[sustran] VTPI News - Spring 2002

[Todd Litman]

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                        VTPI NEWS
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            Victoria Transport Policy Institute
               "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
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                 Spring 2002    Vol. 5, No. 1
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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 many resources addressing a wide range of
transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides consulting services.

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VTPI ONLINE TDM ENCYCLOPEDIA - EXPANSION AND UPDATE
===================================================

The VTPI "Online TDM Encyclopedia" is the most comprehensive resource
available anywhere to help identify and evaluate innovative solutions to
transportation problems. It has dozens of chapters with hundreds of pages
of text and thousands of Internet links, providing convenient information
for Transportation Demand Management (TDM) planning, evaluation and
implementation. It is available free at http://www.vtpi.org/tdm.

We have been busy expanding and updating the Encyclopedia. Nearly every
chapter has been revised. Below are some highlights.


NEW CHAPTERS
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·	Transit Evaluation  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm62.htm)
This chapter (which replaces the "Social Benefits of Public Transit"
chapter) provides comprehensive information on methods and data sources for
evaluating public transit service. 

·	Context Sensitive Design  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm57.htm)
"Context Sensitive Design" (CSD) refers to roadway standards and
development practices that are flexible and sensitive to community values.
This supports TDM and Smart Growth implementation. CSD is increasingly
applied by transportation planning agencies. 

·	Land Use Evaluation  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm104.htm)
This chapter examines how transportation decisions affect land use
patterns, and the economic, social and environmental impacts that result.
It summarizes the latest research on the costs of sprawl and the benefits
of smart growth development.

·	Speed Reductions  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm105.htm)
This chapter discusses ways to reduce traffic speeds and their ability to
help achieve TDM objectives, including safety, emission reductions,
improved mobility for non-drivers and community livability.

·	Basic Access  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm103.htm)
This chapter describes the concepts of "Basic Access" and "Basic Mobility,"
which refer to transport activities that society values highly. It
discusses how these concepts can be applied in transport planning.

·	Health and Fitness  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm102.htm)
Describes strategies that improve public health and fitness through
physical activity.

·	Automobile Dependency  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm100.htm)
This chapter discusses "automobile dependency," which refers to
transportation and land use patterns that cause high levels of automobile
use and reduced transport options.

·	Clustered Land Use  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm81.htm)
This chapter discusses the transportation impacts of locating common
destinations close together.

·	Prestige and Pleasure  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm91.htm)
This chapter discusses mobility as a prestige good and as a pleasurable
activity, and the implications for transport planning.


UPDATED CHAPTERS
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·	Wit and Humor  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm94.htm)
We now include jokes in almost every chapter. This chapter introduces each
joke, but you must follow the links to reach the punchlines. Approximately
100 non-offensive jokes.

·	Transportation Elasticities  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm11.htm)
Significantly expanded and updated, this chapter describes how changes in
user costs (fuel, fees, fares, etc.) affect travel behavior and how this
information can be used to predict the effects of TDM strategies. We have
incorporated the results of our recent review of transit elasticities,
which suggests that transit ridership is more sensitive to price and
service quality than is commonly assumed
(http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm11.htm#_Toc5666155).

·	Evaluating Safety Impacts  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm58.htm)
This chapter discusses how TDM strategies impact traffic safety, personal
security and health. It has been significantly expanded and updated. It
suggests that safety is often one of the primary benefits of TDM, and that
TDM can be one of the most cost-effective ways of increasing transportation
safety.

·	Transportation Costs and Benefits (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm66.htm)
This chapter provides information on various transportation costs and
benefits, including definitions, data source and estimates.

·	Land Use Impacts on Transport  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm20.htm)
This chapter describes how land use patterns affect travel behavior. It
includes the results of recent studies that examine how factors such as
density, clustering, land use mix and roadway design affect travel
patterns, and the implications for transportation planning.

·	Energy Conservation and Emission Reductions Strategies
(http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm59.htm)
This chapter identifies strategies that are particularly effective at
reducing vehicle energy consumption and pollution emissions. It has been
significantly expanded and updated.

·	Measuring Transportation  (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm55.htm)
This chapter describes various methods for measuring transport activity and
quality, and how they affect transportation planning decisions. In
particular, common measurement units such as vehicle traffic speeds and
roadway level of service (LOS) tend to bias planning decisions toward
automobile-oriented solutions and away from accessibility-oriented
solutions to transportation problems.

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NEW & UDATED REPORTS
====================
The following new documents are posted at the VTPI website:
http://www.vtpi.org.

"Bicycle Parking Guidelines - DRAFT," by the Association of Pedestrian and
Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
This document provides current and detailed advice to help select and site
bicycle racks for short-term parking. It discusses bicycle rack design
features, and how to locate racks so they are convenient and safe to use. 

"The Potential for Further Changes to the Personal Taxation Regime to
Encourage Modal Shift," by The Open University/WS Atkins/Napier University.
This paper describes how current tax policy tends to encourage automobile
commuting, and describes potential reforms to encourage more balanced
travel patterns.

"Cycling Safety on Bikeways vs. Roads," by John Pucher, reply to John
Forester's Spring 2001 Transportation Quarterly article "The Bikeway
Controversy."
This short article, published in the Autumn 2001 issue of Transportation
Quarterly, replies to arguments by John Forester opposing all separate
facilities and other special provisions for cyclists.

"William Vickrey's Congestion Pricing Guidelines" summarizes thoughts on
road and parking pricing by Nobel Prize winning economist William Vickrey.

"Does Public Transit Raise Site Values Around Its Stops Enough To Pay For
Itself, Were The Value Captured?" by Jeffery J. Smith. This paper has been
updated to include more information on the effects that transit
accessibility has on property values.

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BEEN THERE - DONE THAT
======================
VTPI direct Todd Litman has participated in several recent conferences and
workshops. Below are some highlights.

"Overview of Variable-Priced Auto Insurance," presented at the
Pay-As-You-Drive Workshop, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, March 20, 2002, Reno, Nevada.

"Clearing the Way for a Healthy City - Opening Forum," panel discussion, at
the Moving Beyond Planning: Implementing Transportation Solutions
Conference, sponsored by Transport Canada and TransLink
(www.best.bc.ca/conference), March 6-8, 2002, Vancouver, BC.

"Transportation Demand Management - Best Practices," presented at the State
Roundtable on Global Climate Change, sponsored by the Center for Clean Air
Policy (www.ccap.org), March 12, 2002, Washington DC.

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UPCOMING EVENTS
===============

Todd Litman plans to present "Economic Development Impacts of
Transportation Demand Management" at the Transportation Research Board
Conference on Transportation And Economic Development (www.ted2001.com),
May 5-7, 2002, Portland, OR.

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CONSULTING
==========
We are involved in several interesting consulting projects:

·	TDM Program Evaluation
Developing a framework for evaluating the travel impacts, benefits and
costs of the city of Seattle's various "Way To Go" programs, which
encourage the use of transportation alternatives. (Project Manager: CH2M
Hill. Client: City of Seattle)

·	Transit Elasticity Values Review
Reviewed and summarized information on transit price, service and
cross-elasticities for modeling and planning applications in the Vancouver,
BC region. (Client: TransLink)

·	Demand Management Emission Reduction Strategy Evaluation
Identifying and evaluating potential transportation demand management
strategies for reducing energy consumption and pollution emissions in the
Vancouver region. This includes developing a model that predicts and
compares the potential energy conservation and emission reduction benefits
of each strategy, and identifying additional benefits (congestion
reduction, traffic safety, consumer savings, etc.), implementation costs
and barriers. (Client: Environment Canada)

·	Vanpool Program Development Opportunities
Examining ways to improve and expand vanpooling in the Puget Sound region.
This project involves refining estimates of vanpool market potential,
identifying strategies to increase vanpool formation and improve vanpool
program operations. The project includes research on other transportation
demand management strategies that can support and encourage vanpool use.
(Project Manager: 2Plus, Inc. Client: Washington State Department of
Transportation)

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OTHER NEWS:
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"Tools of Change" (http://www.toolsofchange.com), is a free-of-charge Web
site for people who plan and run programs that promote healthy,
environmentally sustainable actions.

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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