27 minute read
Transportation & Logistics
Transportation
& Logistics:
Among the many lessons learned from the pandemic is the importance of having a reliable transportation and logistics industry. Thanks to its stellar road, rail, air and sea connectivity, advantageous location as a distribution hub and burgeoning biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, Greater Philadelphia has emerged as one of the country’s leaders in getting things where they need to go.
Hyper linked:
Stellar transportation and logistics infrastructure has the region primed for growth
Transportation and logistics go hand in hand. Without an efficient transport network, significant investment and well-maintained transport links, logistics will fail to gain a foothold in any area. But Philadelphia has long been seen as a strategic location, thanks to its proximity to several large urban centers such as New York City, its strong connectivity both domestically and internationally and a large, educated and growing workforce.
The city is served by Philadelphia International Airport, which has six cargo facilities, the Delaware River Port Complex, which handles 70 million tons of cargo per year and it is also at the apex of the I-95, I-76 and the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes. Not only this, but two Class I railroad services are provided by CSX, Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific.
This already-strong positioning has been accelerated by a new look at the international supply chain after widespread disruption related to the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the dependence of world trade on China as a manufacturing hub. President Joe Biden is expected to double down on a Buy American strategy that will boost domestic manufacturing and, by extension, strengthen the country’s transport and logistics infrastructure.
Philadelphia’s connectivity means it is well positioned to take advantage of the drive. The region has the country’s 14th-largest port by TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit) volumes, the 18th-largest airport in terms of passenger numbers and is within a five-hour drive of 25% of the country’s population. The pandemic has also driven the need for better transport and logistics infrastructure in other ways. The growth of e-commerce has spurred industrial real estate demand in large urban centers, including Philadelphia, while reluctance to travel internationally has placed much more importance on the country’s road network.
Landscape Logistics and its associated industries depend on Philadelphia’s transport links to continue creating value for the economy. The region continues to make improvements to ensure it is positioned at the forefront of logistics and e-commerce growth. At the heart of the decision-making process is the Citywide Vision 2035, the 25-year plan launched in 2010 that continues to guide various local government offices on issues related to economic development, transportation and natural resources. ( )
Safety first
Using innovative tools and industry-first approaches, Philadelphia International Airport is planning for new heights
Chellie Cameron
CEO – Philadelphia International Airport
What were your major 2020 takeaways? 2019 was our best year ever in terms of passengers, with over 33 million people traveling through Philadelphia International Airport. We were making great progress in terms of destinations and amenities for our guests. We have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Our April numbers show we were down by 94% year over year. It was like a ghost town. As per our forecasting, we think it’s going to be multiple years before we come back.
As we went through the spring and into the summer, we started to pivot, focusing on keeping the airlines and our stakeholders in a place where they can continue to offer services to passengers, recover and even grow.
Our second priority was finding new ways to serve our guests. We put in place an industry-first incentive program where we were able to take away some of the risk from the airlines in bringing back service sooner. It was a critical advantage for us to be able to bring back that service first. Through our unique program, we incentivized the airlines to either bring back the service they had before or even start new service. We were even able to attract a new carrier, Eastern Airlines, in the middle of the pandemic.
What opportunities have you identified for cargo given the e-commerce boom? In contrast to our passenger numbers, our cargo from July through November was up 4% year over year. It is crystal clear that e-commerce is a big thing. We are in a fortunate position because we secured some land a few years ago that ultimately is in our airport planning as far as being developable for cargo. We are accelerating the preparation of that land so we can jump on it and start to do some of that development in the near term. What are the airport’s primary goals, looking at the near term? At present, we need to make sure that we refocus on the things that are essential. First, making sure that we foster a culture of safety and equity for employees, stakeholders and guests. We started a guest experience counsel in the middle of the pandemic.
Second, grow the number of airlines, nonstop destinations, cargo operations and seats offered through our airport. Third, tightly manage the airport’s finances.
Finally, we want to advance our cross-functional initiatives focused on recovery. Our transition and recovery team has been given free rein to brainstorm and reimagine what the guest experience could be like in Philadelphia.
Jeff Theobald
President & CEO PhilaPort
What were some highlights for PhilaPort in 2020?
In the last year, we completed our 100,000-square-foot vehicle processing center (VPC). Major OEMs Hyundai and Kia will be present in the operations of the facility. This may be one of the most advanced VPCs on the East Coast. On the container side, we finished berths four and five and all five cranes ($12 million a piece) were operational and commissioned. We have some of the largest ships on the East Coast berthing in our port. We also built a new 110,000-square-foot warehouse, mostly for pulp and paper from Brazil, which has seen a huge increase in demand lately. ish more substantial multimodal services, including rail for the port. We also opened a specialized food inspection warehouse for perishable products in the last year. We are also breaking ground on a new $50 million 200,000-square-foot warehouse: PhilaPort Destitution Center, located at 3rd and Pattison Ave.
What role does the Southport Terminal play?
We see our location as a real advantage. We are in the center of the richest consumer market in the world, from Virginia all the way up to Boston. Some of our competing ports are not as centrally located for distribution. Most of our accounts right now are import accounts, which is why it is so important to be right in the center of these demand pockets. We are very bullish on the development of Southport as a result.
How will the Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Program help PhilaPort compete?
We have had tremendous growth of over 12% CAGR in the last eight years. The majority of that is by truck. Our intermodal or train volumes are below average, in fact, but in Philadelphia we have three Class One railroads. Since we have the infrastructure in place, we want to take more advantage of discretionary cargo services. We are essentially trying to provide direct services both on the ocean side and on the inland cargo side. ( ) Among its many strengths and advantages, Philadelphia has been seen as a hub for East Coast food processing and distribution thanks to its capacity for cold storage and rapid distribution. The 686,000-square-foot Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market is the largest fully enclosed, fully refrigerated produce distribution terminal in the world. Combined with the Port of Philadelphia’s specialization in the importation of perishable and USDA-regulated cargo, such as fresh fruit, meat and cocoa beans, and worldclass food inspection capabilities, this is one area of growth for the city. The same cold storage network has proven an indelible advantage as Philadelphia sprouted burgeoning biotech and pharmaceutical industries, with the ability to transport temperaturesensitive cargo across the United States and to Canada and Western Europe within a matter of hours.
Thanks to Philadelphia’s industrial past, it has much more opportunity for industrial real estate development compared with similar cities. The city is built around huge warehouse spaces that have boosted last-mile distribution significantly. Philadelphia has nearly 1,300 acres of cleared, industrially zoned land suited for logistics, distribution and e-commerce, including tracts of land closely located to the airport and port. Just a year after a huge explosion shuttered the Philadelphia Energy Solutions-owned Philadelphia refinery, the land was snapped up by Hilco Redevelopment Partners in a $225.5 million deal and is being turned into a mixed-use industrial park.
COVID-19 While logistics, manufacturing and international and national transport links thrived during the pandemic, local transport services were among those that took a hit from the pandemic. Given that public transport is a service based on population density, it did not take long for ridership to fall off a cliff amid a pandemic involving a highly contagious virus. Philadelphia is served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which runs rail, buses and trolley services across Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Pre-pandemic, SEPTA ran 2,800 vehicles, providing 1 million trips across the region and generating an economic impact of $1.8 billion per year.
The transportation authority saw ridership of over 20 million per month pre-pandemic, making it the country’s seventh-largest transit system. But in April and May, ridership was down close to 90%. As the 2021 fiscal year began, the authority was haemorrhaging $1 million per month, compared to typical revenue of $40
million per month. Most bus routes have been running close to original schedule since the reopening in May, while Regional Rail has been operating on a reduced schedule. Even with a slight pickup in ridership as the economy reopened and $644 million in federal CARES Act funding, the numbers don’t add up for the system. As of January 2021, an additional $252 million was committed in federal funding but the agency said it continued to look for ways to control costs, including potential layoffs and service reductions.
Access to public transit also has a huge impact on economic growth and equity. The vast majority of SEPTA riders earn less than $75,000 per year, while six in 10 riders are female. Not only this, but a lack of public transit use could cost the state critical manufacturing jobs due to spending cuts on vendors. Even a lack of passengers on public transit in other states is having an impact. New York’s public transit spending cuts will impact Pennsylvania vendors with contracts worth $1.4 billion, including Bombardier, Mitsubishi Electric and ArcelorMittal Steel.
Even with the vaccine rollout underway, it is difficult to see how SEPTA will return to normality in the immediate term. The SEPTA COVID-19 Travel Survey released in September showed riders felt safer going to a grocery store or visiting family than riding SEPTA and one of the biggest concerns was mask enforcement. As of January, Regional Rail ridership was down 85% from pre-pandemic levels and experts think one of the solutions is to integrate the system with the trolleys, buses and subway network. Another idea focuses on reduced fares and monthly or weekly travel cards. Many argue this could also have the inadvertent effect of democratizing Philadelphia’s public transit.
Investment The silver lining is that during the downtime, the city was able to plough ahead with new capital improvement projects. In December, SEPTA reaffirmed its commitment to a $2 billion project to extend its rail service to King of Prussia between 2025 and 2027. Work continued on SEPTA’s restoration of service on the Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line from its terminus at Elwyn Station to US Route 1 in Middletown Township, which was halted in the 1980s. The $178 million project is due to be completed by the end of the year. Amtrak is also leading the redevelopment of the William H. Gray
Philadelphia International Airport is home to 16 major domestic and international airline carriers.
III 30th Street Station, with work set to commence in 2021 and finish in 2025. Work also is underway on subway and trolley improvements on 30th and 31st. Studies are ongoing regarding the viability of extending the Broad Street subway line into the new Naval Yard development.
While transport investment generally comes from the government, the private sector is throwing money toward logistics infrastructure in Philadelphia. Industrial leasing did not slow down even at the beginning of the pandemic. In April, over 2 million square feet of warehouse space was leased in Philadelphia and neighboring Southeast Pennsylvania and South Jersey counties. In January, Amazon leased 94,000 square feet of last-mile distribution warehouses in Philadelphia. And industrial and multifamily housing developer NorthPoint Development bought the 10-millionsquare-foot bulk logistics complex from US Steel for $160 million. The site is an inland port with an industrial park fed by 75 miles of rail service and tenants across various industries. NorthPoint will install manufacturing and e-commerce spaces on the site. Over the Christmas period at the UPS Philadelphia Air Hub, staff were estimated to be moving 75 million to 80 million packages per day, while Amazon alone was handling 14 million packages daily.
In the 2021 budget, there’s more public transportation spending to come. The proposed budget for SEPTA for fiscal year 2021 totals $640.22 million, with the 12year capital improvement program standing at $7.4 billion. Most of the funds come from state coffers, with $219.29 million in federal funding, $60 million in SEPTA capital financing and $11.65 million in local financing.
Among the major capital improvements planned for the year are $47.65 million in communications, signaling and technology improvements, $49.38 million in maintenance of shops and offices, $184.9 million in vehicle acquisitions and overhauls and $31.62 million in substation and power improvements. However, as SEPTA loses money due to low ridership, it is uncertain whether the funding plans will be fulfilled. That is why in October, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney asked voters for authorization to raise $134 million in loan funds, adding to the city’s $5.5 billion debt. The ballot was approved with a 75% majority and the money was allocated to transit, streets and sanitation, parks, recreation and museums and economic and community development.
Education E-commerce globally is projected to be worth $4 trillion by 2021 and logistics to support this demand include industrial real estate, a large labor force and significant growth in last-mile distribution ( )
New plan
New strategic plan targets growth and prosperity for Philadelphia’s businesses and communities
Linda Mysliwy Conlin
How has the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia served the needs of businesses in greater Philadelphia? This past year, the WTC Greater Philadelphia went through the development of a new strategic plan that reinforced our belief that we play a significant role in generating economic growth and job creation for the Greater Philadelphia region through global trade and investment. Our new mission statement reflects the new strategic plan to specifically bring growth and prosperity to businesses, communities and neighborhoods in Greater Philadelphia through global trade and investment. Last year, we worked with companies to provide trade counseling assistance, educational programs, and to connect companies with one another and with WTC partners worldwide. Companies that are part of the organization reported that we were able to help them generate $128 million in incremental exports. This translates to an increase of about 1,600 new jobs in the region. Since 2002, when WTC Greater Philadelphia was launched, we have helped companies increase their sales by about $2 billion, with about 26,000 new jobs being added. Our mission statement underscores the role we play helping companies be successful globally and helping to create jobs and economic growth for greater Philadelphia.
What are some of the market trends and international factors that you are looking at? In 2019 before COVID-19, there were movements against globalization. This has been noted nationally as well as internationally as countries want to protect their domestic companies. The WTC feels very strongly about advancing U.S. global competitiveness. That said, the United States operates in a global economy, where our companies benefit from access to global supply chains and from selling their products and services to global customers. Open markets, free and fair trade advances their global sales and competitiveness. As a member of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), many of my fellow WTCs are also concerned about antiglobal policies and sentiment that emerged during 2019, and worry that this sentiment will continue to rise because of COVID-19. We operate in a global economy with 95% of the world’s consumers outside of the United States. Companies that export experience greater growth and profitability. These companies tend to innovate more, provide higher wages and have better bottom lines than companies that don’t export. This is the message we want to convey to businesses in the Greater Philadelphia region to help increase their profitability and their contribution to the region’s return to economic growth.
Jim Moses
Vice President of Northeast Hubs & Gateways and Premium Guest Services PHL Hub Operations at American Airlines
What does it means for Philadelphia to be a hub for American Airlines?
Philadelphia plays an important role for American because it is centrally located in a highly competitive region where customers have choice. As one of the only airports in the Northeast without slot restrictions, PHL o ers strong connecting opportunities for customers — and room for growth. To ensure we can compete, American has partnered with the airport and other stakeholders to invest in the overall customer experience. We remain committed to PHL, the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding region because we know if we are competitive in Philly, we’ll be competitive throughout the Northeast region.
Do you see cargo-only services continuing?
When we launched cargo-only flights from PHL in March, we were flying three trans-Atlantic flights out of Philadelphia each week. Since then, we’ve adjusted the number of flights and markets served. Our cargo team has been successful in developing business, leveraging our fleet of idle Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft to serve pent-up air-freight demand. Through the month of August, we were operating 11 weekly flights to Amsterdam, Zurich, Frankfurt, Milan and Rome. We were able to repurpose our fleet, using the bellies of aircraft to haul much-needed cargo around the world. We are very happy that Philadelphia has been a recipient of those cargo-only flights.
After the pandemic ends, our hope is that much of our international flying will return. However, we also know that international flying is not planned to return to 2019 levels for a few more years. We plan to continue cargo-only flights while opportunities persist to utilize idle aircraft. With continued government travel restrictions and uncertain international passenger demand, it remains to be seen how long cargo-only operations will go on. If we have aircraft that we can use for cargo-only, I think you’ll find American Airlines taking advantage of that. ( ) capabilities. Philadelphia is able to offer all three, as well as strong connectivity to both national and international markets. Philadelphia stands out as a city that takes the training of its workforce seriously, and because of that, several new degree programs have emerged over the years for specialization in supply chain management and logistics.
At least 18 colleges and technical schools in the Greater Philadelphia area offer logistics and supply chain management degrees. The Community College of Pennsylvania offers a $149 six-hour course in logistics and distribution that can be taken online. Temple has a bachelor’s program with a major in supply chain management and Drexel has gone even further by offering a master’s in science on the subject. Not only do Philadelphia’s educational institutions offer training to fit the needs of people at any life stage but Philadelphia Works in November partnered with Prologis and nonprofit JFF (Jobs for the Future) to launch a new training program that provides skills in transportation, distribution and logistics. The selfpaced 30–45-minute courses can even be taken via an app and are designed for adults of all ages.
Public-private partnerships During a time when many governments around the world will find themselves with budget shortfalls due to lower tax collections, one of the solutions for a city like Philadelphia could lie within public-private partnerships (PPPs). Already they are becoming more commonly used by the Pennsylvania Department of Transport. Over the course of three years, the agency used PPPs to replace more than 550 small bridges across the state. In November, the agency announced it would seek a PPP to help restore the state’s bridges.
The benefit of PPPs for private companies is that the government shoulders much of the project risk, while the benefit for the government is that the private sector makes most of the initial outlay and is repaid with toll revenue or a similar mechanism over the course of several years. And in December, the Pennsylvania House Rules Committee voted unanimously for proposed changes to expand PPP legislation beyond roads, bridges, rail, transit and parking. House Bill 2065 would expand project scope to include rest areas, weigh stations and even electric charging stations.
Airports The growth in e-commerce and Philadelphia’s positioning as a logistics hub is not only dependent on roads, but also on air freight. As passenger
traffic has tailed off, cargo handling capabilities at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) have only intensified. According to a November activity report, total domestic and international passenger traffic was down over 63% on the year, while total cargo handled was up 2% to 53,000 tons. For the year, cargo reached over half a million tons. It is no surprise then that as early as May, American Airlines began ramping up cargo-only flights to Europe from the United States. From Philadelphia, it rolled out cargo-only services to Zurich, Switzerland, and to Rome. The airline was able to leverage the region’s cold storage expertise and on the return leg from Zurich was bringing essential pharmaceutical chemicals destined for San Juan, Puerto Rico. In September, the cargo-only flights were expanded further to include Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan and Dublin.
The airport also is investing in its future as a cargo handling hub. At the end of 2020, the airport ploughed ahead with a proposed expansion and development of West Coast Cargo handling with a public review of the draft environmental assessment. And in October, the airport established an Air Cargo Council to oversee its focus on cargo movement.
While Philadelphia is in the ideal position to be a cargo hub, it is not yet leveraging all of its strengths. Of the $53 billion in air cargo activity that is generated within a 400-mile radius around PHL, the airport handles only about 9% every year, according to its chief revenue officer. Much of the efforts until now have been focused on securing a share of the East Coast cargo activity but during the pandemic, the airport turned its attention to Europe.
While cargo has become a huge focus for airports in the region, the downtime caused by fewer passengers is also allowing for critical improvements to infrastructure. In July, the FAA awarded $9.1 million to Northeast Philadelphia Airport to rehabilitate Runway 6-24. In September, Philadelphia International received an $18 million federal grant to reconstruct Taxiway K and rehabilitate Runway 17-35. PHL also received grants to install 13 electric Ground Support Equipment (eGSE) charging stations. Another development that should integrate the airport more into the city of Philadelphia is a $1 million grant for train improvements on the four stops Philadelphia International holds on SEPTA lines. And keeping the airport afloat amid a drop-off in passenger numbers is among the top concerns. In January, PHL CEO Chellie Cameron advocated for a further $17 billion in additional funding for the country’s airports.
Philadelphia International is also set to play a key Scott Petri
Executive Director Philadelphia Parking Authority
How did the pause in traffic stemming from the pandemic reveal challenges to your operations?
During the pandemic, speed cameras were implemented through state law and city ordinance. The lockdown delayed implementation but the cameras were active, just not issuing tickets. All summer long, people were driving at exceedingly high speeds on Roosevelt Blvd. We saw unsafe conditions, and we also saw only a slight reduction in red light violations, which was disturbing from a safety point of view. Meter revenues are running around 58% of normal amounts. There isn’t the foot tra c or the restaurant tra c that there had been. Commerce has been slow, although it’s improving. Our garages have returned to profitability. The revenue recovery in all divisions has exceeded expectations.
What are your expectations for the impact of the Biden presidency on your business and sector?
We had an initiative to install more electric vehicle charging stations. We’re going to push that e ort, knowing that environmental requirements are going to roll out, and as air quality is an important health goal. We’re going to have to be very thoughtful regarding electric vehicle charging stations at the curb. The policy issues over curb stations are led by the O ce of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS), a division of the city. I can see us responding to the environmental air quality issues during the Biden administration and we’re budgeting for air quality measures.
We’re also working on a very robust project for curb management. The cost of congestion is significant at $60 million annually in lost tax revenue to the city. We have narrow city streets. We’re working to map and geofense all of the parking spaces and regulations. This will produce a lot of data to be shared. We will soon be using smartphones to select parking spots, payment options, and permissions. Within two to five years, you’ll be able to know from your smart device whether a spot is legal or not legal.
role in the vaccine distribution efforts. Its cuttingedge cold storage technology and its proximity to New Jersey’s pharmaceutical hub gives the airport the edge over its competitors. Philadelphia-based PCI Pharma Services is also a key distribution hub for the vaccines, expected to send out 2-3 million doses. American Airlines has a 25,000-square-foot cargo storage facility at PHL, including 3,000 square feet of refrigerated storage for temperatures between 36 degrees and 43 degrees. There is also space for those shipments that must remain frozen between 14 degrees and minus-4 degrees, which the Moderna vaccine requires. Johnson & Johnson has said its vaccine can be shipped at standard refrigerated temperatures.
PhilaPort In February 2021, the Port of Philadelphia (PhilaPort) was named the fastest-growing port on the East Coast, with a 7% increase in container volumes in 2020. This highlights the port’s strengths in handling perishable foods, demand for which surged during the pandemic. The port saw a five-year high in forest product cargoes in 2020. In breakbulk, the port handled almost 1 million tons as well as 20,000 units of containerized forest products.
From January to August, the port saw a 5% increase in TEUs, despite volumes in U.S. trade and East Coast trade shrinking by 8%. In December, exports at the port were up 14.94% on the year and it ranked 34th among U.S. airports, seaports and border crossings. In January, both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia ports were named by Global Trade Magazine as ports that are making a difference in the supply chain. At PhilaPort, shippers can move products to 70% of the nation’s population within 72 hours, the magazine pointed out.
In 2020, skyrocketing air freight rates supported sea cargoes and many senders of perishable shipments that would generally be airlifted to airports such as Miami started looking for new options. Philadelphia’s cold storage capabilities meant it was ideally positioned to compete for perishable cargoes from Latin America, including Colombian flowers, Peruvian asparagus and Chilean grapes. During 2020, the long-awaited deepening of the Delaware River main channel was completed, allowing larger vessels entry into the port. PhilaPort will now have the same vessel capability as the Port of NY/NJ, giving it a further boost in positioning itself as the No. 1 East Coast port. A $190 million public investment coupled with private funds of $65 million a few years ago have contributed to making the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal one of the most efficient in the country. And Holt Logistics is spending $32 million this year on improvements to the Gloucester Marine Terminal.
Technology According to a study by Penn Institute for Urban Research, Philadelphia’s mass transit ridership has declined in recent years in favor of ridesharing services such as Lyft. This has long-term implications on the viability of public transit going forward, according to the study. Not only this, but the percentage of Lyft rides that start or end in lower income neighborhoods in Philadelphia is greater than almost anywhere else in the United States, according to a report from the company. For many, depending on how ridesharing technology is used, it can be cheaper than owning a car and often more convenient than taking public transport. The Lyft report suggests that ridesharing has actually slowed car ownership trends in the
Philadelphia International Airport generates $16.8 billion in spending annually and supports more than 106,000 full-time jobs.
city. And ridesharing can also work in conjunction with public transport. The Lyft report says 56% of riders have used the service to get to or from public transportation.
Another option for tech-savvy commuters is e-scooters and, although still not legal in Pennsylvania, their popularity has surged due to their relatively lowrisk profile during the pandemic. Data from rental companies Lime and Bird suggests people trust e-scooters more than any other mode of transport right now. There were more first-time riders during the pandemic and most rode more than once, with trip length increasing over time, the study said. For SEPTA, the concern with e-scooters is not the risk that they will take market share but, rather, the obstacles the scooters may create for buses, impacting timetables. While the city has mulled using scooters as a potential source of tax revenue, concerns still surround their safety as a 2019 medical journal study found more riders were injured while riding e-scooters than while walking or biking.
Looking ahead Despite best efforts to pivot during the pandemic, challenges still remain for Philadelphia’s transport network. Even prior to the pandemic, SEPTA faced affordability issues among its riders. Due to the large proportion of its riders being from lower income households, the most affordable way to use the services tends to be using weekly or monthly passes, which is often not possible for these households. Now, this problem is exacerbated by a resistance to return to public transit and lower tax revenues, which will, in turn, provide less funding to the agency to meet operational needs.
Outside of public transit, the public sector has managed to plough on with road and bridge improvements during the COVID downtime, which is bound to position it well for the future. But lower budgets going forward are sure to create complications for transport infrastructure in the coming years.
While transportation will take some time to recover from COVID, Philadelphia’s logistics have thrived during the pandemic thanks to e-commerce. Airports and ports pivoted to focus on cargo rather than passengers and the hunt for industrial real estate has never been more intense. But there are still some challenges to consider on the other side of the pandemic, including streamlining and onshoring of supply chains. And as always, as the technology becomes more advanced, the risks become more intense. The Financial Times reported in December that cyberattackers had begun to target the COVID-19 vaccine distribution supply chain, either looking to disrupt the delivery process or to steal intellectual property.
