles on the right side of the slider, the green circles represent facilities built prior to 2017). Most of these warehouses are built to serve the metro area’s eCommerce distribution. These warehouses help bring consumer goods closer to the end consumer, but also generate concentrations of truck traffic that need to be factored in to road operations, pedestrian and bicycle safety, transit/job access connections, and local air and noise quality mitigation.

Border Crossings

In March 2020, the US/Canada land border closed to all non-essential travel. Passenger vehicle crossings dropped off precipitously with under half the passenger vehicles crossing at the Ambassador Bridge compared with 2019, one third of the passenger vehicles crossing at the Windsor Detroit Tunnel, and only 17% of the typical passenger volume at the Blue Water Bridge.

Truck-based traded goods continued to flow and while the time-intensive health screening of essential travelers took place at the Ports of Entry. The very low passenger vehicle volumes allowed for the longer passenger processing times to take place at border facilities without causing long delays for the essential travelers and trucks.

As passenger travel restrictions ease, pulling health screening and other border processing functions for travelers away from Ports of Entry using prescreening and digital processing tools will be needed to keep processing times low and reliable at the bridge or tunnel, even as passenger processing for the land border becomes more complex.

Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles currently comprise under one percent of the total number of vehicles operating in Southeast Michigan today. However, the falling costs of solar, wind, and battery power alongside the health, environmental, and economic benefits of zero carbon energy sources have public and private organizations directing resources into EV technology and charging infrastructure. For example, Ford Motor Company alone is rolling out 40 new EV models by 2022 while GM is launching 20 new EV models by 2023.

Adam Dorr, PhD, of  RethinkX , an independent think tank that analyzes and forecasts the speed and scale of technology-driven disruption and its implications across society, joined the conversation to talk about the implications of rapidly falling pricing trends and forecasts for solar, wind, and battery technology. Falling costs combined with accelerated adoption worldwide means that energy generating capacity through solar, wind, and battery systems can be expanded three to four times current levels before energy costs begin rise.

Preparing for rapid EV adoption is poses a number challenge for local governments. Learning the basics about charging systems, evaluating the best locations to install public EV charging stations, gaining familiarity with new and ongoing ways to fund charging infrastructure are new parts of local government investment and operations. To assist with this learning curve, SEMCOG has developed an  Electric Vehicle Resource Kit and Planning Hub , a one-stop destination for communities, organizations, and stakeholder groups to learn more about what is going on in Southeast Michigan regarding EVs and EV infrastructure.