[sustran] VTPI NEWS, Spring 2000

[Todd Litman]

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			     VTPI NEWS
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		Victoria Transport Policy Institute
		  "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"

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		  Spring 2000    Vol. 3, No. 2
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The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research
organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transportation
problems. The VTPI website has numerous information resources addressing a
wide range of transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides
consulting services.

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*NEW*	 VTPI ONLINE TDM ENCYCLOPEDIA  *NEW*
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A draft version of our "Online TDM Encyclopedia" is now posted at
http://www.vtpi.org/tdm. This is a unique and comprehensive resource for
Transportation Demand Management planning and analysis. It is a practical
tool to help identify better ways to solve transportation problems.

The Encyclopedia provides the following information on more than three
dozen TDM strategies:
·	A description.
·	How the strategy can be implemented.
·	Travel impacts.
·	Benefits and costs.
·	Equity impacts.
·	Applications (where it is most appropriate).
·	Stakeholders.
·	Barriers to implementation.
·	Case studies.
·	References and resources for more information (many available through the
Internet).

Each strategy is rated in various ways, including its support for TDM
objectives (congestion reduction, road safety, consumer choice,
environmental protection, etc.), equity impacts, and appropriateness in
various geographic and organizational conditions. These ratings can help
users select the best TDM strategies to consider for a particular
situation. For example, they can identify strategies that may be most
appropriate for implementation by a suburban municipal government to
address congestion and air pollution problems; a resort community business
organization to reduce traffic problems and improve transport choices for
non-drivers; or for a state/provincial government to improve the overall
economic efficiency of its transportation system. 

The Encyclopedia also has information on transportation price elasticities,
land use pattern impacts on travel behavior, TDM evaluation, equity
analysis, TDM planning practices, criticism of TDM, an extensive
bibliography, and other sections to be determined.

You Can Help
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The Online TDM Encyclopedia is a work in progress. We plan to finalize it
during the next few weeks, and will continually update it as new
information becomes available. A future version being developed with
support from Environment Canada will have automatic searching and sorting
features.

Our goal is to make the Encyclopedia as comprehensive, accurate and useful
as possible, which is turning out to be quite a project. We had originally
expected it to include about 100 pages of material, but there are already
more than 350 pages in fifty files, and additional information is being
incorporated regularly. 

We appreciate help. Please carefully review the chapter(s) on TDM
strategies you know about, and send us your suggestions for improvements.
We are particularly interested in identifying the best available
information on travel impacts, benefits, costs and equity impacts. We want
feedback on the assigned ratings. We also appreciate a short description of
suitable case studies, preferably with a website reference for more
information.

Thanks to the many colleagues who contribute to this project!

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PRESENTATION
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Shifting Gears: Win-Win Transportation Solutions In The Georgia Basin
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Wednesday, May 31, 2000, 7:00-8:30 pm. 
Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre, Room 1400
515 West Hasting, Vancouver, British Columbia. 
Admission is free but reservations are required.
Call 604-291-5100 or email city at sfu.ca for reservation information.

This event will include a presentation by VTPI Director Todd Litman on his
study of the status of TDM efforts in the Vancouver region (i.e., who is
doing what), and analysis of the value and feasibility of implementing
additional "Win-Win Transportation Solutions" to address regional
transportation problems. These issues will be discussed by a panel
including Peter Ladner (editor of "Business in Vancouver"), Clive Rock
(Manager of Strategic Planning at TransLink, the regional transportation
and land use planning authority) and Cheeying Ho (Executive Director of
Better Environmentally Sound Transportation - B.E.S.T., an advocacy
organization). 

We hope that this event will help raise awareness and support for Win-Win
Solutions. This program is co-sponsored by Environment Canada, the Simon
Fraser University City Program, B.E.S.T., and the Samuel and Saidye
Bronfman Family Foundation. It is part of these organizations' efforts to
explore the potential economic, social and environmental benefits from
innovative strategies that increase transportation system efficiency. 

The "Shifting Gears" report will be posted at the VTPI website by May 31.


NEW REPORTS 
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The following new reports are now posted at our website: http://www.vtpi.org.

*  "Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning: A Guide to Best Practices" 
by Todd Litman, Robin Blair, Bill Demopoulos, Nils Eddy, Anne Fritzel,
Danelle Laidlaw, Heath Maddox and Katherine Forster.

This guide covers all aspects of pedestrian and bicycle planning. It
describes general nonmotorized planning practices, how to measure and
predict nonmotorized travel, how to evaluate and prioritize projects, and
how to implement various programs that support nonmotorized transportation.
There are also appendices that provide more detailed information on
planning, design and evaluation. It is intended for policy makers, planners
and advocates who want the best current information on ways to make their
communities better places for walking and cycling. We believe it is the
most comprehensive and current guide on this subject.


*  "Making Walking and Cycling Safer: Lessons from Europe" 
by John Pucher and Lewis Dijkstra

The neglect of pedestrian and bicycling safety in the United States has
made these modes relatively dangerous. Pedestrian fatalities are 36 times
higher, and bicycling fatalities are 11 times higher, than car occupant
fatalities per km traveled. Walking and bicycling can be made quite safe,
however, as clearly shown by the much lower fatality rates in The
Netherlands and Germany. Pedestrian fatalities per billion km walked are
less than a tenth as high, and bicyclist fatalities are only a quarter as
high, as in the United States. The Netherlands and Germany have long
recognized the importance of pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Over the past
two decades these countries have undertaken a wide range of measures to
improve safety: better facilities for walking and bicycling; urban design
sensitive to the needs of non-motorists; traffic calming of residential
neighborhoods; restrictions on motor vehicle use in cities; rigorous
traffic education of both motorists and non-motorists; and strict
enforcement of traffic regulations protecting pedestrians and bicyclists. 


* "Clunker Mortgages and Transportation Redlining; How the Mortgage Banking
Industry Unknowingly Drains Cities and Spreads Sprawl"
by Patrick Hare

This paper proposes a significant solution to two persistent planning
problems: affordable housing and traffic congestion. The solution has no
public cost. It would also help solve both urban decline, and suburban
sprawl, and it would increase transit ridership. The solution relies on
correcting a significant flaw in the mortgage approval system. Current
mortgage approval practices ignore basic land economics. Specifically, they
ignore the fact that the household transportation expenses usually
increases as land costs decline in suburban locations. Ignoring these extra
transportation costs makes suburban housing look substantially more
affordable than urban housing to banks reviewing mortgage qualifications.
This practice helps drain cities of middle class families and transit
systems of riders, and fills highways with cars and open land with houses.
It encourages sprawl. As described in this paper, Near Transit Mortgages
(also called "Location Efficient Mortgages") help correct this distortion.
A mortgage approval procedure that reflects basic land economics means
larger mortgages for households that buy homes where they can reduce their
cars expenses, and thus have more money available for mortgage payments.


*  "Sustainable Transport Systems: Linkages Between Environmental Issues,
Public Transport, Non-Motorised Transport and Safety"
by Dinesh Mohan and Geetam Tiwari, Transportation Research and Injury
Prevention Programme Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India

This paper examines sustainable transportation from a developing country
perspective. A sustainable transport system must provide mobility and
accessibility to all residents in a safe and environment friendly mode of
transport. This can be difficult when the needs of people in different
income groups are considered. For example, if a large proportion of the
population cannot afford to use motorised transport - private vehicles or
public buses - then they must walk or cycle. Accommodating this travel
requires consideration of cyclist and pedestrian needs in transport planning. 


*  "Estimation Of Generated Traffic By New Developments: Current Practice
And Possible Improvements Based On Bangkok Experience" 
by Shihana Sulaiha Mohamed and Kazunori Hokao

This paper reviews current methods used to estimate generated traffic
caused by new developments such as housing, shopping centres, conventional
centres, hospitals, etc. It describes three case studies based on
experience in Bangkok. It critiques current traffic generation prediction
models based on ITE methods and data, and recommends better approaches that
take into account additional demographic, economic and geographic factors.
It indicates that this additional information is particularly important for
use in developing countries.


*  "Transportation Market Reforms for Sustainability" 
by Todd Litman. A condensed version of this paper is forthcoming in
Transportation Research Record.

This paper evaluates potential transportation market reforms for achieving
economic, social and environmental objectives. It identifies transport
market distortions, considers their justifications, and describes
strategies that could reduce these distortions. Three state-level reform
packages are assessed in terms of their impacts on vehicle travel,
emissions, congestion, consumer expenses, tax revenue and equity. This
analysis indicates that such reforms can help solve a variety of problems.
The incremental benefits of these reforms are estimated to be far greater
than their incremental costs.


Please let us know if you have transport policy papers that you would like
to have posted at our website.

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WEB LINKS 
=========
We continue to add links to other useful websites. Please add a link to us
from your organization's website and we will reciprocate.


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Please let us know if you have comments or questions about any information
in this newsletter, or if you would like to be removed from our mailing
list. And please pass this newsletter on to others who may find it useful.



Sincerely,

Todd Litman, Director
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
1250 Rudlin Street
Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560
E-mail:  litman at vtpi.org
Website: http://www.vtpi.org