As the largest megacity in the U.S., New York City (NYC) hosts a number of congestion-related challenges involving both passenger and freight last mile movements. The city's dense population and high volume of commercial activity exacerbate these issues, leading to frequent gridlock and delays that impact residents, businesses, and the overall economy. In response, NYC is constantly exploring and testing various policies and programs, including congestion pricing, off-hour deliveries, various parking policies that account for commercial deliveries, bike infrastructure, etc.

However, implementing these programs presents a unique set of challenges, primarily because they all rely on the same limited roadway infrastructure. The city's streets must accommodate a wide array of users—such as passenger vehicles and delivery trucks—often leading to competing demands for space. As a result, evaluating the effectiveness and impact of these overlapping policies is crucial but far from straightforward. Evaluation of their impacts is paramount, yet it is not trivial to try to assess multiple overlapping operating policies against a transient baseline, or to evaluate a potential, counterfactual policy in this same environment.

In effect, there is no common platform for assessing passenger and freight related programs and policies in NYC, particularly when considering emerging technologies and business practices such as new urban freight delivery systems or passenger Mobility-as-a-Service systems. Part of the problem is that data quality and availability is not consistent across different policy/program needs. While some aspects of the transportation system are well-monitored, with abundant data available for analysis, other areas suffer from significant data gaps, leading to a lack of visibility and understanding.

To address this issue, there is a pressing need to develop a comprehensive platform that can leverage the wealth of available data while using advanced modeling tools to generate synthetic data for areas where information is lacking. Such a platform would enable a more holistic evaluation of the various policies and programs in place, allowing city planners and policymakers to better understand the trade-offs and synergies between different initiatives.