[sustran] VTPI News - Winter 2006
Todd Alexander Litman
litman at vtpi.org
Wed Feb 8 02:45:17 JST 2006
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VTPI NEWS
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Victoria Transport Policy Institute
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
------------------------------------
Winter 2006 Vol. 9, 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 (http://www.vtpi.org )
has many resources addressing a wide range of
transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides consulting services.
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ONLINE TDM ENCYCLOPEDIA
========================
The VTPI "Online TDM Encyclopedia"
(<http://www.vtpi.org/tdm>http://www.vtpi.org/tdm
) is a comprehensive information resource to help
identify and evaluate innovative management
solutions to transport problems, available for
free on our website. We continually update and
expand the Encyclopedia. We have recently updated the following chapters:
"Contingency-Based Planning"
(<http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm123.htm>http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm123.htm )
"Road Space Reallocation"
(<http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm56.htm>http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm56.htm )
"Campus Transport Management"
(<http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm5.htm>http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm5.htm )
As always, we appreciate feedback. Please let us
know if you have suggestions for improving any of these documents.
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NEW DOCUMENTS
==============
Important New Book By VTPI Director Todd Litman
"Parking Management Best Practices" by Planners
Press (<http://www.planning.org>www.planning.org)
will be released later this month. See the flyer
at
<http://www.vtpi.org/PMBP_Flyer.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/PMBP_Flyer.pdf
for more information and a substantial discount
available for orders made before February 28, 2006.
The typical automobile is parked 23 hours a day.
Where and how it is parked can make a big
difference to economic development, traffic
reduction, smart growth, historic preservation,
and many other planning efforts. "Parking
Management Best Practices" describes more than
two-dozen practical strategies for increasing
parking facility efficiency and reducing
excessive parking demand. These strategies expand
the range of solutions available for addressing
parking problems, providing an alternative to
traditional predict and provide parking planning.
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UPDATED DOCUMENTS
==============
We recently updated the following documents:
"Evaluating Rail Transit Criticism"
(<http://www.vtpi.org/railcrit.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/railcrit.pdf )
This report as been updated to respond to Randal
O'Toole's latest criticism of rail transit investments.
"Safe Travels: "Evaluating Rail Transit
Criticism"
<http://www.vtpi.org/safetrav.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/safetrav.pdf).
This report by Todd Litman and Steven Fitzroy
investigates the safety benefits that can result
from various mobility management strategies.
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PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE
Below are VTPI articles recently published in professional journals.
"Transportation Solutions," Moving the Movement:
Race, Poverty, and the Environment, Urban Habitat
(http://urbanhabitat.rpejournal.org/moving),
Winter 2005. This journal includes a variety of
articles dealing with transportation equity
issues, available free on the website.
"Sustainable Transportation and Equity
("Igualdad y Transporte Sostenible"), in 'The
Right to Mobility (El Derecho a la Movilidad), '
published by the Escuela de Arquitectura,
Universidad de Valladolid
(<http://www.uva.es/arquitec>www.uva.es/arquitec),
2005; available at
<http://www.ciudad-derechos.org/eindex.html>www.ciudad-derechos.org/eindex.html.
This report includes a variety of papers that
examine transportation equity issues throughout the world.
"Lessons From Katrina and Rita: What Major
Disasters Can Teach Transportation Planners,"
Journal of Transportation Engineering
(<http://scitation.aip.org/teo>http://scitation.aip.org/teo),
Vol. 132, January 2006, pp. 11-18.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
================
VTPI Executive Directly Todd Litman will give the
keynote speech at the School of Planning Annual
Conference (http://planningconference.dal.ca), at
Delhousie University, Halifax, Canada this week, February 9-10-11, 2006
The conference theme is, "Bringing Transit Home:
Transforming Daily Life, Community, Attitudes &
Opportunities." The conference is open to both
professionals and the public and provides an
excellent forum to explore and debate planning issues. Admission is free.
Todd Litman will also give a series of
presentations in New York, including a seminar
titled, "Well-Measured Transportation Planning,"
Thursday, February 23, 2006, 2:30 4:00 pm, Room 914, Kimmel Center
New York University, sponsored by Transportation
Alternatives
(<http://www.transalt.org/>http://www.transalt.org)
and the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy &
Management (http://wagner.nyu.edu/news/293.html
). This seminar will explore how the techniques
used to measure transportation system performance
affect planning decisions, and the role of new
methods suitable for multi-modal evaluation (for
background see
<http://www.vtpi.org/measure.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/measure.pdf ).
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BEEN THERE DONE THAT
=======================
We had a very busy but fun time at the
Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting this
year. Not only did we have one workshop
presentation, five paper presentations, two
poster presentations, and three committee
meetings to attend, the entire Litman family came
along to explore Washington DC, including wife
Suzanne Litman and sons Graham (16) and Raviv
(13). A wonderful time was had by all.
There was considerable interest in our research
on the future transportation trends
(<http://www.vtpi.org/future.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/future.pdf
), lessons for transportation planners from
hurricanes Katrina and
Rita
(<http://www.vtpi.org/katrina.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/katrina.pdf
), transit terrorism risks
(<http://www.vtpi.org/transitrisk.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/transitrisk.pdf
) and mobility management safety benefits
(<http://www.vtpi.org/safetrav.pdf>http://www.vtpi.org/safetrav.pdf ).
Todd Litman chairs the TRB Sustainable
Transportation Indicators subcommittee, which is
developing practical techniques for evaluating
transportation systems' economic, social and
environmental sustainability. To find out more
and be kept informed about this subcommittee's
activities contact Todd at litman at vtpi.org.
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Urgent Issue: NPTS Not Funded
===============================
The new federal transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU,
does not provide sufficient specific funding for
the National Personal Transportation Survey
(NPTS, previously called the National Household
Transportation Survey). Without additional
funding, user support (at
<http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/index.shtml>http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/index.shtml
) will end in about two months, and the next
NPTS, scheduled for 2008, will be cancelled.
Without NPTS we lose comprehensive and accurate
travel demand data in a format that allows geographic and time series analysis.
NPTS project management is in the FHWA Office of
Policy, whose research budget was significantly
reduced in the bill. FHWA is now investigating
what can be done to support the program, but
there are no easy answers. Funding can also come
from NHTSA, FTA, RITA/BTS and possibly OST, but
all have limited research budgets.
The 2008 survey requires $7-8 million (less than
the $11.5 million spent on the 2001 NHTS) and
support functions for analysis and publications,
website development and maintenance and user
support costs another $850,000 per year. In a
six-year cycle, the NPTS project totals about
$12.6 million (averaging $2.1 million per year.)
The most effective action to take at this point
is to make sure that U.S. DOT knows of the many
users would be adversely impacted by not
continuing this crucial data series. Letters of support should be sent to:
Norman Y. Mineta
Secretary of Transportation
U. S. Department of Transportation (S-1)
400- 7TH Street, S.W.
Washington DC 20590
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USEFUL RESOURCES
=================
Below are some new information resources that you may find useful.
Marie Demers's new book "Walk For Your Life!
Restoring Neighborhood Walkways To Enhance
Community Life, Improve Street Safety and Reduce
Obesity," (Vital Health Publishing,
http://www.vitalhealthbooks.com/book/2414947630.html,
2006) is easy to read and provides an excellent
introduction to issues related to why and how to
increase nonmotorized transportation. It can help
planners and policy makers understand the
importance of increased walking and cycling, help
health professionals understand how this can be
done, and encourage individuals to take more
steps each day. The book discusses various
reasons that individuals and communities should
improve walking conditions and encourage walking
activity, and describes various ways of doing
this. It emphasizes public health (particularly
reduced obesity and increased physical fitness),
community livability (including community
cohesion) and personal enjoyment benefits, as
well environmental and equity benefits. It
describes policy and planning reforms to help
create more walkable communities.
CTOD and CNT, The Affordability Index: A New Tool
for Measuring the True Affordability of a Housing
Choice, Center for Transit-Oriented Development
and the Center for Neighborhood Technology,
Brookings Institute
(<http://www.brookings.edu/metro/umi/20060127_affindex.pdf>www.brookings.edu/metro/umi/20060127_affindex.pdf),
2006.
USEPA, Parking Spaces / Community Places: Finding
the Balance Through Smart Growth Solutions,
Development, Community, and Environment Division
(DCED); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(<http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/parking.htm>www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/parking.htm),
2006.
Norman King, Patrick Morency and Lucie Lapierre,
Impacts Of Transportation On Public Health,
Montréal Public Health Department
(<http://www.santepub-mtl.qc.ca/Publication/synthese/rapv8n3_eng.pdf>http://www.santepub-mtl.qc.ca/Publication/synthese/rapv8n3_eng.pdf),
2006.
Pay as You Drive Insurance Pilot
King County Metro, the Washington State
Department of Transportation and other partners
has $2,2 million to develop a Pay As You Drive
(PAYD) Insurance Pilot project for Washington
State over a 4-year period to evaluate the
impacts of a pilot including at least 5000
participants. They are in the process of
recruiting an insurance carrier to join in the
project. The deadline for expressions of interest
is February 15, 2006. For more information
contact Bill Roach
(<mailto:bill.roach at metrokc.gov>bill.roach at metrokc.gov)
or Bob Flor (<mailto:bob.flor at metrokc.gov>bob.flor at metrokc.gov).
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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 email list. And please pass this
newsletter on to others who may find it useful.
Sincerely,
Todd Alexander Litman
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org)
litman at vtpi.org
Phone & Fax 250-360-1560
1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
Efficiency - Equity - Clarity
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