Intermodal warehouse and distribution centers will be at the center of distribution webs that will end at individual homes, businesses and neighborhood pick up centers. Speculation about how the growth of the Internet will affect communities of the future runs in many directions.
Some experts see a de-emphasis of urban areas as work and interest group activity shifts online.
When people can live anywhere they will disburse, the theory goes. Transportation expert Michael D. Meyer of Georgia Tech, however, looks at the question in terms of e-commerce and the growing need for efficient distribution systems. The recent partnership announcement by FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service will be the first of many, Meyer says. It confirms his theory that as the volume of small-package delivery dramatically rises, there will be more cooperation among competing package delivery organizations to share distribution costs. And as this need for efficient distribution grows, land planning, he says, will be impacted in several ways.