Transportation planning

This article discuss the reasons for Seattle's success in transit ridership increase in terms of transit service, mode prioritization, and traffic management.

CityLab is launching Bus to the Future that puts public coaches at the center of the transportation future. It also plan to look at how technology can improve bus fundamentals. Automation (combined TNCs) could also transform surface transit.

This publication profiles some of Copenhagen's best sustainable solutions. In the spirit of sharing, Copenhagen reaches out to cities worldwide with our solutions, but is also on the lookout for new ideas to improve Copenhagen and hope to be inspired by the lessons learnt by others.

"This paper identifies three promising applications of new mobility services by public transit agencies, and presents economic, social, and environmental modeling that illustrate the value of such partnerships to mass transit systems."

"Dockless bike share systems present an opportunity for cities to expand access to bike share by lowering costs and geographic barriers, but also create additional challenges in the areas of maintenance, parking, and right-of- way management. Most dockless providers are also private, venture-capital funded entities, representing a significant departure from current public and non-profit approaches. Other cities have encountered challenges in securing cooperation from these operators in areas such as data transparency. This raises a key question: To what extent can cities use contracts and governance to exchange use of the public right-of-way for operating requirements that advance equity, accessibility, innovation, and other goals? Using case studies from other U.S. cities and drawing insights from the wider “smart mobility” literature, this research presents recommendations for regulating dockless bike share in cities and ties these approaches to the implementation of Nice Ride Minnesota’s dockless pilot. "

Warren Logan, a Bay Area transportation planner, has new ideas about how to truly engage diverse communities in city planning. Hint: It starts with listening.

This report asks what role AVs can play in our society and how to create policy to allow them onto our streets in a way that will maximize our return?

As public transit stagnates in most U.S. cities, central Seattle continued its rapid growth by adding roughly 10,000 morning transit commuters last year, new local data show.

The author presents his view of limitations of prediction and how it apply to transportation prediction such as ridership prediction. He describes the concepts for planning the future (with time and space) that always emphasize the freedom as the goal.

"This Mobility Hub Features Catalog is a resource for regional agencies, local jurisdictions, transit operators, and private service providers as they collaborate to design and implement mobility hubs around the region. It describes the kinds of services, amenities, and technologies that can work together to make it easier for people to connect to transit, while also providing them with more transportation options overall. These mobility hub features may include various transit station improvements such as enhanced waiting areas with landscaping and lighting, complimentary WiFi and real-time travel information; wider sidewalks, pedestrian lighting and trees for shade; bike paths, designated bike lanes, and bike parking options; dedicated bus lanes and supporting signal improvements; service facilities for shared cars, scooters, and electric vehicles; smart parking technology; and more. Each feature can be tailored to the unique needs of an individual community."

"Beyond Mobility is about prioritizing the needs and aspirations of people and the creation of great places. This is as important, if not more important, than expediting movement. A stronger focus on accessibility and place creates better communities, environments, and economies. Rethinking how projects are planned and designed in cities and suburbs needs to occur at multiple geographic scales, from micro-designs (such as parklets), corridors (such as road-diets), and city-regions (such as an urban growth boundary). It can involve both software (a shift in policy) and hardware (a physical transformation). Moving beyond mobility must also be socially inclusive, a significant challenge in light of the price increases that typically result from creating higher quality urban spaces."

The full story of autonomous vehicles is yet to be written. We created four scenario planning stories that explain how cities could shape the driverless future: tap taxi to tackle isolation, weaving a microtransit mesh, a human touch on robot delivery, reprogramming bus, bikes and barriers.

In the United States, public transportation agencies are experimenting with on-demand, shared, and dynamic models to augment traditional fixed-route bus and train services. These services—referred to as microtransit— are enabled by technology similar to the mobile smartphone applications pioneered by privately operated transportation network companies. As interest in this technology grows, it is critical for public transportation agencies and departments of transportation to understand the benefits and challenges of incorporating components of these innovations into publicly funded services. This research is informed by limited literature to date as well as a series of interviews with the project teams working on the pilots. It concludes with a set of recommendations intended to inform the design and implementation of future public microtransit pilots and service delivery models.

The Chicago metropolitan area has one of the most extensive public transit systems in the United States, yet there are many places in the region where people do not have convenient access to transit service. To address that deficiency, this paper identifies practical ways to give more travel options to people in areas that are underserved by transit, including people who are unable to own or rent a car or have physical limitations that prevent them from driving.

This paper discusses the history of shared mobility within the context of the urban transportation landscape, first in Europe and Asia, and more recently in the Americas, with a specific focus on first- and last-mile connections to public transit. The authors discuss the known impacts of shared mobility modes—carsharing, bikesharing, and ridesharing—on reducing vehicle miles/kilometers traveled (VMT/VKT), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and modal splits with public transit. The future of shared mobility in the urban transportation landscape is discussed, as mobile technology and public policy continue to evolve to integrate shared mobility with public transit and future automated vehicles.

"This white paper provides a framework and examples to assist transportation agencies in anticipating and planning for shared mobility as part of a higher-performing regional multimodal transportation system. It synthesizes noteworthy practices in 13 metropolitan areas as of spring/summer 2017 collected from online research and conversations with planning practitioners, identifies challenges and opportunities, and provides recommendations for future research needed to improve planning practices related to shared mobility."

This Strategic Plan is designed to help the East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWG) to better position itself to prepare for emerging transportation technologies in its planning and investment decision making processes.

This chapter is intended for the reader who wants to understand what vehicle automation is, its main research questions, and what are its main implications. We also provide guidance on the methods that have been used or could be used to assess its impacts, hence allowing future research on this topic.

Through a review of long-range transportation plans and interviews with planners, this article examines how large metropolitan planning organizations are preparing for autonomous vehicles. In just a few years, the prospect of commercially available self-driving cars and trucks has gone from a futurist fantasy to a likely near-term reality. However, uncertainties about the new technology and its relationship to daily investment decisions have kept mention of self-driving cars out of nearly all long-range transportation plans.

A new analysis tracking the relationship between transit access and apartment rent seeks to put some numbers behind the dramatic shifts in urban mobility. The new study by RCLCO, a real estate consultancy, and TransitScreen, a company that provides real-time arrival and departure info, analyzed 40,000 apartment developments nationwide, which contained roughly 9 million units, to determine how access impacts costs in different cities and neighborhoods. Results found that improvements in access to bike-sharing and ride-hailing made a more significant difference nationally than access to traditional transit or carshare services.

This paper discusses the current and future state of AVs, and the implications for policy at the federal, state, and local levels. It does not intend to summarize all the research nor provide new analysis of the potential implications of AVs. The goal is to provide concrete and substantive recommendations for policymakers in order to responsibly deploy AVs on public roads.

Upon the roll-out of AVs into our streets, the importance of public and private sector partnerships are emphasized. With increased mobility, the demand for private rides could be increased and therefore increase congestion in our streets.

"This document is for city administrations, national policy makers, and anyone considering a move to employ cycle logistics. It outlines the major learning points and success factors, and sets out nine recommendations for the most successful implementation. The project demonstrated that e-bikes were popular, efficient, reliable and – above all – saved money compared to the motorized alternative. Most of the participants were so impressed, they are continuing or expanding their use of e-bikes, after the project end-point."

This article is an introduction to how AVs may be able to service the general public and become a part of our transit systems.

As the technology for autonomous vehicles continues to develop, it may be necessary for state and municipal governments to address the potential impacts of these vehicles on the road." The following webpage has updated information regarding actions State's have taken so far on this matter.

"As e-commerce grows as a percentage of total retail sales, consumers are choosing delivery options with shorter delivery cycles. Not only does this mean that Amazon Prime customers (65 million subscribers in September 2016) can choose Prime Now two-hour deliveries for some high-volume items, it means other retailers are offering same-day deliveries, as are some package delivery companies (United Parcel Service [UPS], Federal Express [FedEx], and United States Postal Service [USPS]) in certain cities. This report reviews how express delivery services now operate, how they are regulated, and how they may affect the state’s transportation system."

According to the latest statistics from the American Public Transit Association, the region has experienced a 5.7 per cent increase in the number of boardings year-over-year. Only three other urban areas with a population of more than one million saw transit ridership growth last year.

This article discusses about the cost of AV per mile compared to SOVs and looks into AV peak demand and surge pricing.

A San Francisco judge ruled that Motivate, the bike-share operator that Lyft purchased one year ago, has exclusive rights to rent both docked and dockless bikes in the city.

As a result of transportation challenges faced by rural areas, public agencies, non-profits and companies are collaborating in new ways to leverage emerging technology and service models to improve mobility options for rural and small-town residents. The following examples demonstrate just a few of the ways public agencies and multi-sector partnerships are working to close mobility gaps in small and rural communities.

Summary of America's Transportation Infrastructure Act.

Driverless vehicles will likely have a huge impact on our future; however, it is the government’s actions (now and in the future) that will determine how they are integrated into society and if the impacts are largely positive or negative. The intent of this guide is to outline the role of government in the integration of driverless vehicles in society and present the information that local and regional governments need to inform planning and decision-making – now and in the future.

The purpose of this White Paper is to help cities prepare in advance for autonomous technology by passing formal resolutions and setting in motion Smart Mobility Plans. The document covers: Terminology, Benefits and risks associated with autonomous technology, Common autonomous vehicle deployment phases, How changing transportation technology affects governance, Approaches for harnessing benefits while limiting risks, Examples, Developing resolutions – local context, Conclusion and sample resolution language. The sample language and bullet points can also be used for presentations, policy papers, Comprehensive or Transportation Plan updates and memos. Much of the information is also helpful when drafting policy on other types of technology, including ridehailing/sharing services and smart city technology (e.g., Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors).

This policy brief defines APBP's position on autonomous vehicles and sets forth policy recommendations to prepare for a future with AVs.

The purpose of the Primer is to describe and document new integrative approaches, guiding principles, and living examples that will serve SMART partner communities. It is also meant to serve businesses, community leaders, transportation practitioners and policymakers who are interested in improving and transforming their transportation systems (and related economies) as whole systems. This Primer aims to contribute to a growing literature of integrative and practical approaches for implementing multi-modal, “next generation” transportation and transportation infrastructure. More broadly, it aims to contribute to advancing livability, sustainability, and economic vitality in communities and city regions of the world through systems-based transportation.

For 50 years, American geography and land use has been centered on the personal car. The three revolutions in vehicle sharing, automation and electrification present new challenges and also great opportunities for land use and transportation planners. Absent policy reform, the three revolutions may contribute to more sprawl, but a sustainable planning approach that supports both higher-density development and lower single-occupant (or zero-occupant) driving can once again put people first rather than their cars.

The reality is that bus ridership is plummeting across the country. Who is doing it right? This article highlights the details of the ebb and flow of transit ridership in the US.

A plan to develop a data standard for technology that could monitor and manage various mobility services has raised privacy fears.

Over the past few years, many studies have provided detailed descriptions of the potential benefits associated with the introduction of autonomous vehicles, such as improvements in traffic flows, local and global emissions, traffic safety, cost efficiency of public and private transport operations, etc. Additionally, the mobilization of mobility-impaired people and the independent car use of travelers without a driver’s license have been identified as potential benefits for users. However, merely estimating the benefits of these direct (or first-order) effects is unlikely to show the full picture of the consequences that will emerge once autonomous vehicles enter the roads. In this paper, we therefore put emphasis on discussing systemic (or second-order) effects. The paper presents a conceptual exploration of these effects based on literature and research findings to date. We show that these systemic effects have the potential – especially in urban areas and without adequate policy intervention – to eliminate at least some of the benefits initially associated with autonomous vehicles. Following this systemic view on autonomous vehicles, we discuss policy aspects for responsible authorities and planners on how to prepare transportation systems for the challenges related to the introduction of autonomous vehicles, and conclude with areas of research that seem highly important in terms of further investigation in this context.

"This report explores autonomous vehicle benefits and costs, and implications for various planning issues. It investigates how quickly self driving vehicles are likely to be developed and deployed based on experience with previous vehicle technologies, their benefits and costs, and how they are likely to affect travel demands and planning decisions such as optimal road, parking and public transit supply."

"As a guide for planners and policymakers, the objective of this thesis is to develop a strong foundation for anticipating the potential impacts resulting from advancements in vehicle automation. To establish the foundation, this thesis uses a robust qualitative methodology, coupling a review of literature on the potential advantages and disadvantages of vehicle automation and lessons from past innovations in transportation, with recent trends of the Millennial Generation, carsharing services, and a series of interviews with thought-leaders in automation, planning, policymaking, transportation, and aviation. From the perspective of understanding the bigger picture, this thesis developed a proposed future scenario of vehicle automation in the next five to ten years that is used to suggest guiding principles for policymakers, and key recommendations for planners, engineers, and researchers."

This book provides a complete overview of microtransit, siting research publications, surveys, and case studies from current pilot programs happening throughout the country.

The Indiana Toll Road in the US has reduced traffic incidents by 30 per cent using Extreme Networks intelligent transportation system. The Indiana Toll Road Concession Company (ITRCC) deployed the software-driven network, which uses Extreme’s Smart OmniEdge technology to provide real-time updates on traffic patterns, enabling safer, more coordinated use of the roadway.

In the 1960s, countercultural icon Timothy Leary popularized the phrase, "turn on, tune in, drop out," to describe the idea of using LSD and other psychedelic drugs to detach from society and achieve a higher level of thinking. Later in his life, he argued that the personal computer was the "LSD of the 1990s"—at that time having no inkling how much automation and augmented reality would play in our society, or how autonomous vehicles might change the way we connect with others. Might automated vehicles (AVs) be one of the ways that humans "tune in, turn on" and disconnect for the next few decades?

As more states and cities consider taxes on TNC services, policymakers should be cautious and thoughtful about how their decisions affect transportation behavior. As services like TNCs proliferate around the globe, it is important to understand what these fees are, what purpose they intend to serve, and how they fit into broader metropolitan transportation policies.

This document provides guidance for cities and public entities as they look to manage and regulate Shared Active Transportation Companies that are not otherwise managed through competitive procurement processes or contracts. It focuses on clearer and more formal management of public-use mobility options that are not created under the auspices of a public entity. The regulatory focus of this document is not based on the technology or the business plan. Rather, as businesses operating on city streets, Shared Active Transportation Companies need to be overseen and regulated by public entities when they are not otherwise managed through existing processes.

This white paper presents a generalized evaluation framework that can be used for assessing project impacts within the context of transportation-related city projects. In support of this framework, we discuss a selection of metrics and data sources that are needed to evaluate the performance of smart city innovations. We first present a collection of projects and applications from near-term smart city concepts or actual pilot projects underway (i.e., Smart City Challenge, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox, and other pilot projects operating in the regions of Los Angeles, Portland, and San Francisco). These projects are identified and explained in Section 2 of this report. Using these projects as the basis for hypothetical case studies, we present selected metrics that would be necessary to evaluate and monitor the performance of such innovations over time. We then identify the data needs to compute those metrics and further highlight the gaps in known data resources that should be covered to enable their computation. The objective of this effort is to help guide future city planners, policy makers, and practitioners in understanding the design of key metrics 3 and data needs at the outset of a project to better facilitate the establishment of rigorous and thoughtful data collection requirements.

In this report, we present a set of four alternative scenarios set in major American metropolitan areas in the year 2030. We intend that these scenarios can be used to spur and inform discussions about the key issues that the nation’s transportation planners and policymakers need to anticipate in the coming decade. And we craft the alternative futures by using the approach of four archetypes: growth, collapse, constraint and transformation.

This briefing document concisely conveys the key findings of NCHRP Research Report 845: Advancing Automated and Connected Vehicles: Policy and Planning Strategies for State and Local Transportation Agencies. NCHRP Research Report 845 assesses policy and planning strategies at the state, regional, and local levels that could influence private-sector automated vehicle (AV) and connected vehicle (CV) choices to positively affect societal goals. The researchers identified and described mismatches between potential societal impacts and factors that influence private-sector decisions on CV and AV technologies. Policy and planning actions that might better align these interests were then identified. Researchers and the project oversight panel identified the promising actions and then conducted in-depth evaluations of the feasibility, applicability, and impacts of 18 strategies.

Depending on how you look view transportation, bikes and scooters are the key to future, clean urban mobility or a sideshow that distracts from maintaining mobility across large metropolis. But the basic problem – the reason we’re having a hyper-emotional discussion about these transportation modes on both sides – is that we’re not framing the issue right.

As more people make the shift to sustainable mobility options like e-scooters, cities are evolving their transportation infrastructure to combat car dominance and to allow human-scaled modes to thrive. In addition to creating dedicated spaces for people to ride shared micro-mobility devices, this transition also includes creating space for them to park when not in use. To explore how cities should think about parking and micro-mobility, Bird sat down for a conversation with parking expert Donald Shoup.

To help decision-makers understand the impact of AV technology on regional plans, modeling tools should anticipate automated vehicles’ effect on transportation networks and traveler choices.This research uses the Seattle region’s activity based travel model to test a range of travel behavior impacts from AV technology development. The existing model was not originally designed with automated vehicles in mind, so some modifications to the model assumptions are described in areas of roadway capacity, user values of time, and parking costs. Larger structural model changes are not yet considered.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) brought together hundreds of transportation stakeholders for its Public Listening Summit on Automated Vehicle Policy on March 1, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Experts in industry, government, labor, and advocacy, as well as members of the general public, provided valuable insights on how DOT can help safely integrate automated vehicles (AVs) into the Nation’s transportation system. This report summarizes the roundtable discussions and the views that panelists provided during the public session.

The article outlines the scope of the emerging transportation technologies and how far they can go. It doesn't have to be just about the autonomous cars and how they interact and react with our communities, but how we can work on preparing the rest of the environment to also interact with them.

This study looks at the potential for a shift away from curb use focused on street parking to more flexible allocation that includes pick-up and drop-off zones for passengers and freight. It presents the results of quantitative modelling of alternative curb-use scenarios and discusses their relative efficiency, contribution to wider policy objectives and implications on city revenues. The work builds on a workshop held in September 2017, and outreach to numerous experts. It also provides insights from a modeling exercise to quantify the impact of re-allocating curb space from parking to pick up and drop off zones.

According to case studies, transit systems not in a state of good repair are particularly vulnerable when unanticipated events occur. This can cost a local or regional economy millions of dollars in repairs and lost revenue. Along with the net gains or losses at stake to the U.S. economy, the condition of public transit infrastructure has regional and local implications. As cities throughout America compete to retain key occupations and businesses, the condition and quality of public transit infrastructure play a growing role in what makes a thriving regional economy. The total SGR (State of Good Repair) backlog was estimated to be at $89.9 billion in 2015, and is continuing to grow. Six case studies provide detailed examples of how different agencies are dealing with SGR issues.

Smart Mobility 2030 ITS strategic Plan for Singapore

The fight to be an official provider of electric scooters in Paris is driving firms to dredge discarded vehicles from the River Seine, run apologetic ad campaigns, redesign their models and reshape their workforces.

In recent years, economic, environmental, and social forces have quickly given rise to the “sharing economy,” a collective of entrepreneurs and consumers leveraging technology to share resources, save money, and generate capital. Homesharing services, such as Airbnb, and peer-to-peer carsharing services, such as Getaround, have become part of a sociodemographic trend that has pushed the sharing economy from the fringe and more to the mainstream. The role of shared mobility in the broader landscape of urban mobility has become a frequent topic of discussion. Major shared transportation modes—such as bikesharing, carsharing, ridesourcing, and alternative transit services—are changing how people travel and are having a transformative effect on mobility and local planning.

With AVs on the brink of roll-out, what is next? How do our streets evolve and where does our capital begin to go? This article discusses some possibilities on the ways we may be able to better our streets without widening the roads to fit more cars.

This report analyzes traffic impacts from the 2015 implementation of a pilot “road diet” on Lincoln Avenue, in the City of San Jose, California, comparing data on traffic volumes and speeds from before and after the road diet was implemented. The analysis looks at impacts on both the road diet location itself and on surrounding streets likely to have been impacted by traffic diverted off the road diet segment. The results within the road diet zone were as expected, with falling volumes and numbers of speeders. The all-day data aggregated by street type (e.g., neighborhood streets, major streets) showed limited overall negative impacts outside the road diet segment. These summary results do not tell the entire story, however. Individual locations, particularly among the neighborhood streets, saw more noticeable negative impacts. The report ends with recommendations for best practices in designing and conducting road diet evaluation studies.